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USA – DRC

Former DRC President Joseph Kabila has challenged the United States ' sanctions in Court

In a suit before a court in Washington, Joseph Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, wants his name removed from a US Treasury blacklist.

He contends that his sanctioning by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April was based on unsubstantiated allegations.

Washington accuses Kabila of financing and offering political support to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who seized two Congolese provinces last year.

2.Tanzania – Dar es Salaam

Political opposition leader Tundu Lissu denounces 'political case' as treason trial starts: 

A Tanzanian court has ruled that the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu will go ahead after finding that he has a case to answer.

Lissu, head of the opposition Chadema party, was detained in April 2025 and charged with treason, which carries a potential death penalty, for allegedly inciting the public to boycott last year's elections.

1. South Afrika – Tshwane 

University of South Africa (UNISA), in collaboration with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), is hosting the Youth Town Hall this morning under the theme” Youth and Diplomacy: Remembering June 16” 

The Year 2026 Marks 50 years since the Youth of South Africa took to the streets to peacefully protest the unjust apartheid policies.

 This unleashed a wider campaign that eventually defeated the apartheid government. The United Nations celebrates International Youth Day annually on 12 August. 

The African Union Celebrates Africa Youth Day annually on 1 November. Youth diplomacy encompasses a diverse range of formal and informal strategies to engage young people in global policymaking.

1. In our historical archives, it was on this day 24 August 1960 when Geraldine Fraser was born on 24 August 1960, in Lansdowne, Cape Town, the daughter of a teacher and factory worker. 

A year after she enrolled in a Teachers Diploma at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), she left South Africa to join the African National Congress (ANC) in exile, where she worked under Joe Gqabi, the ANC's Chief Representative in Zimbabwe. 

She became politically active at Livingstone High School, where she was elected to the Student Representative Council. 

She received her military training in Angola, the former USSR and Cuba

• Alibaba seeks $10 billion from investors to bankroll AI
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• 3. Market update

The Global Briefing:Trade tensions between the United States and Canada have escalated sharply after last-minute negotiations collapsed, triggering new 50% US tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian goods.

Russia marks its annual Flag Day under the shadow of a growing fuel crisis.

The Panama Canal is once again facing a climate-driven threat to global trade. With El Niño expected to reduce rainfall and lower water levels

Guest: Dr Benjamin Spatz - Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. 

Ramatsitsi Attorneys are highlighting the growing threat of this type of GBV and the legal consequences associated with it. One of the cases they use as an example is how a couple used a fake social media account to blackmail their victim in a revenge porn attack. They had to pay R3.5 million in damages to their victim.

Guest: Fulufelo Jessica Ramatsitsi - Director at Ramatsitsi Attorneys, cyber lawyer and commissioner of the Small Claims Court 

The ANC launched its 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto yesterday in Riverside, Diepsloot, positioning it as a response to the lessons of the 2021 election and as a plan to strengthen local government. Can the ANC rebuild voter confidence and win back the major metros it has lost or struggled to control? 

Guest: Nkosikhulule Nyembezi – Policy Analyst, Election Monitoring Network 

Reality Check with Prof Ari Sitas: The role of Community spaces in society - Foregrounding and the history of Community spaces 

Guest: Prof Ari Sitas - Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town and Chairperson of the Board of the National Research Foundation  

For the past few weeks, media reports surfaced about how the SANDF is facing budget problems, power outages at some of the military bases and soldiers having to make fire outside for cooking. Last week, Dr Mmusi Maimane who is chairperson of Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations raised concerns that the SANDF is being stretched beyond its capacity, warning that additional deployments are taking place without adequate funding while years of underinvestment continue to affect the military’s ability to fulfil its mandate

Guest: Dr Mmusi Maimane - Chairperson of Parliament's Standing Committee on Appropriations 

The race for the City of Johannesburg mayoralty is heating up ahead of the November local government elections, with Helen Zille emerging as a major contender. Former Wits vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib has endorsed Zille, arguing that she is the only candidate with a proven record of turning a city around. But her candidacy has also sparked criticism and questions about whether she can secure a decisive majority. 

Guest: Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of SOAS, University of London  

The United Africans Transformation is heading back to the Western Cape High Court tomorrow, seeking leave to appeal the judgment that halted Parliament’s impeachment process involving President Cyril Ramaphosa. UAT says the matter is bigger than one president or political party, arguing that Parliament must be able to exercise its constitutional responsibility to hold the President accountable. The party says the Constitutional Court’s previous decision did not deal with the merits of its arguments, prompting this latest application.

Guest: Dr Wonder Mahlatsi, President of the United Africans Transformation