South Africa

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South African Town Official Pushes Back on Trump's Claim

Bebsie Cronje of Newcastle addresses the white crosses

(Newser) - An official who represents a rural South African area that was inadvertently made famous by President Trump this week is pushing back against his claims. During a video he played for visiting President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump pointed out white crosses on a rural road near Newcastle that he said were...

Wife of Trapped Miner: 'I Haven't Slept a Wink'

Sibanye-Stillwater firm says rescue is ongoing in South Africa, where hundreds are stuck in mine

(Newser) - Rescue efforts are underway in South Africa to finish bringing 260 or so workers stuck in a gold mine for a day back to the surface, with dozens already rescued, the Sibanye-Stillwater mining company said on Friday. According to the company, an initial investigation showed that a sub-shaft rock winder...

Trump Misspoke on Video of South African Farmers

President pointed to crosses as burial sites, but they are not

(Newser) - During Wednesday's remarkable Oval Office meeting in which President Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with accusations of genocide against white farmers, Trump mischaracterized a portion of the video he played, reports the New York Times and ABC News .
  • Trump's claim: As the video showed a rural
...

Ramaphosa Remains Calm After Oval Office 'Ambush'

Trump played video he said backed up his claim of 'genocide' against white South Africans

(Newser) - "They say there's a lot of bad things going on in Africa. And that's what we're going to be discussing today," President Trump said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday. Trump went on to claim...

South Africa Prez's WH Visit Has 'Unmitigated Disaster' Potential

Cyril Ramaphosa is meeting with Trump on trade, but some fear Trump will turn things to racial issues

(Newser) - If you thought the February meeting at the White House between President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was contentious, get ready for what one former US official says may be an "unmitigated disaster." Politico reports that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will pay...

Afrikaner Refugee Says Antisemitic Post Was From Meds

Charl Kleinhaus, set to be resettled in NY, called Jews 'untrustworthy'

(Newser) - The first group of white South Africans taking the Trump administration up on a controversial relocation program has arrived in the US, with the Afrikaners claiming they're facing violence and threats of land seizures back home. "We never expected this land expropriation thing to go so far,"...

Musk's Chatbot Suddenly Sounds a Lot Like Him
Musk's Chatbot Is Acting Up
May 15, 2025 8:17 AM CDT

Musk's Chatbot Is Acting Up

Grok AI kept repeating claims of a white genocide in South Africa on Tuesday

(Newser) - Elon Musk's AI chatbot couldn't stop talking about "white genocide" in South Africa on Tuesday, repeating the far-right conspiracy theory touted by President Trump and Musk himself. The Grok chatbot from Musk's xAI company, which is integrated into Musk's social media platform X, repeatedly brought...

Kidnapped Pastor: Cops' Wrong Turn Saved My Life

Josh Sullivan says it was a 'miracle from God' after abduction in South Africa

(Newser) - A pastor from Tennessee says a "miracle from God" saved his life six days after he was kidnapped in South Africa last month. Josh Sullivan tells Fox News that he was kidnapped from his church in Eastern Cape Province by armed men who drove him away in his own...

Episcopal Church Makes 'Striking' Move on Refugees

Church won't help resettle South African refugees, citing its 'commitment to racial justice'

(Newser) - The Episcopal Church's migration service is ending its longstanding partnership with the US federal government after refusing to help resettle white South Africans recently granted refugee status in the US. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced the decision this week, citing the church's "commitment to racial justice...

First Group of White South African Refugees Heads to US

Afrikaner families prioritized as refugee groups question US policy shift

(Newser) - The first group of white South Africans taking part in the Trump administration's controversial relocation program left South Africa Sunday en route for the US, where they'll have refugee status. The 49 people, members of the country's minority Afrikaner group, departed Johannesburg on a private charter...

White South Africans Take Trump Up on His Offer

Administration to fly in about 60 refugees on Monday after blocking other groups

(Newser) - The Trump administration plans to fly about 60 white South Africans to Washington on Monday, reviving only for them a program to admit people escaping war and political persecution that has been otherwise shut down. President Trump signed an executive order in February suggesting that "Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored...

Mass Poisoning One of Worst to Hit Famed Park

More than 100 vultures died in South Africa's Kruger National Park

(Newser) - At least 123 vultures died in South Africa's flagship national park after eating the carcass of an elephant that was poisoned by poachers with agricultural pesticides, park authorities and an animal conservation group said Thursday. Another 83 vultures that were rescued from the site and transported for treatment by...

Abducted US Pastor Rescued in Chaotic Shootout

Josh Sullivan, 45, was 'miraculously unharmed,' 5 days after being taken in South Africa

(Newser) - An American missionary who was abducted at gunpoint in South Africa almost a week ago has been rescued, but not before a white-knuckle shootout between his captors and local police. CBS News reports that the rescue operation for 45-year-old pastor Josh Sullivan went down on Tuesday on the outskirts of...

In South Africa, Nobel Winner's Death Is Getting a Second Look

New evidence challenges original accident ruling on Albert Luthuli

(Newser) - South African prosecutors have reopened the case of African National Congress leader Albert Luthuli's mysterious 1967 death, challenging decades-old conclusions and promising new insights into a pivotal moment of the apartheid era, per the AP . The government declared Luthuli, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was struck by a...

A Pair of Orcas Are Terrorizing Sharks

A pair of orcas off the coast of South Africa are on a gruesome rampage

(Newser) - There's something striking fear into the hearts of great white sharks off the coast of South Africa: two killer whales with an appetite for their livers. As the Washington Post reports, a pair of male orcas known as "Port" and "Starboard" are terrorizing shark populations in the...

South Africa Crowds Cheer Envoy Expelled by US

Rubio had said Ebrahim Rasool hates Trump

(Newser) - The South African ambassador who was expelled from the US and declared persona non grata by the Trump administration was given a hero's welcome on his return home Sunday, when hundreds of supporters gathered at an airport and sang songs praising him. The crowds at Cape Town International Airport...

Trump Offered Asylum, 67K White South Africans Jumped

Group finds tens of thousands are interested in coming to US as refugees

(Newser) - South Africa has been in President Trump's crosshairs over the past few months, with Trump accusing the African nation's government of confiscating land from white farmers—a claim that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denies. Trump issued an executive order in February that cut aid to South Africa...

Trump Administration Orders Ambassador to Leave by Friday

It's not clear whether South Africa's ambassador to the US is still in the country

(Newser) - The State Department says South Africa's ambassador to the United States, who was declared "persona non grata" last week, has until Friday to leave the country. After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the US and posted his decision...

Rubio: Ambassador Who Criticized Trump Is Out

Post says South African envoy 'hates America and hates @POTUS'

(Newser) - The US has expelled South Africa's ambassador, described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Friday post on X as "a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS." South Africa's presidential office on Saturday called the decision "regrettable," the BBC reports, and...

First Openly Gay Imam Killed in South Africa

Supporters believe Muhsin Hendricks was assassinated because of his teachings

(Newser) - A man regarded as the first openly gay Muslim imam has been fatally shot while sitting in a car in South Africa in what many are calling an assassination because of his teachings. Muhsin Hendricks, 57, was ambushed by two men in a pick-up truck while visiting the southern city...

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