SINCERETALK

A Cape Town-based entrepreneur is on a mission to get children writing in the most impoverished areas. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/VLl4I8k via sinceretalk

Small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, baby turtles have started to wash up along South Africa's coastline, in what conservationists call "stranding season". from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/4T5PUfx via sinceretalk

Theo Baloyi said the new range, 10/43, gives a nod to the genesis of Bathu. It also pays homage to the journey he started as the founder of Bathu. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/aLmvEPq via sinceretalk

In a country in which populist politicians increasingly beat the xenophobic drums of hate and fear, there are also those who sing of peace and togetherness. Bertha Chiguvare is one such person in the province of Limpopo, where xenophobia is rife, writes Jan Gerber. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/tW5vwlC via sinceretalk

There was no need for the municipality to pay so much money to tackle a R739 000 award. from News24 news24/topstories/rss https://ift.tt/gP5fHoj via sinceretalk

It must have been a strange sight: a dog on the railway line with the train gently following behind it – until they reached the station. And the dog finally veered off the path of the train wheels. from News24 news24/topstories/rss https://ift.tt/S2gMEjN via sinceretalk

On Friday afternoon, former President Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account of two trucks driving on a highway decked out in pro-Trump flags and stickers. One truck had a decal spanning its entire back gate made to resemble a truck bed carrying President Joe Biden, bound and gagged like a kidnapping victim. Trump posted the 20-second video without any commentary other than the caption "3/28/24 | LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK…," though the video ended by zooming in on the decal showing a kidnapped Biden. The video prompted outrage on social media, with numerous legal experts, journalists and political commentators calling on the justice system to rein in the former president. "I know from experience how the Secret Service interacts with people who make threats against POTUS, even ones they can't carry out," former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance posted to X/Twitter . "This, from a former President, is totally out of bounds. It's time to sto...

Michael Cohen — who was the longtime personal attorney and "fixer" for former president Donald Trump — is calling on Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to take action to further muzzle Trump ahead of his hush money trial. During a Friday evening appearance on MSNBC , Cohen spoke about what his life has been like since Trump turned up the heat on his one-time confidant. As one of the prosecution's star witnesses in the trial, Cohen is expected to take the stand and give testimony proving that Trump orchestrated the hush money scheme he allegedly carried out ahead of the 2016 presidential election. However, Cohen told host Joy Ann Reid that even after Judge Merchan issued a gag order prohibiting Trump from directly attacking witnesses, he has experienced a slew of death threats from Trump supporters. "It's witness intimidation and it's harassment," Cohen said. "What is his goal? Again, it's to incite these followers...

An experienced former Department of Justice prosecutor is now calling for former President Donald Trump to be remanded to jail ahead of his trial in the wake of his constant attacks on judges, prosecutors and their families. During a Friday segment on MSNBC , former assistant US Attorney Glenn Kirschner recalled how in his 30-year career, he was "obliged" to file a motion for pre-trial detention if he thought a defendant presented a threat to the community, or even just one single person. He lamented that Trump has so far not been held to that standard by any of the prosecutors trying him, and referred to the 45th president of the United States as the "single most dangerous defendant who's on pre-trial release in the United States of America." "He's a danger to the community, he's a danger to the witnesses, he's a danger to the jurors, he's a danger to the judges and their staff, he's a danger to the prosecutors and their staffs, he...

When Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin beat former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe in November 2021, the then-co-Chief Executive Officer of the private equity firm Carlyle Group, became one of the wealthiest governors in the United States, according to Forbes . This week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports , "Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, announced a deal with Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to keep the teams in Washington until 2050" — shattering Youngkin's longtime hope of moving the teams' home to his state, as he failed to close the "largest economic development deal in Virginia’s history." "It’s easier and better to do business in Washington D.C. than it is to do in Virginia," Leonsis told Bowser on DC's Capital One Arena floor during a game this week. READ MORE: Why Glenn Youngkin was the 'big loser' of Election Night 2023: analysis In a Wednesday, M...

