In the spotlight: Afghanistan on the brink
Audio 03:38
The French daily Le Figaro devotes its front page to the situation in Afghanistan, this Friday, July 30, 2021. © Le Figaro
By: Norbert Navarro
10 mins
Publicity
Extremist guerrillas approach the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban control several of the country's main border posts.
And in the newsstands, the front page of the daily
Le Figaro is
sounding the alarm this morning.
The Taliban are "
only a few kilometers from Kabul
", this newspaper underlines, and they "
ensure to siphon off the sources of income from the Afghan government and its army: they recently took control of three important border crossing points
".
Liberation
also underlines what this newspaper calls a “
financial victory
” for the Taliban, because customs duties “
represent one fifth of the resources of the Afghan state
”.
In addition, this daily completes, "
if they so decide, the Taliban can suffocate the capital and the big cities
".
To deal with this Taliban push, Turkey could send mercenaries to secure Kabul airport.
“
Perilous
”
task
which could well be entrusted to “
the same Syrian auxiliaries previously dispatched to Libyan soil and to Nagorno-Karabakh,
” warns
Le Figaro
.
Referring to a Syro-Kurdish news site called
Euphrates Media Center
, this daily reports that recent discussions have been carried out to send mercenaries from the Sadat group, known to be close to Turkish President Erdogan, to Kabul, men in weapons already called "
the Wagner of Turkey
", in reference to the Russian security group Wagner, this dark reputed private organization headed by a close friend of President Vladimir Poutine, and which would employ veterans loyal to Russian power in order to intervene there where Moscow, officially, does not want to appear.
Afghanistan?
It is "
the rout of the Westerners
", launches a
Le Figaro
.
Resigned, this daily lists.
"
Syria, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh yesterday, Afghanistan today, Lebanon tomorrow perhaps: the Russian-Turkish tandem has taken the disturbing habit of occupying the void left by the West
".
For this newspaper, there is no doubt that the disaster is “
complete
”.
In France, the 2020 list of first names for newborns
Before, it was Emma for the girls and Gabriel for the boys who were in the lead.
Not anymore.
Unveiled by INSEE, the latest ranking of favorite French first names for newborns gives first place, among girls, to the first name Jade, followed by Louise.
After ten years of domination, the first name Emma is therefore relegated to third place in this ranking, ahead of Alice and Ambre.
Among the boys, Leo dethrones Gabriel, ahead - in order - Raphaël, Arthur and Louis, point
Le Parisien
.
Do you speak Jean-Claude Van Damme?
We end with this quality interview in
Le Parisien
this morning, that of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Something to enchant culture lovers.
Do you speak Jean-Claude? If so, you will understand what the actor means when, about his latest film, he declares to
Le
Parisien
that, without the interviewers, the film would not have "
a good exposure
"; that the cinema is important “right up
to catering
”, because you have to “
feed your crew
”. You should also know that Jean-Claude Van Damme defines himself as a “
hot temper
” and that, he says, “
when you train, endorphin goes up, we stay in shape, we are clear of the head
”. However, he points out, on the set, it is true, “to
kill, that kills
”. This film with Jean-Claude Van-Damme is called
The Last Mercenary
.
And no need for a health pass to see this masterpiece, since it is released on an online platform.
Good session !
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