24 hours in pictures, 27 May 2025
24 hours in pictures, 27 May 2025
Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Jordy Smith of South Africa surfs in Heat 2 of the Semifinals at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro on May 27, 2025 at Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia. Smith went on to win the competition. (Photo by Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League)
Supporters of South Korea's Democratic Party's presidential election candidate Lee Jae-myung, cheer during a campaign event in Suwon city, Gyeoggi-do, South Korea, May 26, 2025. South Korea will hold its presidential election on 03 June 2025. Picture: Matrix Images The remnants of a small dwelling where six family members lost their lives when their home caught fire in the Marikana informal settlement located in Ekurhuleni on May 27, 2025 in Kwa-Thema, South Africa. It is reported that six family members died in the tragedy. The cause of the fire is still unknown. (Photo by Gallo Images/OJ Koloti) A young woman cools off amongst the water jets of a fountain during a hot spring day in Moscow, Russia, 26 May 2025. According to the Russian Hydrometeorological Centre, air temperatures are expected to climb up to 30 degrees Celsius in some areas of Moscow. Picture: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV Cyril Ramaphosa ( President of the republic of South Africa) delivers keynote address at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) at Century City on May 27, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. The symposium showcases infrastructure investment opportunities in both South Africa and the African continent, and also fosters regional cooperation and integration. (Photo by Gallo Images/ER Lombard) A handout photo made available by the press service of the 65th Separate Mechanised Brigade shows new recruits of the 65th Separate Mechanised Brigade attending their training on an obstacle course with psychological elements and a tank used on a shooting range in the Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 26 May 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory on 24 February 2022, marking the beginning of a conflict that has led to widespread damage and a humanitarian situation. Picture: EPA-EFE/Press service of the 65th Mechanized Brigade A female Hippopotamus seen along with her two days old calf at Delhi Zoo on May 22, 2025 in New Delhi, India. The National Zoological Park in the capital has welcomed a newborn hippopotamus calf after a gap of four years. The female calf was born on Monday to a nine-year-old hippopotamus. Picture: Matrix Images Actors defending the fortress of Zons at the medieval spectacle 'Sturm auf Zons', in Germany . The event focuses on a simulated attack on Zons by Burgundians in April 1475, which is staged with numerous disguised actors, and which is said to have happened in a similar way during the Neuss War in 1474 – 1475. Picture: Matrix Images Egrets build nests as they prepare to breed in the forest in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, China on May 25, 2025. Picture: Matrix Images This aerial view shows damages following the passage of a tornado in the city of Puerto Varas, Region de los Lagos, southern Chile, on May 26, 2025. An unusual tornado rated as category EF-1 on the Fujita scale hit on the eve the city of Puerto Varas, almost 1,000 km south of Santiago, leaving eight people injured and some 150 homes affected, authorities said. (Photo by Javier TORRES / AFP) Contestants in the men's downhill race chase the cheese down the hill during Gloucestershire's famous Cheese-Rolling contest on May 26, 2025 in Brockworth, England. Every year competitors and spectators from around the world gather for the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling competition that sees participants fling themselves down a steep hill in pursuit of a rolling 7 pound (3 kilogram) wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. The first contestant to the bottom of the 590 foot (180 meter) Cooper's Hill wins the wheel of cheese. The ankle-breaking extreme sport has officially been recorded since 1826, but is thought to have roots in an ancient pagan tradition. (Photo by) This aerial view shows trucks towing shipping containers at the port of Umm Qasr in Iraq's southern city of Basra on May 26, 2025. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)
PICTURES: Colourful Hillbrow parade entertains Joburg residents
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
8 hours ago
- The South African
Warren Hammond's Personal View: A violent summer - The World on edge
