South Africa’s foreign policy is in disarray and risks being pulled in different directions as the world order changes, according to analysis in the Financial Times. The paper questions whether officials know whether it has been exporting arms to Russia and argues the inconsistency of the ruling African National Congress stems in part from its nostalgia for the Soviet Union and from links between Russian oligarchs and the ANC. As non-western nations increase their global economic output, South Africa is poised at the intersection of external pressure from larger nations and internal debate over ideals and identity.
New research indicates that groups from across Africa contributed to the emergence of the modern Homo sapiens, migrating and mixing over hundreds of thousands of years. The study, which is based on modern African genome data, found that people alive now can trace their ancestry back one million years to at least two populations that were in Africa at that time. The research contradicts the theory that our species evolved in a single region of Africa. The study was based on genome data from 290 people from four diverse African populations.
Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne has warned England that Steve Smith, who dominated the 2019 Ashes with 774 runs in 7 innings, could be even better this year. Ahead of facing up against Smith for Glamorgan in the County Championship, Labuschagne talked up his teammate's ability to adapt his batting style to different conditions, praising Smith's aptitude for recognising situations in a game and finding the best solution. Labuschagne highlighted technical changes Smith has made to his game in the past year, including being a lot more side-on and not using a big trigger movement as examples, and noted that his ability to bat in multiple ways would make it difficult for England to predict how to tackle him during the Ashes series. Jofra Archer's absence due to injury was also noted as a blow for England, with Labuschagne praising the player's skill, ability to swing and seam the ball.
The G7 summit in Hiroshima is particularly important given the current geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and tensions between China and the US. President Biden is keen to coordinate with democratic allies to deal with both issues. Observers will be watching for a convincing show of unity from the G7 on both China and Russia, and to see if that unity extends beyond rhetoric. The American emphasis on the G7, rather than the G20, marks a shift from a period dominated by economics and globalisation to a new era defined by politics and strategic rivalries.
Former Ireland coach Warren Gatland has spoken about how current La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara had once played a key role in stopping Gatland from resigning from coaching. Following Ireland’s 50-18 defeat to England at Twickenham in the Six Nations in February 2000, Gatland had decided to make several changes ahead of the Scotland game. However, when Scotland took a 10-0 lead early on, Gatland thought his failure was inevitable. But O’Gara helped Ireland come back from 10-0 down, resulting in a 44-22 win, thereby pulling Gatland back from the brink of resignation. Gatland said he had "learned to have players who played with fire, passion, and never-say-die attitude".
Former All Blacks player Charles Piutau has joined Japanese side Shizuoka BlueRevs. Piutau was just 23 when he left New Zealand to play in the UK, sending shockwaves through the rugby community. Piutau played for Wasps, Ulster and Bristol Bears before moving to Japan. Born in Auckland, Piutau’s parents are from Tonga, making him eligible to play for either New Zealand or Tonga, although he has only played for the latter so far, and will do so again in the World Cup in France later this year. Piutau has been characterized as one of the best foreign players to have appeared in the UK and has also been noted for his speed and skill. “The league is very competitive. In terms of that, I think you’ll see a lot more foreign players coming into this competition…” said Piutau.
Regional leaders from the Middle East are due to attend a summit on Friday, including Syria's Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian leader's presence at the meeting shows a significant triumph for the once-derided president, putting a close to a decade of civil war due to his brutal handling of political unrest. Syria’s return to the Arab League, following an 11 year suspension, highlights a stark gap between the United States and its closest Middle Eastern allies on an issue that had united them. The Biden administration has said it pledges to maintain its policy of isolation and pressure against Assad, whose campaign resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and the displacement of half his country’s population. The growing rapprochement underscores a realisation in Middle Eastern countries that the US-led policy of replacing the Syrian leader had failed, whilst at the same set the stage for the rise of ISIS and expansion of Iranian military power on NATO’s borders. Arab leaders have accused the US of neglecting the region in favour of China and Russia, and are now left to readjust US priorities.
