Ramaphosa appoints Roelf Meyer to head Washington embassy
Roelf Meyer, a key National Party negotiator in the talks that ended apartheid in the 1990s, has been appointed as South Africa’s ambassador to the United States. The last ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled last year after making critical remarks about the Trump administration. Meyer, who served in the last National Party cabinet and in the multi-government led by Nelson Mandela, developed a storied working relationship with President Cyril Ramaphosa when, in the 1990s, he was the ANC’s chief negotiator.
Hopes of resumption of Iran talks prompts falling oil prices
Having jumped above $100 a barrel on Monday, oil prices continued to fall yesterday as hopes of more peace talks between the US and Iran eased concerns about further disruptions to energy supplies. The global benchmark Brent crude was down 3.8% to $95.54 a barrel, while US traded West Texas Intermediate was down 6.1% to $92.85. Even so, the International Monetary Fund cut its growth outlook, warning that the world was already drifting toward a more adverse scenario with much-weaker growth as Strait of Hormuz shipping disruptions continued. US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran could restart in Pakistan “in the next two days”, though Iran has yet to comment. Fox News released a preview of an interview with Trump in which he says the war is “very close to over”.
Pontiff warns of “majoritarian tyranny”, Trump levels new criticism
Pope Leo has warned in a letter issued two days US President Donald Trump’s intemperate remarks on social media of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny”. The letter, addressed to participants of a Vatican meeting about the use of power in democratic societies, said democracies remained healthy only when they were rooted in moral values. The Pope said: “Lacking this foundation, (democracy) risks becoming either a majoritarian tyranny or a mask for the dominance of economic and technological elites.” The letter does not directly address the US, or name any specific democracies. Meanwhile, Trump followed up his earlier criticism of the pontiff, saying in another social media post: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!!”
Amazon announces deal to boost satellite services
Amazon has bought Globalstar for $11.57bn as part of its “long-term vision for space-based connectivity”, saying it will deploy a “next generation” satellite system in 2028. The deal is anticipated to enable Amazon to get thousands of satellites into low-earth orbit through the Amazon Leo project the company has been working on for several years. This will place Amazon in closer competition with Starlink, a popular satellite-based internet and phone service company launched by Elon Musk in 2019. Starlink has a significant head-start on Amazon’s Leo, which currently only has around 200 satellites in orbit. Starlink says it has 10,000 active satellites offering internet and mobile phone service to more than 10 million paying customers.
Orbán’s defeat could herald boost for Ukraine – official
Senior EU official Marta Kos, speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, has said the change in Hungary’s government could help unlock €90bn for Ukraine and give a “new push” for it to join the European Union. She described Orbán’s defeat as a “big win for Europe”, adding: “I expect, personally, that this will have a positive effect on the accession process.” It could also help unlock a major loan needed to prop up Ukraine’s budget. Orbán had an effective veto on the funds, angering other EU leaders.
Sources: Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, TimesLIVE, Bloomberg