Slain soldier's widow hits back at Trump

[Daily Maverick] FIRST THING with JOHN STUPART Tuesday, 24 October 2017 “I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.” Mary Oliver STORY OF THE DAY [TRAINSPOTTER: The ANC’s ultimate Dark Horse candidate – one’s interview with Zweli Mkhize]( By RICHARD POPLAK Dr Zweli Mkhize, Treasurer-General of the African National Congress, is now the third force in what was meant to be a two candidate succession race between Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa. Can the good doctor saunter through the middle of the field and step onto the podium? First, the physician must heal himself – or, more accurately, everyone in his party. But is there a scalpel in the world sharp enough for such surgery? [Trump's widow treatment scandal lingers]( The pregnant widow of an American Green Beret killed in an ambush in Niger has said that Donald Trump "made me cry". Speaking on American morning television, Myeshia Johnson noted how Trump failed to recall her late husband's name while saying that "he knew what he signed up for". Trump naturally denied all of these things, putting him in the unenviable position of taking offence with a grieving widow. While not quite Trump's Benghazi, the issue is certainly not disappearing. [Kagame critic refused bail]( Rwanda's courts have refused bail for a famous critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Charged with insurrection against the state, Diane Rwigara was arrested last month with her mother and sister. Rwigara has stated that she was a victim of political persecution. Kagame, it seems, will brook no opposition to his reign. [Fox News and O'Reilly accused of harassment]( Ex-Fox anchor Megyn Kelly has accused Fox News of sheltering former presenter Bill O'Reilly from sexual harassment claims. Speaking on NBC television, Kelly said that she had emailed Fox News last November about O'Reilly, with zero response. Considering the way Fox operates, this could be considered an ordinary work week. [Head-shrinking shrews change skulls]( Shrew skulls shrink in the winter, a new study has revealed. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Germany indicated that after shrinking, the shrews' skulls increases to near-normal size in spring. The skulls were just part of the shrew anatomy that shrinks, which included organs and brain mass. These shrewd shrews clearly don't shirk shaping in winter. — Cape Town Water Crisis IN NUMBERS 4.28 The average number of words per second in Eminem's "Rap God", the world's wordiest song according to the Guinness Book of Records. FACTS OF THE DAY Today in 1945 the United Nations Charter was brought into force. South Africa's Union Prime Minister, Jan Smuts, was a founding member of this, signing the UN Charter in June A Danish study into the secret of happiness found that the key is to have low expectations. FEATURED ARTICLES [TRAINSPOTTER: The ANC’s ultimate Dark Horse candidate – one’s interview with Zweli Mkhize]( [TRAINSPOTTER: The ANC’s ultimate Dark Horse candidate – one’s interview with Zweli Mkhize]( BY Richard Poplak [Declassified: Apartheid Profits – Le Cercle, the Phantom Profiteers]( [Declassified: Apartheid Profits – Le Cercle, the Phantom Profiteers]( BY Open Secrets [Medium-Term Budget: Gigaba needs more than pretty words to balance the nation’s books]( [Medium-Term Budget: Gigaba needs more than pretty words to balance the nation’s books]( BY Marianne Merten [ANC Leadership Race: Slowly and chaotically, branches are making up their minds]( [ANC Leadership Race: Slowly and chaotically, branches are making up their minds]( BY Carien du Plessis [Op-Ed: Medium Term Budget – Gigaba must support Radical Economic Growth and SMEs]( [Op-Ed: Medium Term Budget – Gigaba must support Radical Economic Growth and SMEs]( BY Bernard Swanepoel [Op-Ed: Policing in post-apartheid South Africa – the past in the present]( [Op-Ed: Policing in post-apartheid South Africa – the past in the present]( BY Raymond Suttner [Op-Ed: Lagos, the relentless city]( [Op-Ed: Lagos, the relentless city]( BY Greg Mills & Dickie Davis [Life Esidimeni: Relatives question arbitration as truth and comfort remain elusive]( [Life Esidimeni: Relatives question arbitration as truth and comfort remain elusive]( BY Greg Nicolson [The Right Stuff? Two presentations show whether Mkhize and Mashaba have the mettle to lead]( [The Right Stuff? Two presentations show whether Mkhize and Mashaba have the mettle to lead]( BY J Brooks Spector [#CapeWaterGate: How the city’s top hotels are taking action in the drought]( [#CapeWaterGate: How the city’s top hotels are taking action in the drought]( BY Antoinette Muller [Cape Town Drought Crisis: Guidelines for water rationing]( [Cape Town Drought Crisis: Guidelines for water rationing]( BY Daily Maverick OPINIONISTAS [Let me ask you: Are you working for South Africa?]( [Let me ask you: Are you working for South Africa?]( A column by Mark Heywood [High Court judgment limits government interference of SABC, strikes a blow for independence]( [High Court judgment limits government interference of SABC, strikes a blow for independence]( A column by Pierre de Vos [#MeToo : A parallel universe made visible]( [#MeToo : A parallel universe made visible]( A column by Marianne Thamm [Township economy bears brunt of water cuts and failed DA leadership]( [Township economy bears brunt of water cuts and failed DA leadership]( A column by David Ka-Ndyalvan [ANC Elective conference: The new NEC should be a generational mix of the best cadres]( [ANC Elective conference: The new NEC should be a generational mix of the best cadres]( A column by Rebone Tau — Weather BFN: min: 14° max 31°, cloudy CPT: min: 13° max: 18°, cloudy DBN: min: 18° max: 23°, cloudy EL: min: 16° max: 24°, cloudy JHB: min: 16° max: 26°, cloudy KIM: min: 16° max: 33°, cloudy NLP: min: 18° max: 34°, sunny MHK: min: 18° max: 21°, sunny PMB: min: 16° max: 21°, cloudy PE: min: 13° max: 27°, cloudy PTA: min: 18° max: 31°, cloudy Financial Data Oil=$57.36 Gold=$1,279.91 Platinum=$924.36 R/$=13.71 R/€=16.09 R/£=18.10 $/€=0.83 JSE All Share=57,999.60 DJIA=23,325.48 FTSE 100=7,524.45 [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2017 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick First Thing subscriber list. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](