After the Constitutional Court’s Phala Phala ruling, the question Parliament shelved in 2022 must now be answered — and the money trail leads to Khartoum and Teheran. By Staff Writer On Friday 08 May 2026, exactly thirty years after the adoption of the South African Constitution, Chief Justice Mandisa Maya delivered a unanimous judgment of the Constitutional Court that places one of the document’s principal architects, President Cyril Ramaphosa, under formal parliamentary investigation. The court declared the National Assembly’s December 2022 vote rejecting the Section 89 independent panel’s Phala Phala report to be irrational, unconstitutional and invalid; struck down Rule…

By Sean Rayment Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced. General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the Strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”. In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Gen Jenkins said the UK was “at an inflection point” and that “there is no time to lose” as…

By Andre Pienaar Theresa May expelled 23 Russian intelligence officers after the Salisbury nerve-agent attack by the Russian GRU. The Iranian embassy’s open call for martyrs in London, an Iranian sponsored terrorist group focused on targets across London, followed by yesterday’s stabbings of two Jewish men in Golders Green, demands the same response. On Wednesday morning, two Jewish men aged 76 and 34 were stabbed in broad daylight on a residential street in Golders Green. The Metropolitan Police declared it a terrorist incident. Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, named the victims as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe…

How an Argentine special prosecutor was killed on the eve of his testimony against the IRGC — and why the cover-up still matters By Andre Pienaar The case against Ahmad Vahidi, now Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was built by one brave man over eleven years. His name was Alberto Nisman. He was killed in his Buenos Aires apartment on 18 January 2015, twelve hours before he was due to present that case to the Argentine Congress. The decade that has passed since his death has produced a slow, difficult and contested judicial reversal, from an initial…

By Andre Pienaar On 18 July 1994, a man named Ibrahim Hussein Berro drove a Renault Trafic van loaded with several hundred kilograms of ammonium nitrate, aluminium powder and TNT into the front of a seven-storey building on Calle Pasteur in Buenos Aires. The building housed the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, the social and welfare hub of Argentina’s Jewish community. The blast killed 85 people and injured more than 300. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history. Argentina’s Court of Cassation ruled in April 2024 that the attack had been planned by Iran and executed by Hezbollah. Earlier…

By Ben Farmer Russia spent millions of dollars paying influencers and placing propaganda in news outlets to spread disinformation across Africa, according to leaked documents. A network of 35 websites and media organisations published more than 700 articles after receiving Russian funding in 2024 alone, as part of a continent-wide disinformation scheme. Articles were commissioned for between $250 and $700 each and covered subjects ranging from alleged French “neo-colonialism” to claims that a World Health Organization-backed malaria vaccination programme was using African children as guinea pigs. Others promoted Moscow’s position on the Ukraine war or amplified anti-Western conspiracy theories. Details…

By Andre Pienaar The world is at war. The number of active cross-border conflicts now exceeds anything seen since 1945, with more than seventy-eight countries entangled in conflicts beyond their own borders. A “world at war” is at risk of becoming a “world war.” The war in Ukraine is linked to the conflict with Iran through the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed between Moscow and Tehran in 2025. That treaty enables the transfer of weapons and advanced technology, the sharing of intelligence, and the coordination of hybrid operations between two states with overlapping grievances against the West. Russia and Iran…

The Iranian military has achieved unprecedented accuracy levels in its drone and missile capabilities by relying on Chinese and Russian-made guidance chips linked to satellite systems. Exploiting a technology invented in the UK almost half a century ago has allowed Iran to use imported satellite chips to gain a significant advantage for its missiles and drones. The development marks a major shift in Tehran’s strike capabilities, with experts warning that the Iran war demonstrated a level of accuracy not previously associated with the country’s arsenal. Western security sources also told The National that there is a “high probability” that Iranian…

The UK’s cyber security authority has announced that passkeys should now replace passwords as the default way consumers sign in to online services, marking a significant shift in long-standing digital security practice. Guidance published during Day Two of CYBERUK in Glasgow by the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, states that passkeys are ready for widespread adoption and should become the preferred login method wherever available. The decision reflects growing concern among cyber security officials that passwords are no longer sufficiently resilient against modern cyber threats. Passkeys allow users to authenticate access to accounts through their device, typically using biometrics or a secure unlock…

By Andre Pienaar A pattern has taken shape on the streets of north-west London that British counter-terrorism policing can no longer describe as opportunistic antisemitism. In the space of roughly five weeks, synagogues, Jewish charities, a Jewish emergency medical service, Iranian dissident media, and the perimeter of the Israeli Embassy have all been struck, reconnoitred or threatened. Every significant attack has been claimed by the same previously unheard-of group: Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the “Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right”, abbreviated as HAYI. British officials now openly treat it as a line of inquiry into Iranian state sponsorship.…

By Ben Farmer Sudan’s three-year-long war is being rapidly transformed by the use of drone warfare technology, as strikes kill hundreds of people. Both the Sudanese army and its paramilitary enemy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are increasingly using remote-controlled aircraft to carry out long-range attacks deep into enemy-held territory. Around 700 people have been killed by drones so far in 2026 alone, and use of the weapons is expected to allow the enemies to keep fighting through the coming rainy season, which usually heralds a slowing down in operations. Sudan’s catastrophic civil war is the latest conflict to be…

