Consequences of an old war, a new front opens, and robots on the frontline
A data breach bites back in Afghanistan, while technology could break through in Ukraine
Just when you thought Britain’s exit from Afghanistan couldn’t get any more shameful it turns out it could. The scenes of people trying to cling to the wings of planes, fleeing the Taliban as they retook control, crawling through ditches desperate to be evacuated was a grim end to Britain and America’s role in the post 9-11 conflict.
Now we know things in fact got even worse and the consequences for British politics could be quite profound. An official in the Ministry of Defence sent out emails listing thousands of Afghans who said they had helped British forces and were seeking visas to come here. The data breach meant their personal details, and their family’s details, could fall into the hands of Taliban who might seek retribution. The British government moved secretly to get some of them out, but only some. It did not tell any of those people at risk what they had done to put them in greater danger.
And a superinjunction kept the whole thing covered up, until now.
But there are huge questions unanswered: from was anyone harmed as a result, to why are they sure nobody will be harmed now it has gone public, not to mention who in the Conservative government knew and what they said about keeping it secret from the public, parliament and the media. Playing as it does into the whole immigration debate it also has potentially big implications for trust in politicians, which you might also have thought couldn’t get any worse.
While Gazans continued to be killed by the dozen every day trying to get food there remain distant rumblings of a ceasefire but no agreement. For people on the ground it is largely irrelevant. They remain under attack and completely controlled by Israel by their need for food - while Israel maintains their shots are being aimed at Hamas, not civilians.
Meanwhile, Israel started bombing another neighbour - Syria - again supposedly in defence of the Druze minority in the south. They have been involved in clashes with different ethnic groups in Syria as the new HTS government struggles to assert control over the whole of the country. The suspicion of many observers is that Israel wants Syria to be weak and splintered, and so is not going along with the American and Turkish plan to help the new government establish itself.
With almost comical understatement the US Secretary of State said ‘it’s complicated’, suggesting it had all been a big misunderstanding.
As the Ukraine war continued Donald Trump revealed more of how shaky his onetime bromance with Vladimir Putin now is. In Ukraine itself reality mimics science fiction where robots are being enlisted on the battlefield to help break through Russian lines.
Here’s what we’re watching this week on Channel 4 News.
Data Breach Coverup
Four years since the disastrous pullout of Western soldiers from Afghanistan, we finally now know about an extraordinary data breach that put 100,000 more lives at risk.
After an official mistakenly released personal details of Afghans who applied to move to the UK - many of whom worked or fought alongside British forces in the nearly two-decade long conflict - and could have landed right in the hands of the Taliban.
Further shrouded in secrecy, a special relocation scheme costing hundreds of millions of pounds was created.
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And now it also emerges that over 100 British people - including spies and special forces - also had their data included in the leak.
How did this breach happen, and why was it held secret for so long? Even to this day the defence secretary admits he is ‘unable to say’ if anyone was killed as a result. It’s unclear if anyone will be punished. And Afghans caught in the scandal tell us they are still fearful.
Israel Emboldened in Gaza - and Now Syria
"It's complicated", says America, as Israel bombed the Syrian military in the capital Damascus.
Another new front may be opening in the Middle East, with Israel targeting the new fledgling government in Syria amid shocking scenes of sectarian violence.
The fall of Bashar Al-Assad was supposed to be the dawn of a new era in Syria, but we now see the humiliation and persecution of Syria's Druze minority by the army of the new Syrian leadership, as they forcibly cut their moustaches.
Israel says it is trying to protect the Druze in their attacks, continuing with a decades-long alliance, as large numbers of the minority also live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Druze make up around five per cent of the IDF.
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In Gaza, Israel’s strategy has not changed as promise of a ceasefire last week yet again does not come to fruition and there are more horrific deaths at an Israeli aid distribution point.
Shocking video shows Gazans fired upon around the chaotic aid sites set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, ceasefire talks break down as Israel says it wants to keep troops in the strip, and during the panic to survive at least 20 are killed in a stampede as guards fired tear gas or pepper spray at desperate crowds.
Bromance Over Between Trump and Putin?
Donald Trump says he’s ‘very unhappy’ with Russia in possibly the biggest fracture in the relationship between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. He gives an ultimatum - make peace in 50 days or face tariffs. Another familiar threat from the president.
Is this another turning point in the war? Or can Ukrainians developing sophisticated machines for the battlefield break the Russian lines?
We visit the front lines where the nightly battle against drones continues. And inside a secret weapons lab, engineers take notes out of science fiction crafting their own robots and remote controlled machine guns to fight the war from a distance.
Further back, people try to cling to normality. For one glorious hour, a crowd of mainly little girls and their mothers watch a ballet, forgetting about drone and missile attacks and fathers fighting on the front.
Have You Seen This On Channel 4 News?
Justice for Baby Victoria
An aristocrat’s daughter and a convicted rapist.
Together they disappeared, with their baby daughter Victoria left dead in their wake. After managing another escape from severe punishment, a retrial has found Constance Marten and Mark Gordon guilty in the death of their daughter.
This is the inside story of how it happened.
Moving Right to Counter Trump
In America the Democrats are in crisis — leaderless, divided, and drifting after Donald Trump’s return to power, and on the left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Bernie Sanders and the Democrat’s New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani are seizing the moment, but is their radicalism the way to beat Trump’s Maga bandwagon?
Trump seems to be alienating his own fanbase on his own with his dismissal of what he now calls the ‘Epstein hoax’ so do the Democrats need to focus on working class America or lean into left-wing populism to turn the tide?
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Channel 4 & Krishnan are the best! 👏🏻👏🏻