World

The Smugglers’ Paradise of Afghanistan

Published

3 years ago

March 8, 2022

ZARANJ, Afghanistan — The smuggler barreled down the slender dust street, bouncing into craters and over rocks that jutted out from the scrubland. His headlights have been off and because the automobile picked up pace, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel attempting to wrestle it below his management.

It was simply after 1 a.m. on this nook of southwest Afghanistan and a full moon drenched the desert dunes a dim, white glow. Hours earlier, the smuggler struck a cope with an Iranian safety guard to ship 40 Afghans throughout the close by border that evening.

Now a couple of miles down the street, the migrants hid in a ravine ready for his sign to run.

“I’m coming, I’m close to the border, wait a minute!” he screamed into his cellphone and slammed on the accelerator, kicking up plumes of mud that disappeared into the darkness.

It was a typical evening’s work for the smuggler, H., who requested to go by solely his first preliminary due to the unlawful nature of his enterprise. A broad-shouldered man with a booming voice, H. is one among a handful of kingpins that successfully run Nimruz Province, which straddles the border with Iran and Pakistan and is the nation’s epicenter for all issues unlawful.

For many years, the smuggling commerce — of individuals, medication and cash — has dominated the economic system right here, flushing money into an in any other case desolate stretch of Afghanistan the place countless desert blends right into a washed-out sky. Now, as tons of of 1000’s of Afghans attempt to flee the nation, fearing persecution from the Taliban or hunger from the nation’s financial collapse, enterprise has boomed for individuals smugglers like H. who maintain the keys to the gate.

However as migrants flood into the province, the obstacles that smugglers face have multiplied: Because the former authorities collapsed, Iran has bolstered its border safety whereas the Taliban have tried to sever the migrant route H. has mastered, one among two migrants use to sneak into Iran.

Journalists with The New York Instances spent 24 hours with H. to see how the illicit commerce that has future this nook of Afghanistan endures even now.

12:45 A.M.

“Did the refugees arrive? What number of are they?” H. known as out to an auto-rickshaw driver who drove previous him earlier that evening. He nodded on the driver’s response — three migrants — and sped off to gather two younger boys he had agreed to ship throughout the border together with his cousin earlier than daybreak.

It was a extra frantic evening than standard, he defined, owing to a last-minute cope with an Iranian border guard who he promised $35 for every Afghan who crossed the border. That set off a scramble to collect 40 migrants from smuggler-owned inns within the close by metropolis, Zaranj, and to deliver them to one among H.’s desert secure homes, little greater than abandoned-looking mud brick buildings with dust flooring and rusted tin roofs. Now they have been converging at a rendezvous level close to the border, ready for the code phrase — “grapes” — to slide to Iranian safety forces on the opposite facet.

Each step of the operation is without delay nerve-racking and acquainted, frenzied and meticulously deliberate, H. defined. Each couple of minutes, he fielded calls to one among his three telephones and shouted directions to the various accomplices wanted to drag off the evening’s deal.

After the 2 boys jumped in his automobile, H. raced again to present the smugglers escorting his group of migrants the all clear after which met his cousin on the facet of a winding path close by, flashing the headlights as he pulled up.

“I introduced some particular refugees,” H. yelled, referring to the younger boys whose dad and mom, each addicts, had not too long ago overdosed. H.’s cousin, a suave 26-year-old with one headphone perpetually dangling from his ear, stepped out of his automobile and into H.’s headlights, grinning.

A former soldier within the Afghan Nationwide Military, the cousin used to smuggle medication into Iran — raking in way more than his meager authorities wage. As soon as, he bragged, he sneaked 420 kilograms — practically 1,000 kilos — of opium into Iran with out getting caught. When the previous authorities collapsed, he went into individuals smuggling full-time.

Turning round to the younger boys within the automobile, H. instructed them that the person was their uncle and he would take them throughout the border to be reunited with different kin dwelling in Iran. The youthful boy, Mustafa, 5, wiped the automobile’s fogged up window together with his sleeve to get a greater take a look at the person. His older brother, Mohsin, 9, was much less skeptical.

“After I develop up I need to be a smuggler,” he pronounced earlier than hopping out of the automobile.

10:15 A.M.