Global actors have been seeking their own solutions to the Ukrainian conflict, given concerns of differing views within the Group of Seven, the bloc composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the US. While Western states have vowed to provide huge amounts of military aid to Ukraine, countries elsewhere have been pushing for cessation of hostilities and a negotiated peace. Many politicians hope to give diplomatic initiatives a chance and have put forward peace plans with Russia and Ukraine. This includes China’s initiative, as China has significant leverage over Russia, but it has been deemed by analysts as working to preserve Russia’s advantage and undermine Ukraine, whereas Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has touted a nonaligned “peace club” to mediate a truce, irritating Washington DC further when accusing the West of helping to fuel the conflict with its shipments of weapons.
The economic issues surrounding the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in the US, including their cost, convenience, and environmental impact, are outlined in a recent episode of the Heritage Foundation's Heritage Explains podcast. The Biden administration's new regulations requiring EVs to represent at least 54% of all new vehicles sold in 2030 will have an adverse economic impact on the country, the podcast's guest speaker warned. Furthermore, the reliance on China for EV production will make it economically stronger while weakening the US economy. Trillions of dollars would, therefore, be wasted on EV production to benefit China, which makes solar panels, wind turbines, and electric batteries.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is co-leading a process aimed at starting the nation's recovery by resolving its $6bn of external debt arrears along with reforms to the exchange rate and central bank. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said that Zimbabwe's combined debt of $8.3bn was overwhelmingly in arrears, and owed $14bn to international creditors. He added that debt was not as debilitating as its arrears since Zimbabwe could not access international concessional financing. Without the support of international backers, Zimbabwe is struggling to secure new credit lines. The AfDB is amongst leading financial institutions that the country has not been given access to in over two decades due to its arrears. Among the conditions set by Zimbabwe's main creditors for accepting a debt-arrears-clearance program is compensation for expropriated white farmers.
Hong Kong's Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem have been handed a “decent” mixed doubles draw for the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban. The No 6 seeds will avoid facing a pairing from China, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan before the semi-finals, if they make it that far. Hong Kong’s men’s team coach Liu Guodong believes “a top-eight spot or even a medal is achievable.” Wong and Doo are expected to face Indian pair Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra, the world No 5, in the quarter-finals, before a potential face-off with the tournament’s top seeds Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the last four.
The South African rand strengthened slightly in early trading as the US dollar weakened ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and an S&P rating review for South Africa later in the day. The rand hit an all-time low last week due to domestic power crisis fears and allegations of weapons shipments to Russia. Among the factors affecting it this week are a SARB interest rate decision, and an auction of inflation-linked bonds and Treasury bills.
Former Ireland coach Warren Gatland has spoken about how current La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara had once played a key role in stopping Gatland from resigning from coaching. Following Ireland’s 50-18 defeat to England at Twickenham in the Six Nations in February 2000, Gatland had decided to make several changes ahead of the Scotland game. However, when Scotland took a 10-0 lead early on, Gatland thought his failure was inevitable. But O’Gara helped Ireland come back from 10-0 down, resulting in a 44-22 win, thereby pulling Gatland back from the brink of resignation. Gatland said he had "learned to have players who played with fire, passion, and never-say-die attitude".
The Group of Seven (G7) leaders visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Friday to spur momentum for nuclear disarmament ahead of the critical three-day summit in the atomic-bombed city. Japan remains the only country to have been attacked with a nuclear weapon, and the symbolism of holding the G7 summit in Hiroshima and visiting the Peace Park Museum "plays to one of Japan's strengths", according to Mark Fitzpatrick, former US State Department official. The primary aim of the summit is to pursue initiatives to foster disarmament and reinvigorate the stalled process of nuclear arms control. A total of nine countries currently field nuclear arsenals – the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, North Korea, Israel, India, and Pakistan. The G7 group comprises three nuclear states (France, Britain and the US), two states hosting nuclear weapons (Italy and Germany), and two states relying on such weapons in their security policies (Canada and Japan).
Russia has adopted China’s anti-imperial, anti-colonial stance and has begun touting it in sub-Saharan Africa as it seeks to expand its sphere of influence, according to an op-ed in the Toronto Star. Even as the war in Ukraine rages on, the article argues that Moscow and Beijing have increasingly “tightened and quickened their embrace” by tagging themselves as geopolitical, economic and moral foes of the West. Russian Russian media and propaganda efforts have blossomed in recent years in sub-Saharan Africa with Russian diplomats and business people criss-crossing the continent aided by Wagner troops on the ground. China has provided practical help, with its media rebroadcasting Russian propaganda content across Africa, and RT (formerly Russia Today) establishing a hub in South Africa.