Since the news broke early Tuesday (March 26) morning that the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore had collapsed after it was hit by a 900-foot cargo ship, killing six people and injuring two, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and President Joe Biden's White House both confirmed no foul play or terrorism contributed to the devastating incident. Still, Republican leaders and commentators have not failed to push conspiracy theories in their efforts to blame the Biden Administration for the tragedy. Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, speaking with US Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), alleged the collapse was a result of Biden's immigration policy, while Infowars host Alex Jones commented on X (formerly Twitter) , "Looks deliberate to me. A cyber-attack is probable. WW3 has already started." READ MORE: 'Disgusting': Maria Bartiromo ripped for linking Baltimore bridge collapse to Biden border policy Additionally, far-right US Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) joked about the national ...

US Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) believed his loyalty to ex-President Donald Trump would secure the House speakership for theCalifornia Republican congressman — and it ultimately did, but not without a fight. Although McCarthy won his battle to speakership in January of 2023, it was "the first time since 1923 that the House has taken multiple rounds to choose its leader," Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham noted in an article last year . Not only did it take 15 rounds of votes for the GOP leader to secure the position, McCarthy was ousted from the seat by his congressional colleagues nine months later. READ MORE: Trump defender Kevin McCarthy tells January 6th Committee that evidence 'does not belong to you' Graham noted : McCarthy broke from Trump only once , briefly, after the January 6 insurrection, when he privately called Trump’s behavior unacceptable and told members he’d ask the president to resign. (He had reason to be angry at Trump, who had flippant...

Residents of some of the country's major metros will have to dig deeper into their pockets after councils proposed new tariff increases for property rates, electricity, water, sanitation, and refuse removal services. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/81grntM via sinceretalk

California State Bar Judge Yvette Roland on Wednesday ruled that former Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman violated ethics rules when he helped to orchestrate the ex-president's ploy to overturn the 2020 election, Politico reports. Per the report , "Though Eastman may appeal Roland’s decision, including to the state Supreme Court, the ruling forces his law license into 'inactive' status while any review is pending, meaning he can no longer practice law in California." Brookings Governance senior fellow and States United Democracy Center co-founder Norm Eisen shared the news via X (formerly Twitter), writing , "The CA Bar just delivered an important 2020 accountability outcome – recommending John Eastman for permanent disbarment. Kudos to our team @statesunited who filed the initial ethics complaint against him in 2021, along with me & dozens of bipartisan signers." READ MORE: Trump ally and January 6 architect John Eastman now on the verge of l...

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ruled Monday, March 25 that Donald Trump's criminal trial for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money case against the ex-president will begin on April 15. In a Wednesday, March 27 filing to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, Trump lawyers argued that the April 15 date likely will cause a conflict with the potential start date for the former president's classified documents case trial. MSNBC host and legal expert Katie Phang shared the document via X (formerly Twitter), writing , "NEW: (NOT-President) Donald Trump files this Notice of Trial Date to advise Judge Cannon that he is due to commence trial in his Manhattan DA criminal case on April 15th so he’s got scheduling conflicts now." READ MORE: 'Ringmaster' Trump will make hush money trial 'a circus' — and it’s 'humiliating for Melania': advisers The Associated Press notes Cannon "has yet to set a firm trial date despite ...

Going after the "Biden Crime Family" is costing House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and his family dearly — so he's passing around a figurative collection plate in the form of an email to raise support. “I ask you to take the time to read this email in its entirety,” writes Comer, who along with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), have been spearheading an impeachment inquiry hinged on the theory that Biden laundered international bribes through his son Hunter's foreign business dealings. “I spent a lot of time writing it and did my best to make every word count. ... If you don’t read it, nobody will.” The Washington Post's columnist Philip Bump did read it, then knocked Comer for its "broad strokes" to claim "he’s fighting the good fight against nefarious foes and suffering damage that can only be treated with the soothing balm of cash." Bump's focuses on Comer's platitudes to win over readers, with the congressman going so...

During the Monday, March 25 episode of The Rachel Maddow Show , Maddow expressed disapproval of NBC News' hiring of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst, detailing how the ex-GOP leader "pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election and attacked the network's own journalists." Maddow emphasized how NBC's decision to tap McDaniel her for the position "is like hiring a 'mobster to work in a D.A.'s office' or a 'pickpocket to work as a TSA strainer.'" The MSNBC host's statements echoed her colleagues, like The ReidOut host Joy Reid, Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace, and former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd — all of whom also publicly shared their discontentment on-air — ultimately leading to NBC Universal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde's decision to roll back McDaniel's job offer Tuesday. READ MORE: 'Loud and principled objections': Rac...

