International
Anne Frank betrayal suspect identified after decades: book
AFP
A cold case investigation led by an ex-FBI agent has identified a Jewish notary as the prime suspect in the mystery of who betrayed teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis, a new book claims.
Arnold van den Bergh may have revealed the Franks’ hiding place in Amsterdam in order to save his own family, according to a six-year probe detailed in “The Betrayal of Anne Frank” by Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan, which is published on Tuesday.
The case against Van den Bergh, who died in 1950, is supported by evidence including an anonymous note sent to Anne’s father Otto after World War II naming him as the betrayer, according to elements published in Dutch media Monday.
The Anne Frank House museum told AFP that the results of the probe, led by retired Federal Bureau of Investigation detective Vincent Pankoke, were a “fascinating hypothesis” but needed further investigation.
Theories have long swirled about the Nazi raid on August 4, 1944, that uncovered the secret annexe where Anne and her family hid from the Holocaust for two years.
Van den Bergh’s name had previously received little attention, but came to the fore during the investigation using modern techniques including artificial intelligence to sort through huge amounts of data.
It narrowed the list of suspects to four, including Van den Bergh, who was a founding member of the Jewish Council, an administrative body the Nazis forced Jews to establish to organise deportations.
Investigators found he had managed to get his family exempted from being transported, but that this was revoked around the time of the betrayal of the Franks.
“We do not have a smoking gun, but we do have a hot weapon with empty casings next to it,” Pankoke was quoted as saying by Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
After the raid on the Franks’ house, the family were deported and Anne and her sister died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp the following year.
Her father later published her “Diary of a Young Girl” which has since sold more than 30 million copies.
Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House, said questions remained about the anonymous note in particular.
“You have to be very careful about sending someone down in history as a traitor to Anne Frank if you are not 100 or 200 percent sure about that,” he added.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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