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Mail & Guardian
antony blinkenlatest news & developments
An Israeli soldier directs an artillery unit near the border with Lebanon on January 11, 2024 in Northern Israel. The war between Israel and Hamas that ignited on Oct. 7 has also inflamed tensions on the country’s northern border with Lebanon, where the militant political group Hezbollah has traded cross-border fire with Israel in the most significant clashes since 2006.  (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

US embassy official in SA reiterates rejection of Gaza ceasefire

David Feldman said Jews in South Africa should not be held responsible for the words and actions of the Israeli government

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department on December 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Jordan king presses Blinken on Gaza ceasefire, aid

Washington has twice exercised its veto at the United Nations Security Council over ceasefire calls, drawing outrage in the Arab world

There is strong bipartisan and beneficiary support for making improvements to Agoa.

African Growth and Opportunity Act: Early extension or substantive improvements?

There is good and bad news – strong bipartisan support for improving Agoa and little consensus on what improvements should be made to the Act

President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images

United States won’t lower its Agoa human rights standards

South Africa’s eligibility has been called into question, with some US lawmakers citing the country’s stance on Russia and, most recently, Israel and Gaza

US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety.

South Africa pushing for US ambassador Reuben Brigety’s expulsion

Brigety’s allegation that South Africa supplied arms to Russia caused the rand to tumble amid concerns the country would lose its American trade ties

EFF leader Julius Malema. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)

US keep your Agoa, we will keep our sovereignty – EFF leader Julius Malema

Addressing his supporters, Malema called on presidents of Brazil, China and India to pull out of the Brics summit in solidarity with Russia’s Putin

Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Joe Biden. Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images

Biden suggested I speak to Putin, says Ramaphosa

Despite diplomatic tensions caused by Pretoria’s ties to Moscow, Ramaphosa said the US president was initially encouraged by his non-aligned stance

File: US President Joe Biden shakes hands with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on September 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of enduring partnership, and discussed their work together to address regional and global challenges. (Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

SA, US both lose if Washington breaks off relations with Pretoria

The South African government has remained coy over its economic ties with the US, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s office has issued a subtle warning to Pretoria

South Africa’s defence minister, Thandi Modise. (Gallo)

South African Defence Minister, Modise: ‘We did not send fokol to Russia, not even a piece of Chappies’

The minister of defence said she was tired of anti-Russian phobia in the country

Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Pandor: Blinken did not come to tell SA to choose sides in the Ukraine-Russia war

The US secretary of state said that when one country invades another country, sovereignty and independence mattered

On guard: Rwandan soldiers patrol the Afungi Peninsula in the Palma district of Cabo Delgado province, near Total’s liquid natural gas facility. A contingent of a thousand Rwandan soldiers have, since July 2021, been in Mozambique to fight insurgents. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP)

Bonomado Machude Omar, Mozambique’s most wanted man

The leader of the insurgency in the country’s northern Cabo Delgado province is described as ‘sinister and brutal’ but ‘with a sense of justice’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Photo by Ting Shen-Pool/Getty Images)

Blinken heads to Nigeria facing calls to rethink ties

With 20% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population and its largest economy, Nigeria is critical for any continent-wide strategy and successive US administrations have courted Nigerian…

Competitive instincts: The US and China, together responsible for 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, must cooperate to reduce them – but traditional US diplomacy isn’t working on a China intent to be seen to make changes on its own terms. (Jimmy Beunardeau/Hans Lucas)

The next big global race is the race for green tech

The great powers such as US and China will compete to be first with climate targets, but climate crises will spur their populations to demand change too