Arizona Republican US Senate Kari Lake on Tuesday decided against doubling down on remarks she made about Maricopa County top election official Stephen Richer — a Republican, who filed a suit against the failed gubernatorial candidate for defamation last June, The Washington Post reports. The election official for Arizona's largest county shared an op-ed published by The Arizona Republic announcing his legal action last year, declaring that Lake "and her team should be held accountable for 'utter disregard for the truth and the harm their words have caused.'" He wrote, "She has cast doubt on my loyalty to our country, our state and my office. She did this knowing that it would only throw gasoline on the fire of falsehoods about our elections. Lake has not sent me into hiding. Nor will she ever. But her defamatory statements have irrevocably altered my life, closed opportunities and damaged relationships." READ MORE: Kari Lake sued for defamation b...

The Department of Homeland Security is an unnecessary agency, Axios reports Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy "has told supporters on at least three occasions." NBC News reports , "Sheehy is running in one of the country’s most competitive U.S. Senate races while also running an aerial firefighting company that is heavily dependent on federal contracts," and according to his financial disclosure forms , "If elected, Sheehy would be one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with a net worth between $74 million and $200 million." NBC also notes, "Montana is a major Senate battleground in 2024 that could help tip control of the chamber to Republicans." READ MORE: These 10 US Senate seats are most likely to flip in 2024 Noting that Sheehy "is cruising toward Montana’s Republican Senate nomination," TIME reported last week, "Pundits expected a bruising primary between him and Rep. Matt Rosendale. [Former President...

When a five-judge New York appeals court panel on Monday significantly cut Donald Trump's $464 million bond amount in the New York civil fraud case down to $175 million, and gave him ten more days to pay up — just hours before the deadline, legal experts were astonished by "the major lifeline" thrown to the former president . Former New York State Assistant Attorney General Tristan Snell "who successfully prosecuted the $25 million Trump University case," slammed the order as "special treatment," while ex-federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said , "The verdict is in: the rules, the laws, and the Constitution do not apply to Donald Trump the way they apply to you and me." However, in an op-ed published by The Daily Beast, legal ethics and civil procedure expert Ray Brescia suggests despite Monday's win, Trump is "still in deep legal trouble" when it comes to both of his New York cases. READ MORE: $3 ...

Editor’s note : The following essay first appeared in The Play Typer Guy , Stephen’s newsletter about politics and the arts. The Republican House majority is an absolute disaster. It doesn’t bother to govern and can’t even effectively run sham impeachments. Members are resigning, and now it’s facing the loss of its third speaker in two years. It’s an impressive record of rank incompetence. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hurled a grenade at Republican leadership on Friday when she announced that she’d moved to replace Christian nationalist dreamboat Speaker Mike Johnson. “I filed the motion to vacate today, but it’s more of a warning than a pink slip,” Greene told reporters who provided her the attention she desperately craves. “I respect our conference. I paid all my dues to my conference. I am a member in good standing and I do not wish to inflict pain on my conference and to throw the House in chaos.” It’s unclear what Greene means when she says she “paid her dues.” She’s only ...

The Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley is facing an interdict application and a parallel criminal case instituted by the Department of Water and Sanitation for failing to tackle "contaminated" water at the Kamfers Dam. from News24 news24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/ZrGvfb6 via sinceretalk

The Bulls didn’t just seal an inch-perfect weekend for South African teams in the United Rugby Championship, but set up a mouthwatering table-topping clash with Leinster next week after beating basement dwellers Dragons 31-10 in Newport on Saturday night. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/1znTRq0 via sinceretalk

IEC commissioner Janet Love talks about human rights, and how elections are moments for change and not necessarily where everything changes. She invites Muhammad Hussain for a stroll in the park. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/YNLvp6h via sinceretalk

After working with Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion appropriations bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) managed to get six separate funding bills to the US Senate prior to the midnight partial government shutdown deadline. However, Senate Republicans have stalled the process to a halt after loading down the 1,000-plus page bill with numerous amendments pertaining to various issues like immigration and the Southern border. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) didn't hold back in a tweet blaming his Republican colleagues (whom he referred to as "gremlins") for the impending shutdown. "Well, it looks like we’re headed for a shutdown at the hands of Senate Republican gremlins who (1) know that amendments can’t pass because there’s no House to send an amended bill back to (they adjourned) and (2) want amendments anyway, and (3) can’t decide amongst themselves what won’t-pass amendments they want," Whitehouse tweeted . "I sure hope I’m wrong. ...

