World

Inside the purgatory where Afghans are trying to take the longest three steps in the world

Published

4 years ago

August 22, 2021

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It’s only a gate. A big, reinforced iron gate protected by paratroopers, but nevertheless it is just a gate.

On one side a rocky drive leads to a complex of apartments and offices and tree-lined streets filled with evacuees.

On the other side, it is a vision of misery.

There is a dusty, rubbish strewn street filled with thousands of people desperate to take the three steps needed to cross the threshold to the Hamid Karzai International Airport and sanctuary.

Right now it’s the longest three steps in the world.

For the hopeful they are stuck in a sort of purgatory.

Day, night, it makes no difference – in their thousands they have to wait, sleeping rough and hoping for news.

Hoping they can get into the system, a system that can get them out of Afghanistan.

The truth is most of them probably won’t because they don’t have the right paperwork.

At night we walk past thousands of children, parents and grandparents grabbing sleep where they can or basically passing out from exhaustion. The struggle never stops.

The soldiers do their best to help, but there is no food out here and little water.

Thankfully, it is cooler at night. But when the sun comes up the true horror of the conditions these people are living in is obvious, and it is absolutely dreadful.

In the American section of the processing chain, they are penned in behind cement road blocks and guarded by hundreds of armed, sunglass-wearing US Marines.

The heightened security threat alert identified by the Americans means there’s no movement allowed at all.

There is no shade here, only what can be fashioned from scarves and plastic bags.

Soldiers are slowly trying to work through paperwork belonging to thousands of people but the conditions of entry to the United States are getting stricter and more and more are failing the eligibility test.

Even those who have been contacted by the State Department to go to the airport for a flight out have been denied.

We met one woman, a worker for USAID, who struggled through the crowds for a day with her family and elderly mother.

She got through the gate, had her documents checked by multiple US soldiers, spent the night outside sleeping without any food or water, and once she got to the final step, was told the flight was only for American passport holders.

Instead of putting her family in a separate section of the crowd, the American soldiers threw them out of the airport complex.

They now have to run the gauntlet – again – if they can bear to.

At the British end of the process, the paratrooper and Taliban cooperation is actually working quite well. They are at least communicating.

You couldn’t make it up – Taliban fighters oversee the crowds from sea containers the paras put in a couple of days ago to create a screening barrier.

Containing the crowds is vital here and clearing up this evacuation mess requires some pretty lateral thinking and that means working with the “enemy”.

Obviously after 20 years of fighting this is something of a culture shock for the soldiers but also the Taliban.

The commanding officer of 3 Para, who have been brought in to assist in the crisis, said it was a simple fact that if the paratroopers weren’t there to do it “nobody else would”.

“The main thing for us is to make sure that we have a smooth system to get those entitled people through,” Lt Col Will Hunt told us.

“At the moment that involves an element of the Taliban being here alongside us as you would’ve seen while you’ve been here – and also we have to put our thoughts of previous tours aside because obviously everyone’s trying to get the safest situation here, which is to avoid a humanitarian crisis and bring those people through who need to.”

This airlift is now a multinational nightmare, not just for the US and Britain.

In the crowds they try to identify themselves to the soldiers and foreign services of countries they have links to.

One group are wearing T-shirts with Finland and the country’s flag drawn on it.

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But there are plenty of other countries as well: Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Austria… the list goes on.

Their days are spent hoping someone will spot them and take them out of this hellhole and put them on a plane.

The wait is often days and days.

In the horrendous rush to get here families have been split. We saw posters for missing children dotted among the crowds.

People search for their loved ones in a daze of panic – but this is a tough environment and only a few will make the flights.

Only some will go as a complete family, and nobody knows how long they have left before the flights stop. It is purgatory.

World

What China could do next as Trump’s tariff war ramps up

Published

4 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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What China could do next as Trump's tariff war ramps up

The severity cannot be overstated, if an additional 50% tariffs are levied on all Chinese goods it will decimate trade between the world’s two biggest economies.

Remember, 50% would sit on top of what is already on the table: 34% announced last week, 20% announced at the start of US President Donald Trump’s term, and some additional tariffs left over from his first term in office.

In total, it means all Chinese goods would face tariffs of over 100%, some as high as 120%.

It’s a price that makes any trade almost impossible.

China is really the only nation in the world at the moment that is choosing to take a stand.

While others are publicly making concessions and sending delegations to negotiate, China has clearly calculated that not being seen to be bullied is worth the cost that retaliation will bring.

The real question, though, is if the US does indeed impose this extra 50% tomorrow, what could or would China do next?

It has said it will “fight to the end”, but what does that mean?

In reality, there are few good options.

There are some obvious measures that China will almost certainly enact.

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Further export controls on rare earth minerals (crucial for the development of high-tech products) are one example. China controls a huge proportion of the world’s supply, but the US would likely find workarounds in time.

Hiking tariffs on high-impact US products such as agricultural goods is another option, but there is only so far this could go.

The potentially more impactful options have significant drawbacks for Beijing.