Acts of Violence – The World Is on Edge This Summer. Image: LinkedIn/warren-hammond Home » Warren Hammond's Personal View: A violent summer – The World on edge Acts of Violence – The World Is on Edge This Summer. Image: LinkedIn/warren-hammond June and July 2025 will shape up to be two of the most geopolitically intense, heated, and combustible months in recent geopolitical memory, with acts of terror and war escalating. From Washington to Warsaw, Gaza to Islamabad, Khartoum to Kyiv, the geopolitical temperature is rising. Tensions are no longer simmering. They're flashing. The last time I viewed the world in this way was 4th February 2020, whereby I prepared (on the short side) for a seismic geopolitical event to disrupt markets, at which point I communicated a selective short basket of airline, shipping, logistics, cruise line, hotel, and theme park-oriented stocks. This short basket was held until 6th April 2020, at which time, turning bullish, it was covered, and I built a net long in the S&P500, placing a 5+ year target of 8,500 on the index, a call rooted in structurally bullish high conviction during extreme volatility. At the time, all was communicated via The Personal View. Over the past decade, The Personal View has predicted major inflexion points in global stability, including: – The storming of Capitol Hill on 6 January 2021 – The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 Both events were forecast in magnitude and timing. The signals were there. They are here again. What's unfolding now is a sharp escalation in the risk of terrorism, military confrontation, sabotage, and politically driven violence. This is not a call on a single event, but a recognition of a rising tide of instability spanning regions. Hotspots to watch: – Ukraine & Eastern Europe: Russian aggression continues; NATO mobilisation intensifies.– Middle East: Iran-Israel tension, asymmetric threats, and proxy volatility.– India & Pakistan: Fragile calm masking deep structural risk.– Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Myanmar: Fragile states with regional contagion potential. – Western cities: Heightened alert around lone-wolf and coordinated attacks. This is not about fear. It's about foresight. The Netherlands is hosting a critical NATO summit amid this intensification. The symbolism is clear: the West is no longer reacting, it is preparing. Alliances are being tested. Defence strategies are shifting. And yet, global markets remain largely focused on rate cuts and inflation, underpricing the true driver of risk this summer: global instability. This may not be a season defined by a single headline. It may be defined by a drumbeat of escalating events, destabilising, violent, and politically consequential. For investors, executives, and policymakers: Now is the time to recalibrate portfolios, assumptions, and geopolitical expectations. June and July 2025 are a season of aggression. The world is on edge. And in a moment like this, ignoring the tension is the most dangerous strategy of all. What are your thoughts on the unfolding geopolitical risks? We invite you to share your perspectives, analysis, or questions in the comments below. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Eyewitness News
10 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
North Korea's Kim vows 'unconditional support' for Russia's war in Ukraine
SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to "unconditionally support" Russia in its war in Ukraine and said he expected Moscow to emerge victorious, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday. North Korea has become one of Moscow's main allies during its more than three-year Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container-loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk border region. Meeting top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday, Kim said that Pyongyang would "unconditionally support the stand of Russia and its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues including the Ukrainian issue", the Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim "expressed expectation and conviction that Russia would, as ever, surely win victory in the sacred cause of justice", KCNA said. The two sides agreed to "continue to dynamically expand" relations, the state news agency reported. Russia and North Korea signed a sweeping military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North. Shoigu hailed the deal as "fully meeting the interests of both countries" during a visit in March. Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, according to South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, citing the country's intelligence service. North Korea in April confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow's war in Ukraine - and admitted that its troops had been killed in combat. South Korea has also accused the nuclear-armed North of sending significant volumes of weapons, including missiles, to help Russia's war effort. DRONE ATTACK The meeting between Kim and Shoigu in Pyongyang came the same day the North's arch-enemy South Korea swore in new president Lee Jae-myung. In a speech upon taking office Wednesday, Lee vowed to reach out to the North - a marked departure from his hawkish predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, under whom relations plummeted to their worst level in years. Lee said Seoul would "deter North Korean nuclear and military provocations while opening communication channels and pursuing dialogue and cooperation to build peace on the Korean Peninsula". KCNA reported on Lee's inauguration in a two-line report on Thursday but did not respond to his overtures for talks. But while Russia and the North are deepening ties, "prospects for restoring inter-Korean ties grow increasingly remote", Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, told AFP. Shoigu's visit, his second in three months, also came just days after Ukraine launched a major drone strike on Russia, which "underscores the urgency of high-level coordination on security matters". "From Pyongyang's perspective, active participation in countering drone threats could serve as a stepping stone to enhance its capabilities in modern warfare - suggesting North Korea may take a more assertive role in military cooperation with Russia," said Lim. 