We had agreed to satisfy H. for lunch the next day and woke as much as the sounds of a bustling metropolis. H. had instructed us about this altering of the guard every daybreak, when smugglers slipping throughout the lunar flatlands return dwelling and the middle of life shifts to Zaranj, the place buses unload 1000’s of Afghans every day.

Alongside the principle drag, newcomers purchase kebabs from avenue distributors and sit round plastic tables, desirous to be taught extra concerning the grueling journey forward. Others peruse outlets promoting scarves, hats and winter coats — all essential, the shopkeepers say, to outlive the chilly desert nights alongside the migrant path.

Even within the daylight, an aura of paranoia and distrust permeates Zaranj — a metropolis of liars and thieves, residents say. Almost everybody who lives right here is someway related to the smuggling commerce from bigwigs like drug runners and arms sellers to informant paid a couple of {dollars} a day by males like H. It’s the form of place the place individuals consistently verify their rearview mirrors for tails and converse in hushed tones lest the person subsequent to them is listening.

As we waited for H. to get up, we drove down the dusty street to Pakistan alongside pickups filled with migrants headed for the border, their faces swaddled in scarves and goggles to guard from clouds of mud. Inside an hour, H. known as and chastised us for driving there. Somebody — A driver? The youngsters enjoying by the stream? The previous man gathering kindling? — should have knowledgeable him we have been there.

Twenty minutes later, he met us on the street and instructed us to comply with him to his dwelling on the outskirts of city. We arrived at an opulent three-story home and have been led down a winding stairwell to the basement: a spacious room adorned with pink carpets, gold trimmed pillars and a big tv tuned to an Iranian information channel.

“4 of my kin who have been kidnapped across the space the place you have been at present,” he warned us as we sat right down to eat. Then he lowered his voice: “After we discovered their our bodies, we may solely acknowledge them by their rings.”

H. felt most secure within the stretch of desert the place we drove the evening earlier than, land his father owned. He had spent a lot of his childhood there, taking small boats out alongside the Helmand River. At 14, he began smuggling small items — petrol, money, cigarettes — and accompanying Afghans throughout the border into Iran.

Again then, it was simple, H. defined. Smugglers may pay a small bribe at a border checkpoint and take vans of migrants to Tehran. However round a decade in the past, Iran erected a 15-foot-high wall after which, fearing an inflow of Afghans after the Taliban seized energy, bolstered its safety forces on the border.

The Taliban too have tried to close down this route, raiding secure homes and patrolling the desert. Nonetheless, smugglers are undeterred.

“The Taliban can’t shut down our enterprise. In the event that they tighten safety, we are going to simply cost extra and get more cash,” H. mentioned over lunch. “We’re all the time one step forward.”

Nonetheless, H. admitted, extra of his migrants than standard have been deported again to Afghanistan from Iran. Even the 2 boys he tried to ship the evening earlier than have been ambushed by Iranian troopers simply minutes after they climbed over the border wall.

By 3 p.m., the boys had arrived again in Zaranj and H.’s cousin drove them to the home to eat. On the best way, he purchased them new winter gloves — an apology of kinds for dashing again onto Afghan soil with out them the earlier evening.

Sitting among the many smugglers, the older brother, Mohsin, recounted the crossing, how he was afraid when he heard gunfire and watched an Iranian soldier beat a migrant. The boys had spent the evening in a detention facility on the chilly, concrete flooring. With out a blanket, Mustafa slept curled up in Mohsin’s arms.

“I believed it will be simple to cross the border, but it surely was too troublesome,” Mohsin mentioned matter-of-factly. The smugglers erupted in laughter.

H. mentioned he deliberate to ship the boys throughout the border once more that evening and instructed them to relaxation. Then as nightfall settled over the desert, H. started his standard rounds: He drove via the borderlands scoping out Taliban checkpoints. He stopped by one among his secure homes the place 135 males sat hugging their knees on a mud flooring. Torn plastic from drugs tablets lay strewn round them and the scent of urine hung within the air.

Stepping outdoors, he nodded at an previous man smoking a cigarette who stored guard. Then H. turned to us. “That is sufficient, I believe,” he mentioned, suggesting it was time for us to go.

4 days later, H. despatched a photograph of the boys, standing in entrance of a dust-covered orange tractor. They’d made it into Iran that day.

