Oh dear - and it's presumably the same story with other critical areas of defence - latest top scoop by Henry Foy and [email protected]

Essential read on how the UAE is rapidly becoming a powerful new force across Africa - another sign of those tectonic plates shifting ever faster.... Via our top Africa and Gulf writers david pilling Chloe Cornish Andres Schipani ft.com/content/388e16… via @ft

Loved talking to Marc Filippino on the FT News Briefing about today's epochal South Africa - with bonus of clips from my encounter with Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 still somehow delighting the crowd with his mellow timbre despite the ANC's dire record...
ft.com/content/bdf21d… via @ft

Macron “How can we explain to Ukraine they need to protect their cities . . . but that they don’t have the right to attack where the missiles are coming from? It’s as if we were telling them we’re giving you arms but you cannot use them to defend yourself” ft.com/content/248045…

After 30 years of reading and admiring ⁦Sunday Times⁩ under so many great editors, honoured to see my ⁦FT Weekend Magazine⁩ piece on the travails of ⁦Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦⁩ in the latest edition - thank you ⁦S'thembiso Msomi⁩ and colleagues

The EU and US have been “too soft” on Serbia and should set a deadline for it to adopt sanctions on Russia, the Kosovan prime minister tells ⁦Ben Hall⁩ and ⁦Alec Russell⁩ on.ft.com/3V23Jib

Smart take on Kenya’s president William Ruto the rising power in Africa who is cannily playing all sides - and reaping the investment rewards

Fascinating, thoughtful, moving essay about the past, present and future of South African democracy by Alec Russell on.ft.com/3V2GTbl

I defy anyone to dare to predict the results of South Africa’s election, but one thing seems clear, Jacob Zuma’s pop-up MK party has the best T-shirts…and of course the best tunes…..

This is incredible. World Bank comparison of how much a worker making $1,000 in Soweto keeps after taxes and transport costs vs a similar worker in Vietnam.

A damning indictment of both apartheid's spatial legacy and subsequent failures to expand public transport.

It asks THE question animating South Africa ahead of its biggest election since that late April day in 1994 when giants seemed to walk the earth…

30 years ago I followed Jacob Zuma in what is now KwaZulu-Natal on his vital peace drive - now I’m heading back to SA for a rather different story…., as brilliantly told here by ⁦Monica Mark⁩ the new ⁦Financial Times⁩ correspondent

30 years ago I followed Jacob Zuma on his peace drive in what’s now KwaZulu-Natal - now I’m heading back to SA for a very different story, as brilliantly told here by ⁦Monica Mark⁩ the new ⁦Financial Times⁩ SA corr

Tim Harford Lilah Raptopoulos Thank you!

We asked him after reading his essay reflecting on 30 years since the Rwandan genocide, which is here. Thank you Alec for humoring blunt questions like “did you ever feel despair?” A lot of wisdom in this episode.

on.ft.com/3QnQbfx

Today on Life and Art podcast, from FT Weekend, our foreign editor Alec Russell gives us perspective on processing the news. He’s reported on some of the worst moments in history. It can feel like one of those now. Should we compare? And where does he find hope?

Listen: link.chtbl.com/lifeandart

Why haven't more European governments thought creatively about ammunition and weapons for Ukraine, as has the Czech government? This is all agonisingly late ft.com/content/a315de… via @ft

Spoiler: Nothing's left. This is the horror and devastation that Russia's army brings wherever it goes. Add Robotyne to the growing list of Ukrainian cities, towns and villages that have been wiped from the map by Russian bombs.