The UK government has apologised for mistakenly leaking the personal data of nearly 18,000 Afghans who applied under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) in 2022. It also revealed a secret relocation scheme, the Afghan Response Route (ARR), set up to protect many of those affected.
Defence Secretary John Healey told Parliament that an official mistakenly sent an email containing the full list of more than 18,000 applicants’ names. Fearing Taliban reprisals, the previous government established the ARR, through which around 3,000 individuals underwent strict security checks and were relocated.
A court order had kept details of the breach and the secret programme under wraps for nearly two years. After this injunction was lifted, the government disclosed the incident.
Healey offered a formal apology, stating that while the breach occurred under the previous administration, he was sorry on behalf of the UK government. He added that the Ministry of Defence attempted to contact those affected but faced difficulties due to outdated records.
He described the prolonged secrecy surrounding the issue as “deeply uncomfortable” and called for greater transparency going forward. Healey also urged opposition parties to join in offering an apology.
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Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Speaking during a closed-door deposition in New York on Thursday (February), former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she did not “recall” ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had “no knowledge of his crimes”.
Pakistan’s declaration of an “open war” with Afghanistan must be understood in the context of months of escalating violence, regional analysts have said, describing the latest developments as a significant shift in the nature of the conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, offering Tehran’s assistance to facilitate understanding between its eastern neighbours.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, arrived in Geneva and may hold talks with U.S. officials, according to the RIA news agency.
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Another shipment of petroleum products from Azerbaijan to Armenia has been dispatched, with 39 rail tank cars carrying 4,500 tonnes of diesel fuel sent today, Report informs.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, with Washington ordering a significant military build-up in the region and multiple countries evacuating diplomatic staff amid fears of further instability.
Two people were killed and around 40 injured when a tram derailed in central Milan on Friday (27 Februrary), a spokesperson for local firefighters said.
Colombia’s commerce minister, Diana Marcela Morales, has said she will propose raising tariffs on certain Ecuadorian goods from 30% to 50%, as a trade dispute between the neighbouring countries intensifies.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Friday (27 February) that he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and would not have flown on the late convicted sex offender’s plane had he had any inkling of his activities.
Some of Iran's most highly enriched uranium, close to weapons grade, was stored in an underground area of its nuclear site in Isfahan, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report sent to member states on Friday (27 February).
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