World

2024: Top 10 defining moments in the European Parliament

Published

31 minutes ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

2024: Top 10 defining moments in the European Parliament

From crucial votes on nature and migration, to powerful speeches and hard debates: the year saw drama and upheaval in the Eurochamber

2024 was a year of change for the European Parliament, shaken up by the elections in July.

Beyond the vote, which significantly modified its composition and balance of powers, here are some moments to remember from this year.

1. Farmers’ protests reach Parliament

The beginning of 2025 was marked by massive protests of farmers across Europe, from Germany and France to Poland and Spain.

Among their targets were the EU’s commercial deal with Mercosur countries – at that time negotiations were still ongoing – and some European environmental policies affecting the agrifood sector.

On 1 February, a thousand farmers from several countries arrived in Brussels. After a night procession on their tractors, they occupied the square in front of the European Parliament for an entire day, burning hay, spreading manure and damaging the square.

2. ‘Stop being boring to defeat Putin’

One of the most powerful and evocative interventions in the European Parliament was Yulia Navalnaya’s in February. She took the floor in the hemicycle in Strasbourg days after her husband, Alexei Navalny, died under suspicious circumstances while imprisoned in Russia.

Navalnaya paid tribute to the opposition leader’s courage and attacked Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, receiving a general standing ovation from MEPs.

“If you really want to defeat Putin, you have to become an innovator. You have to stop being boring,” Navalnaya told MEPs.

“You cannot defeat him by thinking he is a man of principle who has morals and rules. He is not like that. And Alexei realised that a long time ago. You are not dealing with a politician but with a bloody monster.”

3. The final battle on Nature Restoration Law

The Nature Restoration Law, a proposal to gradually rehabilitate the EU’s land and sea areas degraded by climate change and human activity was one of the most contentious issues in the European Parliament in the final part of the legislature.

European People’s Party (EPP) began a full-throttle campaign to bring down the law, arguing it would imperil food production, increase retail prices and devastate the traditional livelihoods of farmers.

EPP talking points were backed by right-wing forces, but fully contested by progressive MEPs, environmental organisations, legal scholars and even multinationals, who said restoring nature was indispensable to maintain a prosperous economy and sustainable supply chains.

The EPP even pressed on with a controversial social media push, going as far as claiming the legislation would turn the city of Rovaniemi, where Santa Claus lives, into a forest.

In February, the Parliament eventually approved a watered-down version of the law with 329 votes in favour and 275 against. It entails the restoration of at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and of all ecosystems in need by 2050.

4. The long-sought vote on the major migration policy reform

In April 2024, the European Parliament approved the wide-reaching reform of the European Union’s migration and asylum policy almost four years after the European Commission had proposed it.

The “Pact on migration and asylum” was supported by the three major Parliament groups: European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe, albeit with some dissidents.

The right-wing parties, the Greens/EFA and the Left group voted against. The latter even protested outside Parliament before the vote, staging a “funeral for the right to asylum” that it claimed the new rules would usher in.

New rules foresee a solidarity mechanism to share the burdens of welcoming asylum seekers, through a redistribution among the member states which can be replaced with financial contributions. But they also entail stricter border controls and faster procedures for examining asylum requests and carrying out the repatriation of migrants. The Pact will be fully in force from mid-2026.

5. The Parliament backs abortion as an EU fundamental right

Even symbolic votes could cause hard clashes in the European Parliament. In April, the Chamber approved a resolution to include the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

As the topic is very divisive, the Parliament split. The resolution was approved with 336 votes in favour, 163 against, and 39 abstentions. The right-wing groups Identity and Democracy and European Conservatives and Reformists voted against, as did the majority of the centre-right conservative European People’s Party, the largest group of the Parliament.

However, the vote did not have a binding effect. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU requires the unanimous agreement of all member states to be changed. The rules for terminating pregnancy also fall within health legislation, which is the exclusive competence of EU countries.

6. The final rush before the European elections

Members of the European Parliament often run to the last available moment to approve important pieces of legislation. In its last session before the elections, the EP held 89 votes on legislative files, plus seven non-legislative resolutions, marking a record for the entire legislature.

Among them, there were the right-to-repair directive, a regulation to prohibit products made with forced labour on the Union market, new rules for digital platform workers, a bill on packaging reduction, and the first-ever European law against gender-based violence.

7. The ‘Venezuela majority’ in Europe

After the vote, the new European Parliament soon revealed its changed balance of powers, even if in a mostly symbolic vote. In September, the Strasbourg hemicycle voted to recognise Venezuela’s exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the “legitimate and democratically elected president”.

