UNITED NATIONS, May 5 (Xinhua) — The world body is working toward the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and asks all parties concerned to engage constructively, said a UN spokesman on Friday. The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) has not reached agreement to authorize new vessels to participate in the initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports. The JCC continues its daily inspection work on the previously authorized vessels, said…

In an overnight turn of events, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office has made a U-turn on his statement that the ANC had taken a decision for South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying he had erred. This came after Ramaphosa reiterated the ANC’s statement that it had decided to pull out of the ICC over its double standards and unfair treatment of certain countries and individuals, especially African leaders.  This statement followed the ICC’s international warrant of…

THREATS of sanctions against South Africa by the United States (US) are a typical example of so-called big countries bullying smaller countries in the worsening geopolitical conflicts. It also presents a litmus test to South Africa’s foreign policy stance of neutrality as the country gets caught up in the fallout among the world’s most influential nations. The threat of sanctions by America follows the Iran warships docking at the Cape Town port last Friday. Iran is a long-running rival of…

EFF leader Julius Malema has laid into President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC, saying their U-turn on withdrawing South Africa from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a sign that they are not truly in charge of the country. He said their overnight decision to backtrack on the matter last week was taken after their alleged handlers, “white capital”, allegedly reprimanded and ordered them not to pull out of the Rome statutes, despite the ICC’s perceived impartiality and double standards…