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British spies and SAS named in Afghan data breach

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10 months ago

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The identities of more than 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, were compromised in a data breach that also put thousands of Afghans at risk of reprisal, it can be reported.

The latest fallout from the breach was kept secret by an injunction until Thursday, when the order was lifted in part by a High Court judge.

That allowed media organisations to reveal that detailed case notes in the database contained secret personal data of special forces and spies.

The government had already admitted on Tuesday the data of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had worked with the British during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and had applied to resettle in the UK had been inadvertently leaked.

Many were judged to be at risk of serious harm or even death as the Taliban sought retribution against those who had worked with the British government during the conflict.

This was part of the reason the information was protected by a so-called “super-injunction” – a kind of gagging order that prevents the reporting of even the existence of the injunction.

The data breach occurred in February 2022 but was not discovered by the government until August 2023, when someone in Afghanistan who had obtained the data posted part of it on Facebook and indicated he could release the rest.

The BBC revealed on Wednesday that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had offered to expedite a review of the individual’s application and brought him to the country after he posted the data – a sequence of events that government sources said was “essentially blackmail”.

The MoD declined to comment on the actions of the individual but said that “anyone who comes to the UK under any Afghan relocation schemes” must go through “robust security checks in order to gain entry”.

The discovery of the breach in 2023 forced the government to covertly set up the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) – a resettlement scheme for those affected, who were not told about the breach despite the risk to their security.

The scheme has already allowed 4,500 Afghans and family members to move to the UK and a further 2,400 people are expected, at an estimated cost of £850m.

The accidental leak was the result of someone working at UK Special Forces headquarters in London inadvertently emailing more than 30,000 resettlement applications to an individual outside of government, thinking that he was sending data on just 150 people.

After the lifting of the super-injunction on Tuesday, a secondary injunction had prevented the revelations about special forces and security services personal being compromised.

But that was also lifted on Thursday that barristers representing both the MoD and a group of media organisations reached a compromise that meant journalists could report the additional facts.

Defence Secretary John Healey told Parliament on Tuesday that the breach was a “serious departmental error” and acknowledged that it was “just one of many data losses” relating to the Afghan relocation schemes.

The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak was discovered.

The MoD has refused to say how many people in Afghanistan may have been harmed as a result of the data breach. The Taliban government said on Thursday that it had not arrested or monitored Afghans affected by the leak.

But relatives of Afghans named in the leak told BBC that they fear for their families still in the country, with one saying efforts by the Taliban to find their named relative intensified following the leak.

An MoD spokesperson said: “It’s longstanding policy of successive governments to not comment on special forces. “We take the security of our personnel very seriously, particularly of those in sensitive positions, and always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.”

[BBC]

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Trump announces three-day ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war

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1 hour ago

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2026/05/9

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left), US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin [Aljazeera]

United States ⁠President Donald Trump ⁠says ‌there will be a three-day ceasefire in ⁠the war between ⁠Russia and ⁠Ukraine.

Posting on Truth Social on Friday, the US leader said the truce would last from ⁠Saturday to Monday.

“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump posted.

Soon after, Ukrainian ⁠President ⁠Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on X that ⁠a three-day truce ⁠had been arranged as part of ‌US efforts to negotiate an end to the more than ⁠four-year-old war.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov later said “an agreement on this matter was reached during our telephone contacts with the US administration. In turn, US representatives were in contact with Kyiv.” He said the agreement followed a recent telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and Trump, in which the two presidents “emphasised that our countries were allies during World War II and also discussed the possibility of a ceasefire during the Victory Day celebrations.”

Russia had previously announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9 World War II Victory Day on Saturday. Ukraine previously stated that it too had offered a truce but that this had been ignored by Moscow.

“This request was made directly by me,” Trump said on Friday, thanking his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts for agreeing to it.

“The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II. This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country,” Trump said. Zelenskyy also confirmed the prisoner swap would take place.

[Aljazeera]

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Heat Index is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the North-central and Eastern provinces and in Mannar, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts during the daytime

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2 hours ago

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2026/05/9

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Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 08 May 2026, valid for 09 May 2026

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the North-central and Eastern provinces and in Mannar, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts during the daytime

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on the human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED

Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

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Finn Allen’s 47-ball ton powers Kolkata Knight Riders to huge win over Delhi Capitals

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2 hours ago

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2026/05/9

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Pathum Nissanka carried Delhi Capitals in the first half of the innings [Cricinfo]

Kolkata Knight Riders picked up their fourth win on the trot, their spin bowlers (12-0-76-3) capturing Delhi Capitals in a vice-like grip and never letting go Finn Allen made sure that wouldn’t repeat in the second innings. He pulverised DC’s spinners (9-0-102-1) to score his first IPL century even though he only had 143 to chase.

Pathum Nissanka scored a good half-century. He made 50 of DC’s first 85 runs at a strike rate of 172. The other end could only contribute 33 at a strike rate of 103. It was symbolic of how hard it was for a new batter to settle in and how much pressure comes on the set batter on a pitch like this. Even though he was going at a good clip, and had hit the previous ball for four, he still left his crease looking for more and was stumped off Anukul Roy.  The left-arm spinner took another wicket, four balls later.

DC were 74 for 2 after eight overs. But only four of those overs were from spin bowlers and three of them were inside the powerplay. Given the comfort of five fielders on the boundary, and a pitch that was slow and turning, Roy, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy started to dictate proceedings. At one point, DC scored just 11 runs in 30 balls. This was between overs 12 to 16. No IPL team in nearly two decades has ever been this sluggish in this period of play.

Roy set this choke up, stumping Nissanka out with a slower and wider delivery and bowling Tristan Stubbs out with the exact opposite of that. That was solid range for a bowler with no mystery about him.

With DC at 89 for 5, Axar Patel in wretched form (his 44 runs, with only three boundaries, are the fewest by any batter this season having faced at least 50 balls) and the conditions not helping run-scoring, all Narine and Varun had to do was what they do so well. Amp up the mystery. Aim at the stumps. Narine finished with 4-0-17-1. Varun, badly limping when he bowled his final over which cost 16 runs, finished with 4-0-28-0.

Ashutosh Sharma broke a boundary drought that last 38 balls in the 17th over. He reverse swept Vaibhav Arora, coming around the wicket, for six in the 19th over. His cameo – 39 off 28 balls – carried KKR to 142 for 8.

For the first time in his IPL career, Allen played through the powerplay. This was his eighth innings. He might have felt bad for running out his captain Ajinkya Rahane when his straight drive flicked Mitchell Starc’s outstretched finger and deflected onto the stumps but he quickly got over it. DC played a part in that a well with Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam bowling balls right in the slot. Allen is superb down the ground and needed no second invitation. From 20 off 17, he launched 10 sixes, the last of them when KKR needed two to win and he needed six to bring up 100.

Allen had a strike rate of 235 against spin (73 off 31). The next best, from both teams, was Rahane with 167, benefiting from playing just three balls and scoring five runs.

In a match where his former team’s spinners held so much sway (economy rate 6.33), Kuldeep suffered, going at 13.66 an over even though he was spared the trouble of bowling in the powerplay. Axar bowled three with the field up and still finished with figures of 4-0-27-1.

Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 147 for 2 in 14.2 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 13, Finn Allen 100*, Cameron Green 33*; Axar Patel 1-27  ) beat Delhi Capitals 142 for 8 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 50, KL Rahul 23, Axar Patel 11, Ashutosh Sharma 39; Kartik Tyagi 2-25, Anukul Roy 2-31, Vaibhav Arora 1–29, Sunil Narine 1-17, Cameron Green 1-12) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

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