Pompeo supports anticorruption drive in Angola

Luanda — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced corruption and touted American business on Monday during the second leg of an African tour in Angola, where the government is seeking to claw back billions of dollars looted from state coffers.

Pompeo is aiming to promote US investment as an alternative to Chinese loans while assuaging concerns over a planned US military withdrawal and the expansion of visa restrictions targeting four African countries.

In Angola’s capital Luanda, Pompeo met with President João Lourenço, who took office in 2017 promising wide-ranging economic reforms and a crackdown on the endemic graft that marked his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s four-decade rule.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2020-02-17-pompeo-supports-anticorruption-drive-in-angola/

Bloomberg surrogate: 'Judging the candidates by what they have done recently'

http://www.msnbc.com/mtp-daily/watch/bloomberg-surrogate-judging-the-candidates-by-what-they-have-done-recently-78904901553

Anglo American Platinum CEO Chris Griffith quits

Chris Griffith, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, one of the world’s largest sources of the metal, and a veteran in the Anglo American stable, has unexpectedly resigned.

Griffith, who has worked his way up the ranks in Anglo companies in the past 30 years, heading the platinum division’s joint ventures business before being appointed CEO of Kumba Iron Ore, has spent seven years leading Amplats.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2020-02-17-anglo-american-platinum-ceo-chris-griffith-quits/

After gains in northern Syria, Assad predicts total victory

https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2020/2/17/21141481/aleppo-northern-syria-assad

German far right arrests reveal 'shocking' mosque attack plot

Members of a German extreme right group arrested last week were believed to have been plotting "shocking" large-scale attacks on mosques similar to the ones carried out in New Zealand last year, the government said Monday.

Officials said that investigations into 12 men detained in police raids across Germany on Friday had indicated they planned major attacks, following media reports over the weekend the group aimed to launch several simultaneous mass-casualty assaults on Muslims during prayers.

https://www.news24.com/World/News/german-far-right-arrests-reveal-shocking-mosque-attack-plot-20200217-2

>>8167288

We know not all Germans are extrem like here in America just a handfull are. I'm just reporting the news friend.

In US politics, height matters and Trump knows it

When Donald Trump literally belittles his perceived enemies - by mocking their stature - he is weaponising a long-standing maxim of US presidential politics: taller guys tend to win the White House.

https://www.news24.com/World/News/in-us-politics-height-matters-and-trump-knows-it-20200217

SONA2020: Ramaphosa's cannabis plan plants a brighter future

DURBAN - Last week’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa listed a number of encouraging initiatives to be undertaken by government in an effort to stimulate the country’s sluggish economy.

One particular point raised in the President’s address focused on the future of cannabis in South Africa with Ramaphosa said, "This year we will open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers; and formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to build this industry in line with global trends. The regulatory steps will soon be announced by the relevant ministers".

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/sona2020-ramaphosas-cannabis-plan-plants-a-brighter-future-42869333