Newspaper headlines from around the world - Tuesday, 27 May 2025
A bundle of newspapers on the table. Image: The South African/CANVA
Here are the stories that made headlines on the front pages of newspapers worldwide on Tuesday, 27 May 2025. The New York Times front page reported that a delay in tariffs has spurred a new push for a US-EU deal. The Daily Mail's front page reported on the carnage at the parade. The Jerusalem Post's front page reported that Hamas agrees to Witkoff truce deal proposal – official. China Daily's front page reported that China and the EU are stepping up cooperation. The front page of Hindustan Times reported that the Bangladesh army is at odds with the government over the Myanmar corridor. The Japan Times' front page reported: 'Half-price rice by early June, Koizumi vows.'
If you wish to stay up-to-date – for FREE – on the latest international and South African news, then bookmark The South African website for all that plus the latest in the world of finance, sport, lifestyle – and more.
Did we mention it was 100% free to read …?
How much of a soccer fanatic are you? Take our quiz and let's find out!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
The logic behind Dawie Roodt's conclusion that 'Most South African universities must be closed'
History has no blank pages. Lest we forget the teaching of Hendrik Verwoerd that: 'There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of Labour…. What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice'. Exactly 31 years into a democracy, Roodt still dreams of an apartheid where whites saw themselves as the chosen (theologically, racially, politically, economically) nation of South Africa, 'De la Rey, De la Rey, sal jy die Boere kom lei'. A declaration by Roodt that 'most South African universities must be closed' and that only 10% should be allowed at universities is traced in the Afrikaner ideology, apartheid and a view 'net vir die blankes', an education for a few. Apartheid was a policy of segregation and political, social, and economic against black South Africans. The current statistic suggests that there are around 7% whites in the country, and this is the basis of Roodt's argument. In apartheid South Africa, schooling was compulsory for whites but not for Africans. Roodt has exceptions a 3% perhaps for future expansion of the white race or he wants to have exceptions for 'clever blacks' or house negros or Uncle Toms or Tengo Jabavu(s) who might be useful for the system for a whiteness project. Before we rush to conclude and argue that at least the 1953 Bantu Education Act created an opportunity for blacks to study or to even suggest that Verwoerd did not imply exclusion of black in all education, it is important to recall that the Act was created for black South Africans and to prepare them for lives as labouring class. Roodt base his argument on skills relevancy and on performance, and of course, the preceding sentence exposes his background and that his logic is rooted in the Bantu Act.
eNCA
2 hours ago
- eNCA
Le Pen, Orban lambast EU at far-right rally in France
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday lanched scathing attacks on the EU at a rally in France aimed at flaunting the unity and strength of the anti-immigration wing of European politics. Aimed at marking one year since Le Pen's National Rally (RN) crushed opponents to win their best-ever vote share in European elections, the get-together in Mormant-sur-Vernisson south of Paris brought together far-right leaders from across Europe. The mood was buoyant and confident in the wake of Donald Trump's return to the White House earlier this year and strong election results across the continent. Orban, revelling in his self-proclaimed status as the "black sheep of the EU" and "Brussels' nightmare", likened European migration policy to "an organised exchange of populations to replace the cultural base" of the continent. Boasting of having been able to "push back migrants" in his country, even if it meant incurring sanctions from Brussels, Orban told the several thousands present: "We will not let them destroy our cities, rape our girls and women, kill peaceful citizens." - 'Finish the game' - Le Pen, in her speech, described the European Union as a "graveyard of politically unfulfilled promises" and termed it "woke and ultra-liberal". "We don't want to leave the table. We want to finish the game and win, to take power in France and in Europe and give it back to the people," she said. Her party previously backed France's exit from the EU. But now it preaches European reform while remaining a member as Le Pen seeks to make the party electable and shake off the legacy of her late father Jean-Marie Le Pen. Other attendees included Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the League party Matteo Salvini, the leader of Spain's Vox party Santiago Abascal and former Czech premier Andrej Babis. They are all part of the Patriots for Europe faction in the European parliament, one of no less than three competing far-right factions in the chamber. Salvini meanwhile described migration as a "threat" to Europe. "The threat to our children is an invasion of illegal immigrants, mainly Islamists, financed and organised