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Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos announced his final 26-member squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Wednesday. Photo: SAFA

Bafana Bafana: A squad built for more than just participation

The current squad stands out as one of the most impressive in recent memory. Its strength draws heavily from the domestic powerhouse clubs

The final meeting ahead of the Africa Forward Summit which takes place in Nairobi, Kenya. (@ForeignOfficeKE/X)

From summits to substance: Europe’s chance to meet Africa on its terms

The clustering of Africa summits in 2026 is not coincidental. It reflects a continent whose geopolitical and economic weight is growing and whose governments are increasingly…

Roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint now under strain.

World war of economics

An interconnected world has rendered us interdependent but also vulnerable to shock across economic geographies, forcing distinct national responses

Since the end of World War II, the world has witnessed numerous financial crises stemming from the unique nature of sovereign borrowing. (Getty)

Rising debt challenges divide developed and developing economies

An international framework that prevents prolonged restructuring negotiations is required

Han Kang, the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Picture: Getty Images

South Korea’s Han sells one million books after Nobel win

Han’s win has created a sensation in South Korea, with the websites of major bookstores and publishing houses crashing

The maize imports are limited and exports to various destinations in the world continue. Photo: File

SA’s agricultural export growth cools slightly in second quarter of 2024

Despite this drop, trade figures remain encouraging, but various departments need to address policy and other issues to boost exports

Nancy Karigithu is one of seven contenders pitching for the top job at the International Maritime Organisation

Kenyan aims to be first woman, African to lead UN maritime body

Nancy Karigithu is one of seven contenders pitching for the top job at the International Maritime Organisation

The purpose of the US sanctions, the second generation of sanctions after the earlier one in August 2021, is to restrict China’s ability to import advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors. Photo: Supplied

US chip ban on China: A declaration of computer-age ‘war’?

Sanctions can at best slow China from taking the global lead in chip manufacturing. At their worst, they will raise the chances of chip wars spilling into a physical or economic…

Dominic Adiyiah of Ghana heads on target as Luis Suarez of Uruguay handles the ball on the goal line, for which he is sent off, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Quarter Final match between Uruguay and Ghana at the Soccer City stadium on July 2, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

2022 World Cup: What’s the deal in group H?

Portugal enter with their most exciting side since 2006 and Ghana have a shot at revenge against Uruguay

Unpaid labour, primarily done by women, played an essential role in sustaining society during the pandemic – now policymakers must give this work its proper due
 (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

Covid-19 reveals cracks in the ‘care economy’

Unpaid labour, primarily done by women, played an essential role in sustaining society during the pandemic – now policymakers must give this work its proper due

Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong (C), vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, leaves after a retrial at the Seoul High Court in Seoul in October 2019. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Samsung boss goes on trial on drugs charges

Two months ago Lee Jae-yong was released early from a two and a half year prison term for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with a corruption scandal

‘Squid Game’ is an explicit critique of the current mode of capitalism. (John McCann/M&G)

South Africans are trapped in a ‘Squid Game’

‘Squid Game’ is an explicit critique of the current mode of capitalism. But far too much popular discourse has overlooked or neglected its sociopolitical messages.

A man watches a television news broadcast showing file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on September 15, 2021, after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea according to the South’s military. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

North Korea fires ‘missile’, insists on right to weapons tests

The projectile was fired from the northern province of Jagang into waters off the east coast

Bae Suzy stars in Vagabond, a  film that deftly illustrates how corruption is not really possible without the connivance of at least one unit from a country’s intelligence services. (Photo: Courtesy of Netflix)

Review: State capture is business as usual in ‘Vagabond’

The South Korean Netflix drama will resonate with audiences, for all the wrong reasons

Akwasi Frimpong of Ghana practices during Men’s Skeleton training ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Olympic Sliding Centre on February 7, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.  (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

How Chadwick Boseman inspired Africa’s first black skeleton racer

Inspired by Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of King T’Challa in ‘Black Panther’, Akwasi Frimpong set out to make his look, and impact, rich, black and cross-cultural

Graduates are being left in the lurch by a higher education department that is simply unable to deliver the crucial certificates proving their qualifications – in some cases dating back to 1992

Where do Africans study abroad?

China is becoming the preferred destination for countries such as Ghana and Nigeria

Up to one in five people can get long COVID — a condition in which someone keeps on feeling ill for months after their initial symptoms have cleared up. (Paul Botes)

No proof of Covid-19 reinfection, yet

Some people report testing positive for Covid-19 after initially having the disease and then testing negative. Scientists are still trying to understand if this means that…

Intergenerational benefits: Children who have healthy diets, good care and education are likely to have productive lives. (Adek Berry/AFP)

Invest in children to give them a better world

This entails putting them at the centre of national strategies, but doing it without high CO2 releases

Despite the media’s wish for a neat story, the African continent’s response to Covid-19 is all over the map

Covid-19: Free the evidence

Governments need to provide the modelling and data informing the strategy to control the spread of the novel coronavirus

Professor Salim Abdool Karim says that the lockdown has brought South Africans some time to prepare for the fight against the Coronavirus. (Madelene Cronjé)

Government’s Covid-19 science mask is slipping

The government’s professed reliance on science to justify its response to the pandemic reveals both its overconfidence and its insecurities about getting citizens to cooperate