A Caffeinated Couple on the Tarmac They had landed. The wheels were down. The engines had cooled. But just as French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte descended the stairs in Hanoi, Asia got its first double shot of French drama - and it came unfiltered. She shoved him. Not nudged. Not tapped. Not caressed in some elegant “mon amour” moment. No. She shoved her husband’s face. Palm first. Center stage. Cameras rolling. And just...

Diplomacy often comes dressed in ceremony, fluffed up with photo ops, padded talking points, and carefully brewed optimism. During the recent state visit between South Africa and the United States, Washington brought its usual latte diplomacy to the table - warm, agreeable, layered with frothy protocol and slides full of ambition. But South Africa didn’t come for the foam. It came to deliver an espresso shot - sharp, dark, concentrated, and...

In the theatre of geopolitics, some leaders sip power gently - and some gulp it down. Donald Trump, now back in the Oval Office and still a perennial disruptor, prefers to gulp. His diplomatic style, if it could be called that, is more deal table than tea table, more tweet storm than summit communique. But in his quest to bring the world to heel, especially China, Trump may have misunderstood the menu. He ordered a latte - smooth, dominant, a...

In a world obsessed with force, there is something revolutionary about restraint. Burkina Faso - a country often overlooked in global headlines - is rewriting its own story not through borrowed policies or imported ideologies, but through bold leadership and strategic sovereignty. At the centre of this shift stands Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the 36-year-old leader who, in under two years, has managed to reclaim economic direction, reset national...