Headlines: Europeans race against time to evacuate thousands of Afghans
Audio 05:35
Afghan families disembark from a plane at the Torrejon military base in Madrid, Spain, as part of the evacuation process from Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. © AP Photo / Andrea Comas
By: Véronique Rigolet Follow
15 mins
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The countdown is now on, leaving only a few days for the West to evacuate their nationals and their Afghan allies, while Joe Biden confirmed the American withdrawal on August 31. And the European press to denounce "
the intransigence
" of the American president who, faced with the ultimatum of the Taliban, therefore "
rejected the demands of his European partners
", headlines the Belgian daily
Le Soir.
"
Biden refuses the extension of the airlift in Kabul
", denounces for his part the Spanish
El Pais
following the example of the
Financial Times
which sees in it "
a challenge launched to his allies
". It's a "
real rebuff
", Estimates for its part the
Guardian
, very reassembled, which accuses Biden of having"
poured salt on the wounds of his fractured relationship with the European leaders
". "
Thousands of Afghans could be abandoned if British operations end as planned in 24
to
36
hours,
" says the British daily. "
London is scrambling to evacuate by plane more than
4,000
British and Afghan nationals from Afghanistan by the end of the week,
" notes the
Times
for its part,
which specifies that the "
last evacuation flight of the Royal Air Force should leave this Thursday or next Friday
”.
"
Any extension risked leading to terrorist attacks by the Islamic State
", underlines for its part the
Washington Post
taking up the justifications of the American president, while the editorialist of the
Wall Street Journal
denounces him the decision taken by Biden "
a decision negotiated in a position of weakness
”, facing the Taliban believes the American daily for whom the Afghan withdrawal is“
one of the most regrettable American failures for decades
”.
►
See also: In Afghanistan, chaos and fear are growing as August 31 approaches
Europeans try to negotiate further evacuations after August 31
Italy, Germany in particular and the United Kingdom which currently chairs the G7 are trying to put "
pressure to determine whether an airport managed by civilians in Afghanistan could be used after August 31
", explains the
Guardian
"
possibly under the direction of Turkey
”, in order to evacuate thousands of Afghans particularly threatened by the Taliban“
judges, prosecutors, human rights activists
”. It would be "
a free passage for those who want to leave Afghanistan
" after the American withdrawal, as claimed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson explains for his part
Le Soir
which nevertheless underlines the difficulty of such a negotiation between the West and the Taliban.
For its part, Italy is calling for an extraordinary summit very quickly in September, a G7 summit in which "
Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey
" would also participate, explains
La
Repubblica
"as
many countries important to control what happens in Afghanistan
”.
Afghan fiasco hangs over Kamala Harris' Asian tour
As the American vice-president begins a visit to Vietnam in an attempt to strengthen alliances with China, the fall of Kabul and the chaotic evacuations bring back the dark hours of the fall of Saigon in 1975. And the state press Chinese to exploit, of course, this parallel to condemn and disqualify American diplomacy. "
The Vietnamese people will surely not forget how the United States escaped Saigon,
" writes the
Global Times
, mocking
Washington's
"
loss of credibility
" after the Afghan fiasco. "
This trip to Asia will not save the tarnished image of the United States
", again asserts the
Global Times
while the
China Daily
denounces for his part the will "
hypocritical
" of Kamala Harris "
to seek to divide China and its neighbors in Southeast Asia
".
Unanimous press tribute to Charlie Watts, drummer for the Stones
"
The world of rock is in mourning
", headlines the
Daily Mirror
following the example of the international press which very often displays in one of the photos of Charlie Watts, who died Tuesday in London at the age of 80, 60 of whom spent with the Rolling Stones. He is arguably "
the greatest drummer in the world,
" says the
Guardian
, "
a gentleman in the most dangerous band in the world,
" headlines the
Washington Post,
which hails "
Charlie's eloquence, generosity and impossible grace. Watts
”,“
this gentleman
lost at sea with hungry pirates
”and who beat“
his drums politely
”. "
A metronome
", which the guitarists of the group sometimes lost in their improvisations could catch up with, writes
Le Soir
which judges that"
without Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones concerts would have (quite simply) been able to turn into a heap of mud
" .
►
To read also: The drummer of the Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts, died at the age of 80
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