The report suggests this is hardly the first time that Russia and China have teamed up. Throughout the 1950s, the two countries promoted world communism under the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Now, it appears, the new partnership provides a worldview that embraces rather than combats capitalism and luxury goods and is seen as a disruption and inversion of the “Western-led international order”.
Finally, the report suggests that Russia has been offered linguistic freedom to manoeuvre by the West, on occasion mimicking the language of Western leftist movements such as post-colonialism. “The Russian recycling of Western language has thus exposed the Western normative discourse,” the article argues.
Lewis Capaldi's second album, entitled “Monster,” features 12 tracks which are big, weepie ballads about relationship struggles as if trying to craft one perfect ballad from the depths of his soul. The album features long, drawn-out minutes of despair, with Capaldi's downbeat lyrics and sorrowful tone making up the majority of the mood of the album. Despite this, Capaldi’s still in his early twenties and is already becoming a major figure within the music industry. Regardless of its content, the album is worth a listen, and Capaldi's talent is undisputed, with electronic touches furthering his balladry.
The African mediating mission announced by South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa may merit a mention when historians write about the rise of the post-unipolar world, according to an op-ed in the Financial Times. The author, Alec Russell, argues that the quixotic mediators from Africa underscore the accelerating assertiveness of the countries of the “global south”. Many non-western nations have seen the west's full-throttle support for Ukraine and regard it as hypocritical, with powers once again prioritising their own interests and concerns over other global issues such as health and climate change. The crisis has led to a renewed focus on the idea of six African heads of state criss-crossing the front lines of a European war, which threatens to totally rewrite the post-1945 world order.
The Brics summit in Durban in August will be a cacophonous showcase for the contradictions within the new “non-aligned movement”. The group consists of two autocracies, Russia and China, two big democracies, Brazil and India, and the host, and junior relation, South Africa. Now over a dozen more countries are interested in joining, including Iran. The risk, particularly for India and Brazil, is that the Brics could tilt ever more into becoming a China club.
The author suggests that the west should lead by example, commit finally to reforms of the global order and choose words more carefully. The Biden administration has been building bespoke regional alliances, but China is also busily convening summits of its own. New world orders, it is cautioned, are of course easier to declare than realise. South Africa’s chaotic mediating pas de deux with Russia is seen as an object lesson in how not to play the non-aligned game.
S.Africa's Tharisa driven to truck its chrome as rail fails
Reuters
23-05-19 11:56
South African rail utility Transnet's shortage of locomotives and spare parts, vandalism and cable theft are causing widespread delays to rail freight services and driving up costs for miners like Tharisa, which rely heavily on rail. The miner trucks 85% of its chrome exports to ports, compared with the 20% it hauled by rail a few years ago due to the ease of loading and offloading. CEO Phoevos Pouroulis believes there are no short-term solutions for the problem and calls for public-private collaboration for network upgrades and maintenance and possible privatisation.
The Supreme Court of India has ordered the Narendra Modi government to transfer the translocated cheetahs to the western state of Rajasthan following the deaths of three animals in less than two months. Over a dozen cheetahs from South Africa and Namibia were translocated under 'Project Cheetah', more than 70 years after the animals were declared extinct. The Supreme Court said the three deaths in a short span of time were a "matter of serious concern". Citing reports, the Justices told the federal government that "there is too much concentration of cheetahs at one place."
Alun Wyn Jones, the 37-year-old Ospreys lock, has retired from Test rugby after earning 158 caps for Wales Rugby and making 12 British and Irish Lions Test appearances. His decision comes after Wales flanker Justin Tipuric, who earned 93 caps, also announced his retirement from the international stage. Both players had been named in a 54-player preliminary training squad for the World Cup, and their departure less than four months ahead of Wales' opener against Fiji will be a major blow. Jones is regarded as one of Wales' greatest-ever players.
