Surveillance system also installed at fence bordering Turkey as Greek ministers vow to turn back refugeesGreece said it has completed a 25-mile (40km) wall on its border with Turkey and installed a surveillance system to prevent possible asylum seekers…
‘America first’ again? Is Biden echoing Trump on Afghanistan and vaccines?
The president’s pushing of a US-centric agenda has dismayed many but his defenders say it is ‘progressive nationalism’For Donald Trump, the former US president, beating the drum of “America first” was something of an obsession. “The future doesn’t belo…
Social platforms wrestle with what to do about the Taliban
With the hasty U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan underway after two decades occupying the country, social media platforms have a complex new set of policy decisions to make. The Taliban has been social-media-savvy for years, but those companies will face new questions as the notoriously brutal, repressive group seeks to present itself as Afghanistan’s legitimate […]
US omits Macron’s plea for ‘moral responsibility’ from record of Afghanistan call
• French readout of call with Biden included phrase• Macron said of Afghan allies: ‘We cannot abandon them’The White House’s readout of a call between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron on the crisis in Afghanistan leaves out an impassioned plea from the Fr…
David Squires on Desmond Swayne’s comments on Afghans fleeing the Taliban – cartoon
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Afghanistan refugees: how many are being evacuated and where will they go?
The Taliban takeover has sparked a hurried exodus of people associated with the western intervention in the countryHow many people have been evacuated from Afghanistan?At least 12,000 people have been evacuated via Kabul airport since the start of a tu…
Desperate crowds, empty flights and rage in Afghanistan at governments who failed to plan
The US and UK say evacuations are gathering pace, but there seems to be little sign of that in KabulThe Kabul airport gates were a path not to escape but to hospital for one Afghan human rights activist this week.A relative was shot in the head in the …
Vladimir Putin warns west to stop meddling in Afghanistan
During ‘farewell summit’ with Angela Merkel, Russian leader says US-led campaign cannot be called a successVladimir Putin has demanded that countries not interfere in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, saying the west “must stop the irresponsible pol…
Spain offers itself as hub for Afghans who collaborated with EU
Evacuees who have worked with EU institutions will arrive in Spain and then be settled in various countriesSpain has offered itself as the EU’s hub to take in Afghans who have collaborated with its institutions over the years, as Germany said there was…
Afghanistan reports of torture and killing contradict Taliban’s promises
Fighters tortured Hazara men to death, say witnesses, and relative of journalist killedEvidence of Taliban killings, detentions and intimidation is emerging across Afghanistan, ominously contradicting the hardline Islamist group’s promise earlier this …