måndag 1 december 2025
Information: War crimes in Afghanistan covered up
Published 11.43
Senior leaders in the British special forces covered up suspected war crimes in Afghanistan, according to information from a whistleblower.
Two former commanders in the British special forces, like others, failed to take action after information that units committed extrajudicial executions in Afghanistan more than a decade ago, according to the whistleblower.
The testimony has been given to a public inquiry that has been ongoing since 2023 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The investigation into events between 2010 and 2013 is being led by a British judge after allegations from relatives of some of those who are said to have been killed by British special forces, often during night raids.
The whistleblower, a former officer, says he has concluded that “the issue of extrajudicial killings was not limited to a few soldiers or a single sub-unit ... but was potentially more widespread.”
According to the whistleblower, senior officers have obstructed his attempts to “do the right thing.” He says he has “lost confidence” in their willingness to report the allegations to military investigators.
Concerns about possible “war crimes” were reportedly reported to the head of the special forces as early as 2011, but no action was taken.
Called: Decisive week for diplomacy
Published 11.16
The current week could be decisive for diplomacy around Ukraine, says EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas.
On her way to Monday's meeting with EU defense ministers, Kallas remains hopeful that frozen Russian state assets can be used to help Ukraine, despite strong opposition from Belgium.
- We will not leave the summit in December (18-19) without results on Ukraine's financing, says Kallas in Brussels.
Sweden's Pål Jonson (M) welcomes the fact that the Commission is still pressing.
- We know that Ukraine needs the financial muscle to be able to continue the war in the spring and therefore the frozen Russian assets are absolutely central to this, says the Minister of Defense.
On Monday, Jonson will meet his Ukrainian colleague Denys Sjmyhal to talk about the next Swedish military support package. At the same time, he is concerned about a declining trend in support from several other countries.
- That trend needs to be broken and more people must do more bilaterally. We know that sometime in the spring, Ukraine will have quite serious financial problems, warns Jonson in Brussels.
Trump: Will investigate attack on boat
Published 05.34
US President Donald Trump will investigate reports that the US military carried out a follow-up attack on a suspected drug boat to ensure that everyone on board was killed.
Trump said on Sunday American time that he would not have wanted to see a second attack.
– We will investigate the matter, but no, I would not have wanted that, not a second attack. The first was very deadly, he said according to AFP.
The response comes after The Washington Post reported that a follow-up attack on a suspected drug boat on September 2 was carried out to kill survivors of the first.
The information, which has also been confirmed by sources including CNN, raises new questions about the legality of US operations in the Caribbean Sea.
The attack in question was the first in a series this fall against boats that the US government claims are transporting drugs to the US.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order before the attack that everyone on board would be killed, two sources with insight into the matter told The Washington Post.
When the smoke cleared after the first hits, a live broadcast from drones showed two survivors clinging to the wreckage. The commander in charge then ordered more missiles to be fired – to carry out Hegseth’s orders, according to the reports.
Hegseth has dismissed the reports as “fake news” and Trump has so far backed his secretary of war.
“I will find out, but Pete said he did not order the men to die,” Trump says.
TT
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff during a previous meeting in Moscow, in August this year.
1 / 2Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin Via AP/TT
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Paris, where he is meeting with President Emmanuel Macron to seek further support from his allies in Europe.
The Kremlin confirms that President Vladimir Putin will meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow tomorrow, Tuesday.
Shortly after 11 am on Monday, Zelensky arrived at the Élysée Palace in Paris, where he was hugged by President Emmanuel Macron. According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the talks are aimed at moving the negotiations forward.
– Peace is within reach if Vladimir Putin abandons his delusional hope of restoring the Soviet Union by first subduing Ukraine, he tells France’s La Tribune Dimanche ahead of the meeting.
A press conference is expected early this afternoon, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Zelensky: “Grateful”
The Paris talks follow “productive” peace talks in Florida on Sunday. During the night, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US and Donald Trump for the talks between the US and Ukraine.
“I am grateful to the US, President Trump’s team and the president personally for the time spent defining steps towards ending the war,” he wrote on X.
Neither Zelensky nor Trump attended Sunday’s talks, which according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, were “productive and successful.” Trump stated hours after the meeting that there were “good prospects” for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine – while Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the talks, admitted that much work remains.
Meet in Moscow
The talks in Florida were a continuation of the recent negotiations in Geneva, and the starting point was the draft of 19 points that was developed last weekend by Ukraine and the United States. The goal was to agree on letters that can be taken to Russia and this week's negotiations in Moscow.
On Monday, the Russian power headquarters, the Kremlin, confirmed that President Vladimir Putin would receive US envoy Steve Witkoff tomorrow, Tuesday.
- The meeting with Witkoff is scheduled for tomorrow, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the meeting will take place in the afternoon, Russian time.
According to The Guardian, Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both also participated in Sunday's negotiations in Florida, will fly to Russia on Monday.
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