International
South Africa reacts to US expulsion of ambassador Ebrahim Rasool
The South African presidency on Saturday said the expulsion of its Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, is “regrettable.”
The presidency disclosed this in a short statement published on X on Saturday.It also called for decorum on both sides to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool,” the statement read.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter.
“South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America.”
The ppolitician was expelled after he was seen as a race-baiting politician” who hates the US and President Donald Trump.
Rubio wrote on X that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country”, adding: “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.
”Rubio linked his remarks to an article by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, wherein Rasool is quoted as saying Trump mobilised a “supremacist instinct” and “white victimhood” as a “dog whistle” during the 2024 elections.
But South African political analyst Sandile Swana said the “core of the dispute” was Pretoria’s decision to form a genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, a close US ally, over its war on Gaza.
In February, Rasool, an anti-apartheid campaigner, told the Zeteo news site that what South Africans experienced during apartheid rule “is on steroids in Palestine”.
Moreover, Swana explained that in the fight against apartheid, the US “supported the apartheid regime”.
“[So] Rasool continues to point out the behaviour of the United States, even now is to support apartheid and genocide,” he added.
Land policy
Still, the decision by Washington to expel the South African ambassador comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, since Trump cut financial aid to South Africa after citing his disapproval of its land policy that he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.
Last week, Trump pushed this further and said South Africa’s farmers were welcome to settle in the US, repeating that the South African government was “confiscating” land from white people.
South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, has also accused the country of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the policy, saying the government was not confiscating land but aiming to level racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation.
International
Trump deletes Jesus post of himself after outcry
The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.
US President Donald Trump on Monday deleted a social media image apparently depicting him as Jesus after an outcry from religious leaders that he was being blasphemous.
AFP reported that the image posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform showed him in flowing red and white robes, touching the forehead of what appeared to be a sick man and with light shining from his hand and head.
An American flag waved in the background while various figures gazed up at the president in reverence.
The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do Red Cross,” he told journalists.
“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.
The post generated an outcry from several prominent conservative Christians who are among Trump’s biggest backers.
“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” Megan Basham, a conservative journalist and commentator wrote on X.
International
Pope Leo reacts to Trump’s blasts “I have no intention to debate with Trump”
Trump said Leo is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me
President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted Pope Leo XIV over the Roman Catholic pontiff’s criticism of the U.S. war with Iran.
In reaction Monday Pope Leo XIV on Monday said, ” I no intention to debate” with Donald Trump on the US-Iran war.
“I am not a politician,” the pope told reporters aboard the papal plane as they headed to Algeria for the pontiff’s first visit to Africa.
“I have no intention to debate with (Trump). The message is the same: to promote peace”, Pope emphasised.
President said in a Truth Social post he does not “want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, and other church leaders have also at times been sharply critical of Trump’s domestic immigration policies.
Trump linked the pope’s ascension to his return to office as president.“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump said.
“He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Trump said Leo is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested,” referring to a recent meeting between the pope and President Barack Obama’s former political aide.
International
Hungarian opposition wins election landslide
Results based on 81.5% of votes counted showed the center-right, pro-EU Tisza party of Peter Magyar winning 137 seats for a crucial two-thirds majority in the 199-member parliament, defeating Orban’s Fidesz party.
Photo: President of the Tisza Party, Peter Magyar / CNBC
Hungary’s veteran nationalist leader Viktor Orban conceded defeat on Sunday after a landslide election victory by the upstart opposition Tisza party, ending Orban’s 16-year rules.
Results based on 81.5% of votes counted showed the center-right, pro-EU Tisza party of Peter Magyar winning 137 seats for a crucial two-thirds majority in the 199-member parliament, defeating Orban’s Fidesz party.
“The election results are not final yet, but the situation is understandable and clear,” Orban, 62, said at the Fidesz campaign offices.
Some of his supporters who had gathered outside cried as they watched him speak on TV screens.
“The election result is painful for us, but clear.”Election officials estimated turnout at a record of 79% or more, in an election that many Hungarians saw as a watershed moment for their country.
Tisza’s Magyar, 45, had cast the vote as a choice between “East and West,” warning voters that Orban and his confrontational stance towards Brussels would take the country further away from the European mainstream.
-
Entertainment1 day agoTuface, Laolu Gbenjo, others set to electrify Vanguard Personality of the Year Award
-
News1 day agoNAF Jilli Airstrike: Bomb Don’t Know Who’re Terrorists
-
News3 days agoFG Unmasks 60 Persons and Corporates Behind Terrorism Financing, Order Banks To Freeze Their Accounts
-
News1 day agoNUPENG Braces Up for Leaderships Change
-
Entertainment1 day agoAsha Bhosle: Bollywood’s legendary singer dies aged 92
-
Politics3 days agoPolice reopens, handover PDP Hqtrs to Wike backed Faction
-
Politics1 day agoHayatu-Deen joins ADC Party
-
Crime3 days agoGunmen Kill Traditional Ruler, Four Others in Imo State, Set Bodies Ablaze
