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The Hill
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump endorses Senate Republican he once called ‘jerk' for reelection
President Trump has endorsed South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds (R) for reelection to his seat next year despite having years earlier called Rounds a 'jerk' and vowing not to support him in the future. Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that Rounds is an 'incredibly strong advocate' for South Dakota, also mentioning that he carried the state comfortably in each of his three presidential contests in 2016, 2020 and 2024. 'An America First Patriot, Mike is fighting tirelessly to Advance the Great Values of the Mount Rushmore State, Champion our Farmers and Ranchers, Strengthen the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Ensure American Energy DOMINANCE, Help Secure our already Highly Secure Border, Support our Brave Military, Veterans, and Law Enforcement, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,' Trump said. 'Mike Rounds has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!' he continued. The endorsement comes about three years after Trump slammed Rounds in 2022 over the senator's comments calling the 2020 presidential election 'fair.' 'The only reason he did this is because he got my endorsement and easily won his state in 2020, so now he thinks he has time, and those are the only ones, the weak, who will break away,' Trump said at the time. 'Even though his election will not be coming up for 5 years, I will never endorse this jerk again.' With Trump's endorsement, Rounds will be a clear favorite to win reelection next year in the solidly conservative-leaning state. Rounds told reporters that he got a call about Trump's endorsement 'out of the blue' but appreciates Trump's support. He hasn't formally announced that he's running for reelection but is planning to. 'I really appreciate the very gracious endorsement that he offered today, and like I told him, I said I haven't publicly announced yet, but I'm putting everything together to be able to do that in the near future,' he said. Trump has regularly threatened to withhold his endorsement or back primary challengers to lawmakers who openly defy him, such as those who voted to impeach him following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Rounds raised concerns about how Trump's rescissions package would impact tribal public media outlets, but ultimately voted for it after telling reporters that he secured commitments from the White House to fund the stations by other means.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Saskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride
Watch Saskatoon's Chief of Police on dangerous speeders, a massive crackdown, and prepping for new bear spray regulation.
The Standard
a day ago
- Politics
- The Standard
Hong Kong to host 94th Interpol General Assembly in 2026
Hong Kong applying for host of Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow last year. (Photo: Police)
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Queensland police officers involved in weekend fatal shooting weren't equipped with latest taser model
Police officers involved in a fatal shooting in Townsville were not equipped with the latest model of taser, the Queensland premier has confirmed. Police were called to a North Ward street on Saturday morning to reports a man was armed with a machete and a knife. It's alleged the man advanced towards officers while armed. After what the union has described as a "failed taser deployment", three officers fired multiple shots into the man's chest and legs. Authorities said he was provided immediate medical assistance but died at the scene. More than $47 million in funding was allocated in the state government's most recent budget for the purchase of 6,500 new taser models, known as Taser 10s. But Premier David Crisafulli said the officers in Townsville did not yet have the new equipment. "The first thing we did in our first budget was to fund the rollout of the Taser 10s that police have been crying (out) for, for a few years," Mr Crisafulli said. "It gives the officers the protection they need, but it also helps save the life of individuals as well, it works both ways. The former Labor government committed funding for 1,000 of the updated tasers last year after a trial in 2023. The Queensland Police Service (QPS) did not give an update on the progress of the rollout when contacted for comment. Instead, a police spokesperson said officers were trained to use "ongoing threat assessment and communication strategies aimed at reducing the risk of harm to the community". "Officer and community safety is paramount when police are responding to dangerous situations, with officers trained to conduct threat assessments to use the minimum force necessary to resolve an incident, with the focus on de-escalation of the situation," they said. Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said he understood the new tasers would be available across the state from 2026, and would be safer for officers. "We're going to have the ability to stand at greater lengths, we're going to have more shots and better accuracy,' Mr Prior said. "The Queensland Police Union advocated and has continued to advocate heavily for the complete rollout of Taser 10s, that's why at the last election we lobbied both Liberal and Labor party to commit to a full rollout." 'We are very appreciative of that ... but we have to acknowledge that the delay has and may very well cost lives in Queensland.' Mr Prior said a taser was an essential piece of equipment for officers and he was looking forward to every single officer being equipped with one. He said it was particularly important given the "increasing violence" police officers were facing on the frontline. 'Never has it been as dangerous as it is right now for police in Queensland," Mr Prior said. QPS said the shooting would be investigated by the Ethical Standards Command, with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission. That would include examination of the officers' body-cam footage as well as CCTV.
Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Maverick
People of Pennington: Tidy Towns pulls South Coast town into competition finals
Residents of Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal, are volunteering their time and money and working with the municipality to improve local services. Now, they're vying for Pennington to be crowned Town of the Year. Trimmed hedges, a walkable town, safety, cleanliness and a Blue Flag beach. It's these little things that improve the experience of a town, and despite challenges such as water outages and other service delivery issues, the residents of Pennington organise daily to help make the town pleasant and comfortable to live in. The chairperson of the Pennington non-profit organisation Tidy Towns, Viv Sandwith, says what they do is like putting lipstick on the town. Sandwith and her team at Tidy Towns played a big role in entering Pennington into a Town of the Year competition, which offers a R1-million prize. Sandwith and her team entered the town in the competition. They are all volunteers who do this work of organising the community over and above their day jobs or commitments. She said this was not possible without willing residents and daily community organising and building. She gave an example of a car park by the beach that Tidy Towns refurbished: 'You couldn't drive in this car park because of the potholes,' she said. 'So, we spent R350,000 repaving from scratch. We took out the tar and paved it. The bathrooms were unusable. They were so bad. And we got them renovated from head to toe. So, they're now like a five-star hotel inside. You can't go in because there's no water. So, basically, we put the lipstick on,' said Sandwith. Street groups 'Just to make our town look beautiful and feel clean. If the rubbish truck hasn't come because they're on strike, we organise rubbish collection. I've started a thing for street groups, so now every street in Pennington has a group and a leader. 'So, if I want to announce something, I put it on, and all the admins are in one group. I put it in one group and then they all spread it out. We can say, guys, rubbish trucks are not coming today, please keep your rubbish inside,' said Sandwith. Tidy Towns is a community-driven project. According to its web page, it is 'Supported by the joining hands of like-minded volunteers, private security companies, Umdoni Municipality, local Law Enforcement, the SAPS and the business sector. Participants are committed to restoring our public spaces to clean and safe environments, for the enjoyment of locals and visitors alike, whilst creating opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the committed cleaning teams created.' Sandwith said the street groups were also helpful because they helped foster safety, especially for the older people in the community. 'It's incredible, we're not living with potholes anymore. We're collecting money on our streets. We're fixing our potholes. Many of our streets are smooth sailing now because of the locals, so people are putting their own money in. But the important thing is that we never work outside of the municipality. I've got a very good relationship with them, with the beach manager. I had a meeting last week with the mayor, the municipal manager, and three of the GMs. We just sat and chatted,' said Sandwith. Despite continuous challenges with the Umdoni Municipality, the community pulls through to create a better community. A recent incident caused the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Umdoni Local Municipality to write to the Public Protector, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as lay an official complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) 'over the Umdoni crisis that continues to cripple services'. This follows another staff strike that has paralysed operations amid calls for the mayor, Councillor Mbali Luthuli, and Acting Municipal Manager Nhlakanipho Khumalo, to go. The strike has entered its second week with no services being rendered. R1-million prize Pennington has got through the initial phases of kykNET's Dorp van die Jaar (Town of the Year) competition, beating competing towns in KwaZulu-Natal to become a finalist in the last round. Top towns from all participating regions in South Africa and Namibia are competing and the winner will win R1-million. Sandwith said they hoped to win so they could continue the work to upgrade and keep up the town. They hoped to buy a soccer kit for the local soccer team, install an outdoor gym, pay the guys who help clean up the town and other initiatives. 'We're going to refurbish the outside of the clinic and the library. Because this clinic serves a lot of Malangeni here,' Sandwith said. 'We want to add three bus stops. Oh, and we want to put in a fitness gym, [an] outdoor fit gym. So we want to put outdoor gym equipment for older people or kids. We want to help fix the roof of that hall because it needs work. We want to fix the showers up a bit here (at the beach),' said Sandwith. The town is small, and it is a retirement town, but it offers a variety of activities from golfing to beach activities and hiking. It also has special businesses such as the Basset Brewery, which has expanded to be a restaurant and nature sanctuary as it is built in what used to be a nursery. Andy Turner founded and runs the Doghouse Craft Café with his partner Natalie Danks. They offer tasting trays and advice on which meals to pair with the craft beer they offer. Turner said that the business originated when he was still making beer at home just for himself. Craft beers 'So I was brewing a little, 20 litres at a time, just trying to make the styles that I knew from Europe. 'And the first one I ever made that I was really proud of, which was good enough to show my friends, was an English bitter type of beer, so I called it Bassett Bitter.' Now they offer a variety of beers with certain crafts blended specifically for different seasons. Turner said the café and brewery had attracted beer enthusiasts from all over the world, along with their pies. He noted that a lot of people liked the beers that tasted most like commercial lagers, but others were more experimental and liked to be exposed to different beers. Danks moved to Pennington 17 years ago and says she loves the do-it-yourself spirit of Pennington residents — 'because either you are going to moan about the problem, or fix it'. DM
