logo
Diplomacy tested by a grump

Diplomacy tested by a grump

The Star24-05-2025

Hostage theatre: Trump showing Ramaphosa articles of the alleged genocide of white people in South Africa before screening the videos at the White House. Reuters
IT'S been called Ambush Diplomacy – where the intention is to put unfortunate world leaders visiting the White House in an embarrassing spot in front of the rolling cameras.
There are even questions planted to be asked by the loyal right-wing media whose credentials and right to be in the White House pool is being questioned by the mainstream press. Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 35 years in various capacities and roles. He is now group editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer. On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star. https://twitter.com/chunwai09
https://twitter.com/chunwai09 http://www.wongchunwai.com/

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Netanyahu congratulates Trump, says US 'unsurpassed' after attack on Iran
Netanyahu congratulates Trump, says US 'unsurpassed' after attack on Iran

New Straits Times

time39 minutes ago

  • New Straits Times

Netanyahu congratulates Trump, says US 'unsurpassed' after attack on Iran

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump on Sunday for the "bold" US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, calling the attack a historic moment that could lead the Middle East to peace. "Congratulations President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history," Netanyahu said in a video address after Trump announced the US bombing of three Iranian facilities. The attack demonstrated America was "truly unsurpassed," Netanyahu said, thanking Trump for creating a "pivot of history" that will "help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace". "President Trump and I often say, peace through strength. First comes strength, then comes peace," Netanyahu said. He added in a separate statement that the US attacks had been carried out in coordination with Israel and said the promise of destroying Iran's nuclear programme was fulfilled. Earlier, Trump announced on his social media platform that US warplanes had struck Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment plant, as well as the Natanz and Isfahan facilities. The United States joins key ally Israel's bombing campaign after Trump spent days mulling possible involvement. Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched attacks on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies having any such ambition. - AFP

Trump says US ‘obliterated' Iran nuclear sites, threatens more
Trump says US ‘obliterated' Iran nuclear sites, threatens more

The Sun

time40 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Trump says US ‘obliterated' Iran nuclear sites, threatens more

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said US air strikes on Sunday had 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities, and warned of more attacks to come if Tehran does not seek peace. In a televised address to the nation from the White House after the United States joined Israel's air campaign against Tehran, Trump called the US attacks a 'spectacular military success.' Trump had earlier stunned the world by announcing on social media that US aircraft had struck Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment plant, plus the Natanz and Isfahan facilities. But the fresh US military entanglement comes despite Trump's promises to avoid another 'forever war' in the Middle East -- Iran has vowed to retaliate against US forces in the region if Washington got involved. 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran the bully of the Middle East must now make peace,' said Trump. 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater, and a lot easier,' added Trump, who was flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his address on Saturday evening for US audiences. Trump said earlier on his Truth Social site that a 'full payload of BOMBS' was dropped on the underground facility at Fordo, describing it as the 'primary site.' Trump added that 'all planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.' 'Heads up' Earlier Saturday there were reports that US B-2 bombers -- which carry so-called 'bunker buster' bombs -- were headed out of the United States across the Pacific. Trump did not say what kind of US planes or munitions were involved. Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordo plant as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were attacked. Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attacks, while the United States also gave key ally Israel a 'heads up' before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP. Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the strikes, saying that 'America has been truly unsurpassed.' Trump had said on Thursday that he would decide 'within two weeks' whether to join Israel's campaign -- but the decision came far sooner. The US president had also stepped up his rhetoric against Iran in recent days, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon. Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned earlier Saturday of a 'more devastating' retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear program 'under any circumstances.' On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Isfahan for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit. Iran's Revolutionary Guard meanwhile announced early Sunday that 'suicide drones' had been launched against 'strategic targets' across Israel. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program 'cannot be taken away... by threats or war.' Huthi threat Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany had met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war. Iran's Huthi allies in Yemen on Saturday threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, despite a recent ceasefire agreement. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Friday that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people had been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran's health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed in the Israeli strikes. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures. Leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said Trump risked US 'entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,' while the Israeli army raised its alert level, permitting only essential activities until further notice.

Kirsty Coventry: IOC's First Woman and African President
Kirsty Coventry: IOC's First Woman and African President

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Kirsty Coventry: IOC's First Woman and African President

FIRST impressions can be deceptive but Kirsty Coventry showed that behind a sunny disposition she will have the mettle to deal with the trickiest of people and situations when she succeeds Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday. Looming large on the horizon of the 41-year-old Zimbabwean -- the first woman and African to occupy the post of the most powerful single figure in sport -- is US President Donald Trump. With Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics, Trump will feature often on Coventry's agenda. Trump has not been shy in giving public dressing downs to world leaders -- notably Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. Judging by Coventry's initial response, after a crushing first-round victory in the presidential election in March, she may have Trump's measure. 'I have been dealing with, let's say, difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old,' she said, adding 'communication will be key.' Unlike Trump, though, Coventry embraces the word failure, for it helped forge her stellar career. 'Everything's scary. Embrace that. You have to fail,' Coventry told the swimming team at her American alma mater Auburn University last year. 'I've learned the best lessons by failing, and I have failed at many things. Life has a really good way of humbling you.' At the same time that steely resolve comes to the surface when winning is at stake. 'I was banned from playing card games with the family, because they didn't like to deal with me when I lost,' she said. A glance at Coventry's CV suggests failure in her life has been relative. Coventry, who had the Olympic rings tattooed on a leg after her first Games in 2000, is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and she has contributed seven of Zimbabwe's overall Games medals tally of eight. She has accrued domestic political experience, as she was Zimbabwe's Minister for Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation from 2019 to this year. That attracted some flak as she was serving in a government whose election in 2023 was declared to be 'neither free nor fair' by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). 'I don't think you can stand on the sidelines and scream and shout for change,' she said in her defence. 'I believe you have to be seated at the table to try and create it.' Her record as a minister has been heavily criticised by the Zimbabwean arts community in particular. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose predecessor Robert Mugabe labelled Coventry 'a golden girl' and awarded her $100,000 after she came back with a gold medal from Beijing in 2008, hit back. 'Whoever was not impressed by her can appoint someone else when they become president,' said the 82-year-old. 'Very hard times' In 2004, Coventry gave an insight into why she would later accept such a poisoned chalice and how whites in Zimbabwe have to perform a delicate balancing act. 'Zimbabwe is my home,' she said after returning to a heroine's parade after winning her first gold medal at the Athens Olympics. 'It's where I was born. It's my culture. I will always represent Zimbabwe. Colour doesn't matter to me. 'I think every country goes through bad years and good years.' Coventry had a largely urban upbringing. Her parents Rob and Linn owned a chemicals firm in a suburb of Harare, but the farming evictions -- where predominantly white farm owners were forced off their lands in their early 2000s -- affected her too. 'I have had very close family members and friends on farms who have gone through very hard times,' said Coventry. Away from the controversies she has shown decisive leadership in dealing with Zimbabwean football chiefs and FIFA. She backed the government body Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) when it suspended the Zimbabwean Football Association (ZIFA) over allegations of fraud and sexual harassment of referees. FIFA has a zero tolerance policy of political interference in its associations and barred Zimbabwe from international football in February 2022. However, by September the same year they were back in the fold. A ZIFA official was later banned for five years for sexually harassing three female referees. Coventry said in 2023 that the process had been 'hard, but it was worth it, to have a way forward that's going to benefit us as a country'. Those tempted to mess with Coventry in the years to come have been duly warned.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store