Israel and Iran traded missile fire for a fifth straight day Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump warned Tehran residents to "immediately evacuate" and left a G7 summit early.
Despite growing calls for the longtime foes to end hostilities, neither Israel nor Iran showed any signs of cutting short the missile blitz kicked off Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented series of aerial raids targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
After a new wave of Israeli strikes on Iran's capital -- including a dramatic attack on a state TV building -- both countries activated their missile defence systems overnight into Tuesday, with Israel's army briefly urging residents to seek shelter from incoming Iranian missiles.
The Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv warned its citizens to leave the country immediately, as the United States said it was deploying "additional capabilities" to the Middle East, according to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departed Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it was headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence there.
But a White House spokesman stressed that US forces in the Middle East remained in a defensive posture, despite the flurry of activity.
Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he says it was not involved in the initial strikes.
After calling on the two sides to make a deal, the US leader issued an extraordinary warning on his Truth Social platform.
"Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump wrote without offering further details, before cutting short his attendance at the G7 in Canada to head back to the White House.
One after the other'
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign against Iran last week, with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons -- an ambition it denies.
Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel's attacks, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards boasting Monday evening that the attacks would continue "without interruption until dawn".
The sudden flare-up has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel's attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks.
*This article was first published by IOL News
Twelve people have been killed following a horror crash in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday morning.
The provincial Department of Transport and Human Settlements said the tragic crash occurred on the R34 highway in Vryheid.
"Just after midnight, we received a report from our highly efficient team from the Road Traffic Inspectorate informing us about a horrific head-on collision involving a truck and a bus," said MEC Siboniso Duma.
It is believed the group had been travelling back home after a political rally in KZN.
"Based on the report from the RTI, after the head-on collision, the truck struck the side of the bus," the MEC added.
The roadway has been closed to traffic for emergency staff and necessary teams to conduct their investigations.
"We have agreed with the RTI team that we will work with the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the South African Police Service as part of a comprehensive investigation," Duma said.
*This article was first published by IOL News
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has sounded the alarm on South Africa’s deepening youth unemployment crisis, calling it a “moral emergency” that must be urgently addressed.
Speaking during the Youth Day official commemoration in Potchefstroom, North West, Mashatile honoured the legacy of the 1976 student uprisings.
In the same breath, he warned that today’s youth face a different kind of battle, characterised by high unemployment, inequality, and a lack of opportunities, especially in the digital world.
Additionally, he noted with concern that 3.8 million young people are not in education, employment or training.
He said this needs urgent action from all sectors, including the government, business and civil society.
"We must fix the structural challenges in our economy to address inequality and skills mismatch between education and what the job market needs," Mashatile said.
He also took the time to outline several government initiatives aimed at empowering the youth.
They include entrepreneurship support and accelerating youth access to the job market through programmes such as the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention and the recently launched South African National Service Institute (Sansi).
"Through Sansi, young people can look forward to a range of nationwide interventions and programmes with sustainable and clearly defined opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, artificial intelligence, coding and robotics, and energy and related value chains, among many others," Mashatile said.
*This article was first published by eNCA
By JN Reporter
Free State MEC for Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, Saki Mokoena, has come out all guns blazing against “dysfunctional” municipalities in the province.
This is after he conceded - during the tabling of his departmental budget vote on Friday - that the state of some of our municipalities is far from ideal.
Mokoena warned that the department recommit itself to spare no effort to ensure that municipalities provide basic services to the people of the Free State.
“The state of some of our municipalities remains concerning. We must be the first ones to concede that the state of some of our municipalities is far from ideal. I hear that municipalities don't like to be identified as "dysfunctional" and would rather use cosy terms like "distressed municipalities." We believe that we should call things as they are. We can't call a "spade" a "garden tool"; a "spade" is a "spade." "Dysfunctional is dysfunctional,” said Mokoena.
According to the last assessment of the State of Local Government, as done in 2021, 12 out of our 23 municipalities in the Free State are deemed to be in a state of "dysfunction."
The observation was an outcome of the assessment of municipalities based on five (5) strategic pillars, which included political stability and governance, sound administration, provision of services, sound financial administration, and local economic development.
