South Africa's Ramaphosa Cancels Trip as DA Mulls GNU Role
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa canceled an international trip at the last minute ahead of an announcement by the second-biggest party in his coalition government after it gave him a 48-hour ultimatum, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ramaphosa was due to attend a conference on financing for development in Seville, Spain, on June 30 but decided against undertaking the journey, said the people who declined to be identified because the details aren't public.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why Donald Trump Is Trying To Make An Example Out Of This One House Republican
WASHINGTON — In his second term, President Donald Trump has turned most Republican members of Congress, from the House speaker who declared Congress has no war powers to the backbench wingnuts nominating him for the Nobel Prize, into his stooges and henchmen. Except for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). The Kentucky Republican has stood athwart the tide of Trumpism, not yelling 'stop!' exactly, but at least not going along with the tide. And Trump clearly hates it. 'He votes, 'NO!' on everything, because he thinks it makes him cool, but he's not cool, he's a LOSER!' Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Tuesday, the latest in a series of similar slams. 'GET THIS 'BUM' OUT OF OFFICE, ASAP!!!' the president posted on Monday. 'MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one,' Trump wrote Sunday. Massie has repeatedly voted against Trump's priorities, including the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, and this month, he also questioned the constitutionality of Trump's decision to jump into the Israel-Iran war. So Trump has escalated his attacks on Massie, saying this week he'll recruit a primary opponent and campaign against Massie in his Northern Kentucky district. On Thursday, a new super PAC backed by Trump allies unveiled anti-Massie attack ads. Massie says it's not actually about him — it's about intimidating the many other Republicans who've threatened to stray from the party line. 'He's doing this publicly and very flagrantly and notoriously in order to keep all of those people in line because they don't want any part of this, whereas I think I can sustain it,' Massie told HuffPost in an interview this week. Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) were the only Republicans who voted against the Big Beautiful Bill when it passed the House in May, though a significant group of Republicans had threatened to do so. Their main gripe is that the bill's tax cuts are way bigger than its spending cuts, meaning it would increase federal budget deficits. For years and years, Republicans have said budget deficits and the growing national debt are pure evil. The party's libertarian wing, of which Massie is a leading member, has always been particularly adamant. The funny thing is, Massie is in no way an anti-Trump Republican. He's a reliable Trump-aligned voter on most high-profile issues and a leading voice on others. To give one example, Massie is the foremost proponent of the theory that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol had been at least partially instigated not by Trump, but by a supposed FBI informant named Ray Epps, with the ultimate goal of entrapping Trump supporters in the criminal justice system. Epps repeatedly said under penalty of perjury that he wasn't a federal agent. He got charged with crimes along with 1,500 other Trump supporters. When I mentioned Epps got a pardon like the rest of them, Massie seemed a little disappointed. 'Did he get a pardon?' (All Jan. 6 participants have received executive clemency unless they proactively refused it.) As for Trump's attacks, Massie projects confidence that nobody can beat him in his district, noting he beat primary challengers last year and that Trump has not yet recruited an actual primary opponent this year. He's raised money off of Trump's posts while avoiding a confrontational tone. 'I haven't escalated it. I just try to make a joke out of it every time. I'm ready for a ceasefire. I took three of his bunker busters and I'm still here,' Massie said. 'Privately, I'm getting a few fist bumps here and there from my colleagues for the way that I'm basically playing it off, not getting into a fight with the president, just bringing humor to it.' Massie's biggest difference with Trump and other Republicans is on the question of federal budget deficits. On a superficial level, there's no difference — all Republicans favor fiscal responsibility, meaning all Republicans want to shrink federal budget deficits and eventually shrink the national debt. Or at least they say they do. Massie is the only one who consistently votes against major spending bills, and he's been the only reliable 'no' vote against the Big Beautiful Bill and its promise of trillions in additional debt. In March, a group of far-right Republicans threatened to vote against a government funding bill, then caved under pressure from the White House. One of them was Davidson, the Ohio Republican who joined Massie in voting against the Big Beautiful Bill in May. 'A lot of us want to be Massie. We want to be the person that can say no. And I think it's important for him to stake out that ground,' Davison told reporters in March. 'To me, he's like a lighthouse. He shows where we should be going, but, you know, you don't negotiate with lighthouses.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Southern Europe swelters as heatwave spreads
Health and fire warnings have been issued in countries across southern Europe, with temperatures expected to exceed 40C in some places over the weekend. Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Portugal are among the countries affected - with the Spanish city of Seville forecast to hit 42C. Hot air from North Africa, which is spreading across the Balkans to holiday destinations such as Croatia, is contributing to the soaring temperatures. BBC Weather says the heatwave is "very intense" for this time of the year -with the continent normally experiencing such high temperatures in July and early August. In Spain, emergency staff have been placed on standby to deal with a surge in heatstroke cases especially among the vulnerable including children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. Italian authorities are advising residents in several cities, including Rome, Milan and Venice - where several A-list celebrities have gathered for the wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TV presenter Lauren Sanchez - to stay indoors between 11:00 and 18:00 local time. France, meanwhile, has been experiencing a heatwave for more than a week. Orange heat alerts, the country's second-highest warning, were issued for southern regions on Friday. In the city of Marseille, municipal swimming pools are being opened free of charge until the end of the heatwave. Yellow and amber alerts are also in place for parts of England this weekend, with temperatures set to reach 32C. The heatwave is forecast to last until Tuesday evening. Wildfires have already struck some parts of Europe, including Greece, where coastal towns near the capital, Athens, erupted in flames that destroyed homes - forcing people to evacuate. While it is hard to link individual extreme weather events to climate change, heatwaves are becoming more common and more intense due to climate change. Scientists at World Weather Attribution, who analyse the influence of climate change on extreme weather events, say June heatwaves with three consecutive days above 28C are about 10 times more likely to occur now compared to pre-industrial times.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
The Cost of Living in NYC and Immigrating to the US
By Welcome to the Wall Street Week newsletter, bringing you stories of capitalism about things you need to know, but even more things you need to think about. I'm David Westin, and this week we told the stories of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City and of the business of countries selling the right to be a resident. If you're not yet a subscriber, sign up here for this newsletter. New York City held its Democratic mayoral primary this week, and chose relative newcomer, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, over a crowded field that included former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations that he denies. Mamdani stood out, not just for his disciplined, organized campaign, but for his embrace of "Democratic Socialism."