in the silence of Brussels," he affirmed from the podium, calling on European "patriots" to "work together" to "take back control of the destiny and future of Europe." In a sign of the controversy over the meeting, some 4,000 people from the left, hard left and trade unions protested in the nearby town of Montargis, according to organisers, vowing to "build resistance" and proclaiming the far-right leaders were "not welcome". "You have here the worst of the racist and xenophobic European far right that we know only too well," said French hard-left MEP Manon Aubry. - 'Brussels guillotine' - The meeting also comes less than two years ahead of watershed presidential elections in France where President Emmanuel Macron, who has long promoted himself as a bulwark against the far right, cannot stand again and the RN sees its best ever chance of taking power. But it is far from certain if Le Pen will stand for a fourth time as her conviction earlier this year in a fake jobs scandal disqualifies her from standing from public office. She has appealed. But waiting in the wings is her protege and RN party leader Jordan Bardella, 29, who would stand if Le Pen was ineligible. AFP | JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER Bardella, who polls have shown would still be set to win the first round of presidential elections if he stands, is taking care to project his image including a long TV interview with star anchor Karine Le Marchand aimed at showing his softer side. "We reject the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen," Bardella told the rally, referring to the chief of the EU Commission. "We reject the Europe of Macron... We represent the rebirth of a true Europe." As well as Le Pen's legal limbo, the contours of the French 2027 presidential election remain largely unclear, with centre-right former prime minister Edouard Philippe the only major player to clearly state he will stand. Orban urged the RN to emerge triumphant from the elections. "Without you, we will not be able to occupy Brussels (...) We will not be able to save Hungary from the Brussels guillotine," said Orban.
Daily Maverick
3 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Mathews Phosa's memoir is a bold narrative of political influence and resilience
This book is an elegy to a beloved political party and a failing, if not failed state. Mathews Phosa is devastating in his truthfulness, and stunning in his attempt to be generous to friend and foe alike. To bring her children up and to provide them with as much supplementary home-schooling support as she could, Reshoketjoe Phosa, Mathews Phosa's mother, indefinitely postponed the start of her own career as a professional nurse. She was a natural-born entrepreneur, a biscuit vendor and a maker and seller of ladies' hats as well as a prize-winning retailer of a popular brand of pyjamas. His father, Paul Phosa, was a teacher, principal and a serial builder of schools in many villages scattered around Nelspruit. This thanks to his artisan training in carpentry, building and plumbing, as well as his training as a teacher. When Mathews Phosa was of school-going age, his parents sent him back to their own roots — a farm called Polen near Mokopane — where he was raised by his grandfather Mathews Phosa Senior, after whom he was named. Grandpa Phosa was a devout Christian and a strict disciplinarian who was determined to shelter, cushion and shield his grandson from the 'contamination' and the dangers of South African politics. But guess what: as soon as Matthew Phosa 'broke free' from Grandpa's leash and became a high school student at Maripi High School in 1967, he dived headlong into the furious river of South African (student) politics, only to come up for air 50-something years later. Phosa's political memoir Witness to Power is an attempt to narrate and to review, in 18 chapters, his 50-something year journey into politics. More than a Witness We must resist Mathews Phosa's spirited, if also poetic, attempt to have us believe that he was a mere 'witness to power' as the title of his latest book and its contents seem to suggest. I put this to Phosa as we talked about his most recent work, Witness to Power: A Political Memoir, at the 'VC Book of the Month' conversation held at the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria Campus, on 3 June 2025. The noun 'witness' conjures up the image of a curious spectator, a disinterested onlooker, a passive observer, an innocent bystander, an outsider who happened to be eavesdropping, from time to time, or someone compelled, by force of law, to testify. Phosa was and is none of the above. Not only has he been influential in the ANC, but his influence has been both national and international — putting him on first-name terms with several African presidents. In this book, he takes special pride in his unofficial role as ANC deal-breaker, kingmaker and king-breaker, as well as his informal roles as adviser and confidante to former presidents Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma as well as his close relationship with Thabo Mbeki in exile. He fondly recalls his camaraderie with Cyril Ramaphosa, a fellow student at Turfloop in the 1970s. Phosa puts a high premium