ukrainelatest news & developments
Domineering: President Donald Trump has called allies to contribute to the US-Israeli campaign but he later dismissed the need for a coalition altogether.

Solitary superpower erodes global unity

The message is unmistakable: allies must contribute to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran or face consequences for the partnership itself. Yet, as the conflict enters its fourth week, Trump appears increasingly comfortable with a go-it-alone strategy.

The Danish Refugee Council has documented a 2026 law that allows Ukrainian authorities to remove children from danger zones without parental consent.

The widescale abuse of Ukraine’s children by the State

Coverage of Ukrainian children often fixes blame on Russia and leaves the conduct of the Ukrainian government in the background, even though the evidence of exploitation, forced separation, weak oversight and institutional damage inside Ukraine’s own system is extensive and public

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says more than 11,000 pregnant women in the earthquake-affected areas are in urgent need of assistance. – Credit UNFPA

Global wars and fuel shocks are putting pregnant women at greater risk of dying in childbirth

As wars disrupt fuel supplies and health systems, more women are being forced to give birth without timely access to skilled care

Age of cruelty

The rise of darkness indeed splits the world … It divides us into those who believe in humanity and those who feel entitled to do whatever they want

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to assist in efforts to bring home 17 South African men caught in the Russia-Ukraine war. (Russian Embassy in South Africa/X)

Ramaphosa secures Putin’s support for the return of 17 South Africans caught in Russia-Ukraine war

The men found themselves trapped in the conflict after being allegedly lured to Russia by uMkhonto weSizwe’s Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla

Pax Americana: Same difference

By his own account, America’s mission in Venezuela is to seize control of the world’s largest oil reserves

False claims: Contrary to popular narrative, President Cyril Ramaphosa is far from the indecisive leader he’s alleged to be, says the writer. Photo: GCIS

Ramaphosa no weak president

Bold and assertive Cyril debunks the myth of a weak and indecisive leader

Flashpoint: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has urged the US to ‘stop the threats’ and asserting that
Greenland is not for sale and the US has no right to annex any territory of the Danish kingdom.

Selective outrage and erosion of sovereignty

Sovereignty appears vigorously defended in Europe when violated by adversaries but ignored when challenged by allies

Nature’s bounty: Africa possesses extraordinary renewable energy
potential, with its abundant sunshine, wind, geothermal and
hydroelectric resources. Photo: Paul Botes

Venezuela, proof that fossil fuels are a security curse

Crisis in Caracas should provide impetus for Africa to lead the renewables revolution and shield itself from the chaos of fossil fuel geopolitics

The war in Ukraine continues to reshape Europe’s security landscape, testing international resolve and the principles of sovereignty and territorial
integrity. Photo Ukraine Ministry of Defence

Us today; you tomorrow

WW2 is conventionally dated to September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, but its origins can reasonably be traced back to 1935 when Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia

Stop the war: Begged not to start the war against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin went ahead to break a decade-long global taboo of bigger nations invading their smaller counterparts.

Russia’s new old imperialism

It takes true evil to send unwitting, unprepared young men, complete strangers to the whole Ukraine-Russia context, into Europe’s worst meat grinder since World War Two

Call for South Africa to support the UN Resolution on the return of the Ukrainian children

Supporting the return of Ukrainian children is consistent with South Africa’s constitutional values and its long-standing commitment to human rights

Lady linchpin: Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is at the heart of the furore over SA men dispatched to Russia.
Photo: MK Party

Men trapped in Ukraine war promised MKP jobs

MK party says it knows nothing about the ill-fated Russian trip involving 17 South Africans

Support: The principles underlying South Africa’s liberation from oppressive apartheid rule are captured at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Norway continues to show solidarity  through development aid to those countries in need. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Struggles for freedom still relevant today

Shifting geopolitics is highlighting new and old arenas of conflict and violations of international law

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was the winner of the meeting in Alaska with US President Donald Trump. Photo: File

Ukraine war: Trump’s ambiguity in diplomacy does not work

The US president’s flipflopping does not work when it comes to dealing with any serious situation, and the Russia-Ukraine war is teaching him that lesson

US President Donald Trump’s land-for-peace formula feeds into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s revanchism. Photo: Dominick Reuter/Reuters

Europe’s dilemma: Standing by Ukraine as Trump courts Putin

Russia’s demand for Ukraine to surrender the free parts of Donbas is ‘equivalent to the US having to give up Florida’

About 400 million children (one in five) live in or are fleeing war. Photo: File

Humanity in dire need in Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Haiti

Around the world, more than 300 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection

The tide is slowly turning on uncritical pro-West reporting on issues such as Russia’s war on Ukraine (above) or Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP

Reporting from the West: A return to reason?

Influential people in parts of the media, civil society and academia in South Africa echoed Western narratives without scrutiny, but now the tide is slowly turning

Nelson Mandela chose to negotiate with his enemy, the apartheid state, because he believed that emotions such as hate got in the way of strategy.

The Mandela legacy: Might ‘quiet diplomacy’ work in conflicts such as Ukraine and Russia?

South Africa’s commitment to a foreign policy of non-alignment and Cyril Ramaphosa’s experience with negotiations to end apartheid serve as an example

The area around Hotazel in the Northern Cape contains much of the world’s known deposits of manganese.

The global race for critical minerals is on. Where is South Africa?

The country needs to establish a deliberate geopolitical hedging strategy to traverse this changing terrain