The three-and-a-half-year inquiry into alleged war crimes by members of the SAS in Afghanistan is facing further delays, after the Ministry of Defence produced nearly 100 million new files as evidence.

The MoD apologised to the inquiry’s chair, Lord Justice Charles Haddon-Cave, for “delays in failing to explain why it unexpectedly revealed a further 97 million new documents”, said BFBS Forces News. The government department later conceded that only “around 1,200 might be relevant”. But Haddon-Cave said the “somewhat casual way” the inquiry was informed about the documents “did not give cause for confidence”. With mounting costs and the latest delays, the outcome of the inquiry could still be years away. A spokesperson for the MoD said the government is “fully committed to the Afghanistan inquiry”.

What has the inquiry heard so far?
The inquiry was launched in 2023 following claims that British special forces personnel “executed captives in Afghanistan and destroyed evidence of wrongdoing”, said The Telegraph. The allegations were that “80 or more unarmed Afghans, including children and detainees, were executed by soldiers” between 2010 and 2013. Around 150 SAS soldiers who served in Afghanistan are expected to be called to give evidence. Former SAS personnel have argued that the inquiry is a “witch hunt”.

Several senior UK military personnel have told the inquiry that the SAS “carried out extrajudicial killings of Afghan civilians”, said the BBC. Concerns were also raised about the secrecy surrounding the SAS and that previous investigations into the allegations had “ended prematurely”.

Why has it been delayed?
Proceedings were already behind schedule. Haddon-Cave initially said an interim report would be published within 18 months (at the end of 2024), but lawyers accepted that publishing in 2028 would be more likely.

The emergence now of the millions of new files, which the MoD previously discounted as being outside the scope of the investigation, is “troubling and regrettable”, Haddon-Cave said, “and if not rapidly addressed and managed has the capacity to delay the important work of this inquiry”. Speaking for the Afghan families, Edward Craven KC told the inquiry that due to the number of files to trawl through, “there may be a tension between the imperative of thoroughness and the imperative of timeliness”.

Manchester City face a large fine, a points deduction, a transfer ban, the stripping of titles and trophies and even legal action from other football clubs, after reportedly being found guilty of 114 out of 115 charges of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.

With the verdict still to be officially confirmed, “the chaos and uncertainty is only going to increase” as “City fans, and the rest of football” speculate about how harsh the penalties might be, said the BBC’s football issues correspondent Dale Johnson.

Questions for future
Man City have reportedly lodged an appeal, but should that fail, there will be a sanction hearing at which “everything will be on the table”, said Johnson – “even demotion” from the Premier League.

Betting markets are already anticipating “just how heavily the Premier League could come down on the club”, said Lawrence Ostlere in The Independent. Despite their current position at top of the league, by Saturday, Man City were sixth favourites to be relegated to the Championship, “with odds shortening by the minute”. “There will be questions now” over the future of not only star players such as Erling Haaland and Enzo Fernandez but also “the people who run the football club”.

‘Forever tainted’
“If the full weight of football law were to be thrown at them”, a “hefty slice of football history would need rewriting”, said Tim Spiers on The Athletic. Man City won nine domestic trophies between 2009 and 2018 – the years the charges span. If these titles were rescinded, former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers would become “Premier League title-winning managers”. That would be “very surreal”.

“It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for Man City supporters,” said The Guardian’s editorial board. It seems likely that “the greatest period in their club’s history” will now be “forever tainted”. Some of the team’s football “during the Abu Dhabi era” has been “sublime, overseen by an inspired coach”, former manager Pep Guardiola. This sour ending is a “reminder that the volume of money now washing about at the top of the game has been bad for its sporting soul”.

Pope Leo XIV joins pilots in the cockpit before flying out of Metz-Nancy-Lorraine Airport on the last day of the first official papal visit to France in 18 years. He ended his four-day trip with a major speech on European unity. 

Vatican Pool / Getty Images

A fresh sweetcorn cob – boiled, with butter, salt and cracked black pepper – is “too tempting to resist”, said Rosanna Dodds in the Financial Times. But the “golden vegetable” is cropping up in more unusual forms, too, including in ice cream and even coffee. 

Long used in “sandwich fillings and pizza toppings”, corn has recently been “popping up on social media in sweet treat form”, said Alys Davies on the BBC. Using corn in desserts is part of a bigger trend of mixing unexpected sweet and savoury flavours, Shokofeh Hejazi, from food trends agency thefoodpeople, told the broadcaster. It has a creamy texture when blended, which is perfect for the “swavoury” movement. 

Experimental corn desserts have yet to become mainstream, but some venues are already embracing the trend. A peach and sweetcorn Danish pastry is available at popular east London bakery Pophams, and gelato store Snowflake’s has a sweetcorn-flavoured Snow Cob. 

Sweetcorn drinks are also on the rise. Crystelle Pereira, a former “Great British Bake Off” finalist known for her “wacky flavour combinations”, has created a recipe for a sweetcorn latte, said Davies on the BBC. Inspired by a frappé she enjoyed on a trip to Thailand, Pereira used a blender to make corn milk from cooked sweetcorn, coconut milk, coconut cream, a squeeze of honey and vanilla bean paste. The milk is topped with a shot of espresso, whipped coconut cream and cornflakes. 

If you prefer something savoury, try Felicity Cloake’s recipe for the perfect sweetcorn fritters in The Guardian. They taste best made with fresh corn, but you can make “very decent” fritters with corn from a can. Delicious served with a dollop of creme fraiche, they go with most things, “including a cold beer”. 

MPs, you told us clearly that end-of-life care in the UK is broken. So now we need you to fix it
Jane Turner in The Guardian
Politicians who “disagreed deeply” about assisted dying were united on the urgent need to reform our palliative care system, writes Jane Turner, chief nurse at Sue Ryder. MPs described it as “a ‘postcode lottery’”, with those in poorer areas struggling to “access good quality” end-of-life care. But “there is a danger these concerns are forgotten” as attention turns to the “next set of political priorities”. “That must not happen.” Nobody should have to face “the end of life feeling frightened, unsupported or alone”.

The BBC’s instinct to censor popular programmes is bizarre
The Times’ editorial board
“To meet its guidelines for children’s programming”, the BBC has edited episodes of “Horrible Histories”, cutting scenes “featuring chimney sweeps and slavery” and other “bleak moments” including “the experiences of soldiers during the First World War”, says The Times. It doesn’t “seem to appreciate” that “the whole point of the series” is using “gruesome tales to bring history to life”. The BBC should “devote less time and energy to editing its old output” and “more to making new programmes that people want to watch”.

Small dog owners should realise their ‘dogs’ are actually cats
William Sitwell in The Telegraph
The author of a new dog book claims that “almost all criticisms of little dogs” are motivated by “a hatred, or a fear, if not always of women, then of femininity”. But “antipathy to small dogs has nothing to do with sexism”, writes William Sitwell, and everything to do with “common sense”: “selfish, deceiving, untrainable”, these are not dogs but rather cats “in disguise”. “So, cast off your silly-named cavapoos, maltipoos, pomeranians and teacup poodles and grab a proper hound.”