'DEEPENING TIES' A multilateral sanctions monitoring group including South Korea, the United States, Japan and eight other countries last week condemned ties between Russia and North Korea as "unlawful". According to the group, Russian-flagged cargo vessels delivered as many as "nine million rounds of mixed artillery and multiple rocket launcher ammunition" from North Korea to Russia last year. In return, "Russia is believed to have provided North Korea with air defence equipment and anti-aircraft missiles", it said. It also issued a commentary Thursday slamming French President Emmanuel Macron over "imprudent" comments on Pyongyang's ties with Moscow, calling them "shocking claptrap". The commentary by analyst Choe Ju Hyun took aim at comments by the French leader during the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Macron suggested that the NATO defence alliance could become involved in Asia if China did not do more to press North Korea to stop sending forces to help Russia's war in Ukraine. "It is a mistake if Macron thinks that he can cloak NATO's aggressive and wicked intention to put dirty military shoes on the Asia-Pacific region by taking issue with the DPRK-Russia cooperative relations," the commentary said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Citizen
12 hours ago
- The Citizen
Russia signals severe retaliation after Ukraine's strikes
Despite promising an unconditional ceasefire, Ukraine launched major drone strikes on Russia. Peace efforts falter, and the nuclear threat becomes harder to ignore. A man stands in a damaged building following an air-attack in Kharkiv on June 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP) The world is on the brink of a nuclear disaster once more because the proponents of the Russian-Ukrainian war continue to act as though they are discussing peace while fighting. Sunday's massive drone attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian strategic aviation facilities destroyed a large number of its jet bombers, as well as railway lines and bridges in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. The attacks that killed at least eight people, including children, could trigger massive retaliation by Russia soon. Some in Moscow even predict a nuclear attack, or using something more than just a single ballistic missile. These developments show nobody is committed to a ceasefire. Clearly, when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visited South Africa on 24 April, and promised an 'unconditional ceasefire with Russia' he did not mean it. He knew his forces were preparing to launch a rain of first person view drones on Russia. With Zelensky's unconditional ceasefire promise unfulfilled, he sold President Cyril Ramaphosa a dummy. ALSO READ: Ukraine shows it's far from finished with Russian warplanes bombing Nobody expected the talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Monday to proceed at all, following the Ukraine attacks. The meeting was bound to collapse. Ukrainian negotiators presented to their Russian counterparts a memorandum on how they felt the conflict should be settled, while rejecting most of Moscow's proposals. Kyiv proposed a declaration of a complete ceasefire for 30 days with the possibility of extension. It required that the US and other countries ensure control of the ceasefire process. In addition, Ukraine wants to have the 'all for all' exchange of prisoners with Russia. Ukraine also demanded direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky. Russia's position was summed up by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said Moscow intends to discuss with Ukraine its neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear status and a ban on discrimination against the Russian language in Ukraine. But experts say Russia is not satisfied with the Ukrainian conditions contained in their memorandum. 'Vladimir Zelensky is seeking a truce in order to use it as a respite and then resume hostilities,' one expert said. ALSO READ: Kremlin denies dragging out Ukraine peace talks It was good to see that delegations from both sides comprised top officials, including Ukraine's defence minister, Russia's deputy defence ministers and senior intelligence chiefs. The collapse of the talks was imminent after the drone attacks on Russia. Political observers consider Ukraine's 'timed' actions as an attempt by Kyiv to disrupt the Türkiye meeting. The head of the research centre, Sigma Insight Turkey, Ahmet Dogan, said Ukraine's attacks have reduced the likelihood of a constructive dialogue at the talks in Istanbul. 'Moscow is looking not only for a ceasefire, but also for a final peace and Ukraine, with the support of its European allies, is constantly provoking it. I am not sure the consultations will lead to anything constructive,' the expert said. The Russian delegation vowed that Moscow's response to 'terrorist attacks will be powerful' because Ukraine violated the clause of the Russian nuclear doctrine. 'Accordingly, now Russia has a free hand to deliver harsh retaliatory strikes,' the Russians said. Will Russia unleash a nuclear war? I hope not. But those who believe that Moscow will leave everything that happened unanswered are mistaken. Retribution will definitely follow and this may not be just hot air. NOW READ: Zelensky says won't play Putin's 'games' with short truce
