A New York judge has drawn a line- helping a terrorist sponsor evade sanctions is no longer just a compliance failure; it can make a company liable for the terrorist attacks that follow. The cases brought by more than 500 families of American soldiers against South African telecom company, MTN, under the US Anti-terrorism Act continues. On 25 September, Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York refused MTN Group’s request to reconsider her earlier rulings in Zobay v. MTN Group, and declined to let the company take the case to the…

MI5 has warned British universities that their research is being used to improve China’s spying capabilities. The security service said more than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to projects funded through the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). MI5 said the institute, also known as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT), has “very strong ties” to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). It said the “primary purpose” of CGTRI “is to fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage”. MI5 said: “In some cases, academics may not be aware that CGTRI is funding the Chinese research…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to use nuclear weapons against the West if NATO attempts to isolate the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Russia set out the warning in an informal diplomatic document sent to NATO as tensions rise over the heavily militarised territory. The document said: “Russia will be ready to use the entire arsenal of ​forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, in order to defend its territory should NATO countries undertake any attempt aimed at ​isolating the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of the country.” It also raised the possibility “of Russian strikes against decision-making…

A Flydubai co-pilot stabbed the captain of an Israel-bound passenger jet and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board”, Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The Israeli prime minister said passengers and crew intervened to overpower the alleged attacker during the dramatic emergency on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Netanyahu said: “During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.” He said their intervention had prevented a “major disaster”. The Boeing 737 MAX plunged from about 34,000ft…

National Security News is republishing the following Op-Ed by L. Brent Bozell III, US Ambassador to South Africa. It was originally published by the US Embassy in South Africa. The Cost of Doing Nothing On September 15, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy targeting South African nationals responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against any minority ethnic or racial group in South Africa. What changed between our two countries to bring the United States…

By André Pienaar For eighty years, Japan has been the only major power in the world without a standalone civilian intelligence service. That era ended on 31 July, when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chaired the first meeting of a new National Intelligence Council and formally launched the National Intelligence Bureau beneath it. It is the first centralised intelligence body Japan has had since the Allied occupation dismantled the Imperial apparatus in 1945. Two months on, Tokyo has shown no sign of pausing. On 28 September, Takaichi convened a seventeen-member expert panel to begin drafting the country’s first national intelligence strategy,…

France is stepping up protection of critical infrastructure and defence sites against Russian drone and cyber-attacks as the threat to Europe intensifies. President Emmanuel Macron has ordered a new protection plan for critical infrastructure and sensitive defence sites. Macron said: “In recent weeks, the threat – particularly the Russian hybrid threat – facing Europeans and France has intensified.” He added: “We are not intimidated, because we know that our security today and tomorrow is at stake in Ukraine.” The move follows a meeting at the Élysée Palace involving French political leaders and the heads of the country’s principal security and…

Five men arrested over an alleged bomb plot targeting an RAF base used by American forces have been released on bail after police found no explosives in three vans at the centre of the security alert. The suspects, British nationals aged between 23 and 25, were freed after an extensive examination of the vehicles by military bomb disposal specialists and forensic experts near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. No explosive material or bomb-making equipment was discovered, despite the men initially being arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and later on suspicion of preparing an act of terrorism. Donald…

Iranian leaders are still waiting for a formal US response to Tehran’s ceasefire proposal despite Donald Trump publicly rejecting the plan. The latest diplomatic push comes after Tehran offered a seven-day ceasefire and the phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz last week. Trump rejected the proposal, but indirect talks have continued through regional mediators, with US and Iranian officials holding separate discussions with intermediaries on Monday. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said Tehran had made no changes to its proposal and was waiting for Washington to respond through Qatari mediators. Araghchi said: “Our plan, which became known as the…

By André Pienaar During the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), otherwise known as the Scorpions, the elite law enforcement unit I architected for President Mandela, carried out several impactful investigations to combat international illicit arms networks that helped fuel the war. The DSO conducted these operations to help protect the peace process that culminated in the Pretoria Accord of 2002 and the Sun City Agreement of 2003. Today, the chessboard in Africa is considerably more complex, with many more non-African countries engaged in the growing number of conflicts across the continent. The…

Five British men arrested over a suspected plot to attack RAF Fairford have been released on police bail as counter-terrorism officers investigate whether a foreign state was involved. The men, aged between 23 and 25 and all from London, were detained early on Sunday after police were alerted to three white vans travelling towards the Gloucestershire airbase, which is used by American bombers flying missions connected with the conflict with Iran. They were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing an act of terrorism but have not been charged. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing,…

By Andre Pienaar How a principled conservative is building the relationship between the United States and South Africa by speaking truth to power. When Leo Brent Bozell III presented his letters of credence in Pretoria on 23 February 2026, he inherited one of the most strained bilateral relationships in the American diplomatic portfolio. The post had sat vacant for more than a year. South Africa’s own envoy to Washington had been expelled. Trade preferences were under threat. The South African Government had been named a national security threat to the United States in one of the first executive orders signed…