ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has delivered what could be his political swansong, warning the ANC’s disciplinarian elders “the ANC is not a pig, it will never eat its own children”. CARIEN DU PLESSIS could almost smell the flesh burning.

Ministers, MPs, magistrates, the president, premiers, judges, and traditional leaders have been granted a humble 5% salary increase, almost making those public servants (6.8%) look greedy – but then again, they get paid a bit more. There are even plans link the top dogs’ pay to performance in future, CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports.

The student leader who's taking Chile by storm; are wars caused by the weather?; Dominic Strauss-Khan's troubles in France; the growing pains of the ICC (the criminal court, not the cricket council); crazy-rich French people want to pay more tax; and Nepalese peacekeepers bring disease to Haiti. By iMAVERICK TEAM.

Eskom tells South Africa to 'switch off'; Jimmy Manyi says he speaks for the cabinet, not individual ministers; land-reform green paper ready for comment, almost; and why Cosatu is in a good mood. By iMAVERICK TEAM.

Amid the current chaos and running gun battles in Libya lurks the chilling threat that dangerous nuclear materials could fall into the wrong hands. A case of life imitating art, writes J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Despite its eminently pun-friendly name, the Chilean Winter doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the Arab Spring. But student leader Camila Vallejo has injected some hotness into the campaign that's seen students protesting across Chile since late June. By THERESA MALLINSON.

Government’s long-awaited green paper on land reform has been approved by Cabinet and will be available for comment next week. CARIEN DU PLESSIS had a sneak preview and there were no surprises. At least no new ones.

There's been so much attention focused on those “right wing demagogues” of late, that we've all forgotten that the other side of the equation has been rather quiet. Since Cosatu's central committee meeting six weeks ago, we haven't really heard from them. But on Thursday the federation's top officials emerged, fresh, strong and united, from a meeting of its central executive committee. Well, fresh and strong perhaps. And there is also a hint of victory in their eyes. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

The US wants to channel $1.5 billion of Muammar Gaddafi’s frozen assets towards getting Libya back on its feet. The money would be split between UN humanitarian aid, fuel for electrical plants, desalinisation plants and hospitals and will also pay the salaries of a future Libyan government. Only one country on the sanctions committee opposes the proposal –South Africa. By KHADIJA PATEL.

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema’s homeys in Limpopo have called for the arms deal probe to be re-opened, a clear “we’re watching you” to Jacob Zuma while the president is, for a change, flexing his muscle (the political one). Oh, and more young leaders are slapped with charges, of which CARIEN DU PLESSIS has obtained the juicy details.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic want the national transitional council of Libya to hand over the Lockerbie bomber back to Scotland or to the US. The problem is that Scotland released him from prison on compassionate grounds two years ago - in a case echoing South Africa’s own Schabir Shaik fiasco. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A study by the International Crisis Group has revealed a person is murdered every 30 minutes due to gang and drug-related violence in Venezuela. It doesn’t help that Venezuela’s neighbours have great crime problems of their own, of course. It’s no surprise then that the study finds that international organised crime filters into Venezuela from Colombia leading to even more kidnappings, drug trafficking and homicides. By KHADIJA PATEL.

The murky News Corp story just gets murkier and dirtier with every passing week. Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are both back in the spotlight over revelations that Murdoch's media company carried on paying Coulson after he left to work for the Conservatives. By REBECCA DAVIS.

The official word is North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il visited Russia this week to secure a gas deal. The whispers in the corridors are Muammar Gaddafi’s imminent fall unnerved him, and he went to see Medvedev to secure an ally for his successor. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The ANC has slapped charges on four more ANC Youth League leaders, which means all five top leaders of the young lions’ pride are now in the dock. CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports.

If you are a Zimbabwean who wants to get your papers in order at the Marabastad Refugee Centre in Pretoria run by Home Affairs it could cost you R100 to get through the gates. With Zimbabweans stampeding to get their papers in order, desperation provides vultures with easy pickings. By MANDY DE WAAL.

Two companies have been at the centre of storm of blame which followed the US economic downturn – investment bank Goldman Sachs and ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. The CEO of S&P recently resigned, and Goldman Sachs boss is preparing to fight. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

As much as the ANC’s spin doctors try to deny it, the issue of you-know-who’s you-know-what did arise in the recent meeting of the party’s national executive committee, but the fans of the young lion were defeated, for now. CARIEN DU PLESSIS takes a look at what really happened behind the locked gates.

The title of Human Rights Watch's report on labour conditions on Western Cape farms says it all: “Ripe With Abuse”. The rights watchdog’s research reveals that the lives of farmworkers in the province are "dismal and dangerous". By REBECCA DAVIS.

No bladdie agent was kicked out of the sometimes-heated press briefing on Tuesday on the ANC’s national executive committee meeting, where leaders were asked to remember their oft-neglected humble followers as the party’s elective conference approaches. CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports.

Oh Young Julius we warned you this could happen. That you would go too far. That if you looked behind you there would be this rather large broad line that you are on the wrong side of. Oh well, now that that’s happened, I suppose we should provide you with some political, and a touch of legal, advice. Especially because we once gave President Jacob Zuma some advice. Which he appears to have taken. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

As the ANC Youth League decides on a strategy ahead of its leaders’ disciplinary hearing, the organisation is divided between defiance and compliance – and not everyone is squarely behind their leader, Julius Malema. CARIEN DU PLESSIS deciphers.

At the time of this writing, Tripoli is not yet fully in rebel hands and there are still garrisons loyal to Gaddafi in various places. Brother Leader has not yet been run to ground or brought before the International Criminal Court, let alone exile – although Angola has reportedly offered to be a host. Regardless, the maneuvering over what happens next is already well underway. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Iranian courts have sentenced two American men to eight years in prison for illegally entering the country and unscrupulously spying on the Islamic republic for intelligence services in their home country. Naughty, naughty Americans. By KHADIJA PATEL.

For a second Sunday in a row, the DA is on the back foot after some bad publicity, this time about some “too-white” top appointments. CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports.

Debate around a National Health Insurance scheme is still red-hot, but the next massive financial engineering concept is about to be unleashed, and it will be only a little less contentious. Considering it will be worth at least R3 billion a month and will affect every formally employed South African, you'd expect nothing less. By PHILLIP DE WET.

With a lack of state-run frail-care facilities in the Eastern Cape, NGOs are having to take up the slack. Caring for old people is no picnic, and the job becomes even harder when the provincial government is tardy with paying out the already-meagre subsidies – if it pays them at all. It's an indictment on our welfare services that frail-care homes are having to take the state to court to recoup the money owed to them. And, sadly, it's the elderly who suffer. By THERESA MALLINSON.

Much of the Western coverage of the Egyptian uprising centred on the potential pitfalls in ties between Egypt and Israel. Hosni Mubarak was a darling of the Israeli government. He had helped to secure the Sinai peninsula, secured gas deals well beneath market value and kept the squeeze on Hamas in Gaza. By KHADIJA PATEL.

For all you wondering what will really happen and what are the chances, CARIEN DU PLESSIS has compiled a handy rough guide for the incoming Julius and Floyd's excellent disciplinary adventure. Sit back and relax while she explains everything.