It could, for instance, target high-profile American companies such as Apple and Tesla, but this isn’t ideal at a time when China is trying to attract more foreign investment, and some devaluation of the currency is possible, but it would also come with adverse effects.

Other options are more political and come with the risk of escalation beyond the economic arena.

In an opinion piece this morning, the editor of Xinhua, China’s state news agency, speculated that China could cease all cooperation with the US on the war against fentanyl.

This has been a major political issue for Mr Trump, and it’s hard to see it would not constitute some sort of red line for him.

Other options touted include banning the import of American films, or perhaps calling for the Chinese public to boycott all American products.

Anything like this comes with a sense that the world’s two most powerful superpowers might be teetering on the edge of not just a total economic decoupling, but cultural separation too.

There is understandably serious nervousness about how that could spiral and the precedent it sets.

World

South Korean military fire at North Korean soldiers ‘crossing demarcation line’

Published

6 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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South Korean military fire at North Korean soldiers 'crossing demarcation line'

South Korea’s military said its soldiers fired warning shots at North Korean troops who crossed the demarcation line between the two countries.

Around 10 North Korean soldiers violated the military line on Tuesday, but returned after it made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots, South Korea’s military said.

In a text sent to reporters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said “North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) in the eastern area of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) around 5:00 pm local time.

“Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military’s activity and taking necessary measures according to the operational procedures.”

Some of the North Korean soldiers were armed, according to the South Korean military.

There is no clear motive for the crossing, but tensions between the two countries have been running high as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to order missile tests and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

North Korean special operations units are among the thousands of troops that Pyongyang has sent to Russia to fight in the Ukraine war, according to South Korea.

In January, Pyongyang tested a hypersonic missile of intermediate range, in a sign of its determination to continue its weapons development programme.

Since re-entering the White House, US President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again to revive diplomatic efforts begun during his first term.

The secretive regime has not responded to Mr Trump’s remarks, but recently claimed US hostilities against it had deepened since the inauguration.

Last month, Mr Kim’s sister threatened the Trump administration with retaliatory action for stepping up “provocations” with the deployment of a US aircraft carrier to South Korea.

Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas’ heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ.

But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year, it didn’t escalate as South Korean officials realised they were carrying construction tools and decided the incursion was accidental.

The 155-mile (249km)-long, 2.5-mile (4km)-wide DMZ is the world’s most heavily armed border.

Around two million mines are inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides.

It’s a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The incursion comes as South Korea copes with a leadership vacuum after the ousting of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law.

World

King and Queen watch flypast over Rome as state visit to Italy under way

Published

6 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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King and Queen watch flypast over Rome as state visit to Italy under way

The King and Queen received a red carpet welcome and watched a flypast as they were greeted by Italy’s president following their arrival in Rome for a state visit.

The royal couple were met by President Sergio Mattarella at his official residence in Rome, the Quirinale Palace, after their limousine was escorted into the palace quadrangle by mounted Corazzieri guards.

Laura Mattarella, the president’s daughter acting in a first lady role following the death of her mother, was also there to greet Charles and Camilla.

The couple landed at Rome’s Ciampino Airport on Tuesday morning, where again they had a red carpet rolled out for them as they were met by dignitaries, including the UK’s ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn.

Charles, Camilla, President Mattarella and his daughter stood still as they listened to the national anthems of Italy and the UK being played out at the Quirinale.

Lined up nearby them were a guard of honour formed of the Quirinale Band, troops from the Italian army, navy and air force, members of Italy’s military police the Carabinieri and mounted Corazzieri guards.

The King and Queen watched a joint flypast over the capital by the Italian air force’s aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, streaming Italy’s national colours, and the RAF’s Red Arrows who left red, white and blue smoke in their wake.

Honours were later exchanged by the King and the president at the palace.

The King was made a Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, and he presented Mr Mattarella with the insignia for a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

“It goes back quite a long way,” said Charles. “It’s just a token really of our appreciation, you’ve served for so long.”

“I’m humbled, your majesty,” Mr Mattarella replied.

The Queen was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, and told her host: “I’m very honoured and humbled.”

What else is on Charles and Camilla’s schedule?

After meeting the president, the couple visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located within the Victor Emmanuel II Monument (also known as Altare della Patria) in Rome’s famed Piazza Venezia, where they lay a wreath.

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy were also in attendance.

Charles and Camilla are scheduled to head to the Colosseum later in the day, where they will be meeting schoolchildren.

They are also attending a British community reception.

The timing of Charles and Camilla’s visit means they will spend their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday in Italy.

The trip comes just less than a fortnight after Buckingham Palace confirmed the King had been taken to hospital following side effects related to his ongoing cancer treatment.

Last week, he returned to a full diary of official engagements, albeit slightly adjusted to give more time for rest ahead of the trip to Italy.

The four-day visit to Italy, on behalf of the government, is an important step in continuing efforts to bolster relationships with EU countries following Brexit, but also significant in the context of Donald Trump‘s presidency and the disruption that has caused.

The King and Queen were also due to visit the Vatican City and meet Pope Francis, but that was postponed in recent weeks due to the Pope’s ill health.