By Andre Pienaar In a rare joint statement issued on 20 April 2026, the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces disclosed the existence, structure and leadership of Unit 4000, a covert directorate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation (IO) responsible for assassination, sabotage and targeted kinetic attacks on Israeli, Jewish and Western targets around the world. The disclosure set out, in unusual public detail, how the unit’s senior leadership was identified, mapped and systematically eliminated during Operation Rising Lion, the Israeli component of the joint US–Israeli campaign against Iran known in Washington as Operation…

A majority of intelligence agencies across the Five Eyes alliance are now led by women for the first time, according to the second annual Top 50 Women in National Security list published by National Security News. The NSN Top 50 Women in National Security 2026 recognises women whose leadership across government, military, intelligence, technology and policy is shaping national and international security at one of the most volatile moments in recent geopolitical history. Building on the inaugural list published in 2024, this year’s edition documents the deepening influence of women at the highest levels of power, from the prosecution of…

This article by Gen. David H. Petraeus was first published by Kyiv Post. The original version can be read here. The most highly lauded living military officer in the United States, Gen. David Petraeus, shares his admiration for an awe-inspiring generation of Ukrainians forged by Russia’s brutal war. Editor’s note: The following is the transcript of a talk given in Kyiv on April 3, 2026. Well good afternoon to you all, and thank you for the kind introduction and warm welcome. It is wonderful to be back in Kyiv, especially with spring arriving! And I thank former Prime Minister Yatsenyuk…

North Korea has begun a “very serious increase” in its nuclear weapon production, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned. The isolated totalitarian state is believed to operate multiple facilities for enriching uranium, a key step in making nuclear warheads, South Korea’s spy agency has said. The bases include one at the Yongbyon nuclear site, which Pyongyang purportedly decommissioned after talks but later reactivated in 2021. The Communist regime is now thought to have assembled around 50 nuclear warheads. “In our periodic assessments, we have been able to confirm that there’s a rapid increase in the…

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the most powerful and feared organisations in Iran, playing central roles in the country’s projection of power, internal security and economy. Among the organisation’s many prominent military duties, the corps operated what was Iran’s formidable ballistic missile arsenal. The IRGC also oversaw the Quds Force, an expeditionary arm that partners with Iran’s various regional affiliates, including Hamas and Hezbollah. Billions of dollars have been channelled through the IRGC to fund proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Gaza, known as the Axis of Resistance, which have carried out attacks against the US…

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday evening, which included a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz.The breakthrough came after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, canceling an ultimatum from Donald Trump for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.Trump’s announcement of the ceasefire agreement came less than two hours before the US president’s self-imposed 8pm Eastern time deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a move that legal scholars, as well as officials from numerous countries and the pope, had warned could constitute war crimes.Just hours earlier, Trump had written…

US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning ahead of his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Tehran does not comply. Posting on Truth Social Tuesday, Trump framed the coming hours as potentially decisive for both Iran and the wider international order. “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He added that the situation could still shift rapidly if political change occurs inside…

President Donald Trump told Americans the United States is approaching the final phase of its military campaign against Iran, warning the conflict could intensify over the coming weeks while offering limited detail on how or when the war will end. In a 20-minute address delivered from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday night, Trump said the administration’s “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” and projected “another two to three weeks” of operations. He also warned the United States was prepared to escalate further military action, stating: “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next…

United States President Donald Trump said Washington could withdraw from NATO after allies declined to support American military operations alongside Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Asked by The Telegraph whether he was reconsidering United States membership of the alliance, President Trump replied: “Oh yes… I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration.” He said NATO had failed to support United States efforts during the conflict with Iran and attempts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies. President Trump also said Iran had requested a ceasefire during the current crisis. “Iran wants a ceasefire,” he said. He said the United States had supported Ukraine despite…

By Andre Pienaar Andre Pienaar writes on how Operation Epic Fury may reshape the Middle East, with its most enduring result the potential for autonomy for Iran’s ethnic minorities. The world’s attention has been fixed on missiles, centrifuges, and command bunkers. But as Operation Epic Fury reshapes the strategic landscape of the Middle East, the most consequential and durable outcome may not be the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme. It may be the liberation of Iran’s peoples. Iran is not, and has never been, a nation-state in the European sense. It is a multi-ethnic empire held together – often by…

South Africa’s top police officer has been served with an arrest warrant and is facing charges under a sprawling anti-corruption investigation that has thrown the beleaguered service into turmoil. Gen Fannie Masemola, the country’s national police commissioner, has been ordered to appear in court next month as part of a widening probe into procurement fraud. Twelve senior police officers, including a major general and several brigadiers, have also been arrested by anti-graft investigators and face charges of corruption and fraud. The arrests are the latest embarrassment for the nation’s police, who have been under scrutiny since last summer when a…

United States President Donald Trump has proposed a 15-point ceasefire framework to end the escalating conflict involving the Islamic Republic of Iran, but Tehran has rejected the plan as “excessive” and said any end to the war would take place only “on Tehran’s own terms and timeline”, according to Iranian state media.The proposal, which was reportedly delivered through Pakistan, has not been officially published by Washington. However, details reported by Israeli and United States media suggest it would require the dismantling of major elements of Iran’s nuclear programme and restrictions on its regional military activity in exchange for sanctions relief and civilian nuclear…

Iran is recruiting petty criminals to carry out attacks on British soil, the head of parliament’s intelligence and security committee has warned. More than 200 additional police officers are being deployed to protect Jewish communities following the arson attack on four charity ambulances on Monday. Laurence Taylor, head of UK counterterrorism policing, said investigations are ongoing into whether Iran may have been behind the attack in Golders Green in northwest London. No arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident. Mr Taylor said there has been a 50 per cent increase in national security investigations into hostile state…