on his relationship with Mandela, who, he suggests, sought his advice on who to appoint as deputy president of the country in 1994. At that time, Phosa voted for Mbeki, we are told. But things would later change. More than three decades of influence Phosa bitterly laments in various chapters of his book how former president Mbeki refused to reappoint him for a second term as premier of Mpumalanga. He ruminates over his time as treasurer-general of the ANC, member of the National Executive Committee and his failed attempt to become deputy president and president of the ANC. After the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference when an increasingly (self?) isolated Mbeki 'ruled the country as a lone ranger' and 'began to run programmes parallel to the ANC's national programme', Phosa took the lead in the formulation and tabling of the unprecedented NEC motion to recall Mbeki in September 2008. This happened moments after Phosa had discreetly approached Zuma, 'two seats away from me… and asked him, 'Mr President, do you still need Thabo?'' Later when Phosa 'witnessed corruption and State Capture under the Zuma presidency on a scale that we could not have imagined when we ascended to power in 1994', he did more than just speak against it. When Zuma sought his advice on whether to resign or not to resign in their marathon meeting during the night of 13 February, 2018, Phosa advised and persuaded Zuma to resign, which he did publicly, the next day. Clearly, Phosa cannot meaningfully be described as a mere 'witness to power'. Admittedly many may, and some will, disagree with Phosa's version of what went on in the corridors of power and his precise role in it. But few will deny that he has been influential. For more than 30 years, Phosa has been a wielder of power even if he did not get to exercise as much power as he may have fancied, for as long as he might have preferred. For the poet that Phosa is, it is possible that his idea of being a 'witness to power' is intended metaphorically — as a teaser rather than a clincher, not so much to denote as to provoke, and not so much impose as to evoke. Indeed, part of the original meaning of the noun 'witness' is taken from the classical Greek word from which we have inherited the word 'martyr'. In its original meaning, a martyr is someone unafraid to bear witness even in the face of torture and at the risk of death. While Phosa may not be regarded as a martyr by any stretch of the imagination, perhaps his fearless denunciation of comrades and foes on matters of corruption and political principle has frequently exposed him to the dangers of character assassination, at least. Ready to wield power – again? The heart of this 18-chapter book is in chapters seven (Premier of Mpumalanga), eight (Trouble in [Mpumalanga] Paradise) and nine (Out of the Fold). These are easily some of the most emotional chapters in the book. Phosa seems to regard his tenure as premier as both the zenith and the nadir of his political power. Though he claims that the matter is water under the bridge, the incident of 24 April 2001 — when the then minister of police Steve Tshwete announced on national television that Phosa, Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale were involved in a plot to harm and/or overthrow Mbeki, only to withdraw the allegations on 4 December, 2001 — appears to remain at once a sticking point and a turning point. Throughout his book, Phosa tries hard to maintain an air of objectivity and generosity, often finding reason to say something good about all the main characters in his book, with mixed results. Between, above and beneath the lines, behind and in front of the seemingly benign adjectives and adverbs that are occasionally summoned to describe friend and foe with kindness, the smell of anger, disappointment and fury is palpable across the pages of this book. This book is an elegy to a beloved political party and a failing, if not failed state. Phosa is devastating in his truthfulness, and stunning in his attempt to be generous to friend and foe alike. As he winds the book down to a hopeful end, Phosa says: 'In my own journey I have tasted both success and failure. After serving my term as premier of Mpumalanga, I was elected to the NEC of the ANC and later served as treasurer-general for a term. My nomination for deputy president did not succeed, nor did my later campaign for the presidency of the party. In success and failure, I have learnt a few lessons about the nature of politics in South Africa. … I stand ready to make a contribution again.' This passage is part of a repeated refrain in this book of anger and ferocity. Surely, this book is about more than a mere 'witness to power'! But could it be a political manifesto through which Phosa is announcing his readiness to stand (again) for election and for leadership? Could this be Phosa's version of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope (2006), which was an integral but disguised part of the election manifesto that catapulted him into the US presidency in 2008? Phosa's Witness to Power may be a statement of farewell to political innocence, but nothing in it intimates, let alone announces, a loss of appetite for political power. DM