However, Mokoena presented to the house a strategy he believes will turn around the fortunes of the municipalities in the province.
He said that “as the department, we have developed what we call the 'Municipal Support Improvement Plan (MSIP)'. This plan is based on the mission of our existence, which is to support, monitor, and intervene in the affairs of the municipalities."
He further announced that the department is in the process of developing a "Notice of Compliance", which he says is going to be a directive to municipalities to direct them to improve their performance based on our assessment of their state.
Meanwhile, the department has been allocated R447.914 million for the 2025/26 financial year which is a 7 percent increase from the 2024/25 financial year allocation.
Written by Pastor Motsamai Kareli
If you’re living, breathing, and doing anything of value, you will make mistakes. It’s simply a fact of life.
The only kinds of people who don’t make mistakes are dead people, and people who are not doing anything.
If you assume you don’t make mistakes, you’ve just made one! There are four crucial things we need to do, not if, but when we make mistakes.
The first thing is to catch ourselves. When you mess up, fess up. You may think that nobody has noticed, and you may not get confronted about it, but people notice. If you don’t catch yourself, you’ll lose equity with your team.
Number two is actually confessing the mistake.
Whatever department you messed up in, bring it to other people’s attention. Have a chat with your team, your boss, or your supervisor.
Identify what you did wrong. This leads us to the third thing…
Learn. You must identify what you’ve learned from the mistake in order for it to be fruitful.
Did you learn to ask for permission? To lighten up?
To not do something ever again? Identify the lesson, and move forward with that understanding.
Fourthly, we have to make new mistakes. This goes against our natural grain.
But if we’re constantly afraid of making them, we’ll never go higher—we’ll create a ceiling for ourselves in terms of vision. Don’t play it safe.
Make new mistakes. Just don’t repeat the old ones. Making new mistakes says you are trying new things in new areas—and that is crucial for a leader.
To recap: catch yourself, confess, learn, and make new mistakes. When you put these four elements together, you can start to make mistakes in the most healthy, productive way possible.
By: Abigail Visagie and Boipelo Mere
While the latest statistics have shown significant progress in crime fighting, with a decrease in most major crime categories recorded in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, murder and rape cases remain a thorn in many people’s sides.
Despite the slight reduction of murder cases in the Free State, Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane says the men and women in blue continue to battle a high number of rape and contact sexual offense cases.
Motswenyane presented the provincial quarterly crime statistics on Tuesday in Bloemfontein, covering the period from 1 January to 31 March 2025, which reflect both encouraging improvements and areas requiring intensified efforts.He said while the crime statistics came out positively well, there was an increased rate from 716 to 724 of reported rape and contact sexual offense cases in the province.
“These eight reported cases highlighted that more initiatives should be created to combat Gender Based Violence and Femicide, a matter the SAPS and Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport are looking into,” said Motswenyane.
She attributed the reduction in most major crime categories to the police force’s dedication and successful implementation of Operation Shanela, a flagship that was launched to not only combat crime but to also restore safety within different communities in the country.
Meanwhile, Motswenyane’s counterpart in the Northern Cape Province, Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola – alongside Premier Zamani Saul – on Tuesday released the shocking statistics reflecting a 23.2% increase in murder cases.
Otola said this has been recorded as the highest increase over the past five years.
“The increase was recorded in ZF Mgcawu District, John Taolo Gaetsewe, and Pixley ka Seme Districts, contributing to the province’s 23.2% increase in murder cases with a total of 21 more cases. ZF Mgcawu District recorded the highest count of 25.0%, followed by John Taolo Gaetsewe with 22.3%, and Pixley ka Seme at 17.9%. Namakwa District recorded 7.1% fewer cases, while the Francis Baard recorded 27.7%, indicating no change,” said Otola.
She said most of the murder incidents happen due to arguments, misunderstandings, road rage, and provocation at public places, recreational centers, and residences of either the victim or the perpetrator.
“At least 54% of the reported murder cases are connected to knife stabbings as a weapon, while four cases were that of a firearm used as a weapon to kill,” he said.
The provinces have recorded only two farm murder incidents reported in Augrabies and Rosendale.