One member of the team that prosecuted the explosive Watergate scandal in the 1970s said Attorney General Merrick Garland's slowness in prosecuting former President Donald Trump is only helping him avoid justice. During a Friday segment on MSNBC's The Reidout , former Watergate special prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks told guest host Jason Johnson that it's important anyone charging an ex-president with crimes should make sure to due their due diligence. But she opined that Garland's race against the clock to obtain a verdict before election day is his own fault. "You want to make it exactly as good as it could possibly be, you want to cover every possible error that could possibly come up, and make sure you have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. You don't want to aim for the king and lose. On the other hand, the length of time this has taken is unconscionable," she said. "Those [delays] were very predictable. His past history of cases would show you ...

New York Attorney General Letitia James has made it clear that if the courts don't intervene in her plans to seize former President Donald Trump's assets, she will begin that process as soon as Monday. And it's likely she'll start with his cash. In a Friday report , Politico's Erica Orden broke down how James would begin with her asset seizure. Assuming Trump's appeal for a last-minute stay is unsuccessful, the New York Attorney General's office would then seek Judge Arthur Engoron's approval to access the former president's bank accounts. "In order to seize a defendant’s bank accounts, a judgment creditor typically first goes through a discovery process to identify where they are. Then the creditor asks the banks to freeze the accounts — and asks a judge to have the money in the accounts turned over," Orden explained, adding that the typical process for asset seizures involves "a brief hearing and then a decision within about a we...

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's move to take special leave from her role was not sufficient, she should resign instead, experts say. from News24 news24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/WT4qKwx via sinceretalk

One day ahead of his official exit from Congress, US Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) agreed to sign his Democratic colleagues' foreign aid discharge petition — becoming the first Republican to do so "amid GOP concerns about surrendering the House floor to Democrats," according to Axios. Per Axios, the petition "would force a vote on the Senate's $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan," which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) still refuses to bring to the House floor in order to appease his ultraconservative colleagues. Buck's move comes two days after the far-right House Freedom Caucus voted to remove him from the group. READ MORE: Here’s 'the problem' with Ken Buck’s frustration with the GOP: former Bush strategist The Colorado congressman has received backlash from GOP colleagues over his refusal to back Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and criticism of House Republicans' efforts to impeach President Joe Biden ...

House Speaker Mike Johnson has been working hard to keep his job to escape the same fate as his predecessor, US Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), amid months of attempting to negotiate with Democrats on government spending despite constant criticism from far-right colleagues. In addition to juggling threats of his ouster from certain members, the speaker is also challenged with the fact some members are actively campaigning against each other. According to CNN, Johnson told his GOP colleagues to "cool it" during the lawmakers' retreat earlier this month. Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA) on Thursday took to X (formerly Twitter) to blast a few of "his House Republican colleagues who backed his primary challenger," according to Politico. READ MORE: 'The world is literally at war': McConnell sends strong warning to House Republicans Per the news outlet, "The battle goes against Johnson’s entreaties for Republicans to refrain from campaigning again...

Christian nationalist and far-right political activist Charlie Kirk , a top influencer and Trump ally, urged supporters at a faith-based event on Sunday to “fight” if Donald Trump doesn’t win the 2024 presidential election. “I want to make sure that we all make a commitment that if this election doesn’t go our way, the next day we fight,” Kirk told the audience at “ Freedom Night ,” hosted by Pastor John Randall. “It’s a very important thing,” Kirk added before saying, “a lot of people don’t want to hear that. They say, ‘What do you mean it doesn’t go our way? It has to go our way. We have to win.’ I agree.” Kirk is a member of the highly-secretive Council for National Policy, a purveyor of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie,” and has repeatedly promoted the false claim that U.S. elections are “rigged.” Pastor Randall, of California’s Calvary South OC, had told Kirk, “I know on the minds of these freedom loving people tonight is the election. We were talking tonight before about some of the...