The resolution, which carried no legal weight, was backed by the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the right-wing nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the newly formed far-right Patriots for Europe, marking the first time in the new legislature that mainstream conservatives joined ranks with the more right-wing groups.

This alliance was renamed the “Venezuela majority”, following the subject of the vote, and resurfaced during the decision to award González and Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado the Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

8. Von der Leyen vs Orbán: showdown in the Parliament

The first October plenary session saw a fiery debate pitching European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen against Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, who took the stage in the European Parliament a few months after a controversial visit to Moscow made while Hungary occupied the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

The war in Ukraine was one of the bones of contention, with the Hungarian leader claiming that the EU had adopted a mistaken policy on the war and the Commission president launching a personal attack on him without mentioning his name: “There are still some who blame this war not on the invader but on the invaded.”

9. The unpopular approval of the European Commission

At the end of November, the European Parliament definitively approved the College of Commissioners led by Ursula von der Leyen. But while the vote on the Commission’s President herself in July was a success for von der Leyen, she could barely celebrate the approval of the College.

In November, only 370 MEPs voted in favour, representing 54% of all votes cast and 51% of the total number of members, 719.

Several defections came from among the centre-right European People’s Party, the centre-left Socialists and Democrats and the liberal Renew Europe, lowering support for the Commission, which was “saved” by the votes of part of the European Conservatives and Reformists and the Greens/EFA group.

Indeed, for one reason or another, only one in two lawmakers has endorsed the new College of Commissioners.

10. Weirdness and oddities in the Eurochamber

2024 also witnessed some surreal moments during the debates in the Parliament: a dog barking in the hemicycle, an Irish MEP insulting an Italian football club, and a Slovak MEP releasing a dove as a gesture of peace.

World

Beyoncé NFL Halftime Show Will Be Available to Rewatch on Netflix as a Stand-Alone Special

Published

7 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Beyoncé NFL Halftime Show Will Be Available to Rewatch on Netflix as a Stand-Alone Special

UPDATE, 12/25, 4:30 p.m. PT: Netflix said it will provide on-demand access to the full halftime performance of “Beyoncé Bowl” as a stand-alone special “later this week.” The 20-minute spectacle — her first live TV performance in four years — featured Post Malone, Shaboozey and her daughter Blue Ivy Carter to debut tracks from “Cowboy Carter” for the first time in a live setting.

EARLIER:

Beyoncé will light up the Houston night on Christmas with a halftime performance during the Ravens-Texans game on Netflix. To watch it, you’ll have to tune in live on Dec. 25 — otherwise, you’ll have only a few hours to catch the replay on Netflix.

Queen Bey’s Xmas performance will feature her first live performances of songs from “Cowboy Carter.” She’ll take the stage in her hometown during halftime of the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans matchup at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Netflix, as part of its accelerating push into live sports, snagged global rights to the NFL’s two Christmas Day 2024 games: the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers (starting at 1 p.m. ET), followed by the Ravens-Texans game (4:30 p.m. ET).

Under Netflix’s agreement with the NFL, in the U.S., the two Christmas games expire three hours after the livestream ends (meaning Beyoncé’s performance and the Ravens-Texans game will no longer be available to rewatch on Netflix as of around 11 p.m. ET). Outside the U.S., the games expire on Netflix 24 hours after the livestream ends. The NFL livestreams will include ad breaks, even for Netflix subscribers on no-ads plans.

Few details are available for Beyoncé’s Christmas halftime show, but according to Netflix she is expected to bring along some “special guests” who are featured on “Cowboy Carter.” She’s a veteran of two Super Bowls: Beyoncé was the halftime performer for the 2013 game in New Orleans, which featured a Destiny’s Child reunion; and in 2016, she sang “Formation” when Coldplay was the headliner act.

On Christmas Day, Netflix’s pregame coverage will kick off at 11 a.m. ET, from NFL Network’s studios in L.A. and Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The streamer has tapped Mariah Carey to deliver a recorded performance of her record-breaking holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” before both of the day’s two games.

If you missed the window for Netflix’s NFL livestreams, you still have the chance to catch the reruns. As it stands right now, NFL Network is scheduled to re-air Ravens-Texans on Wednesday, Dec. 25, at 11:30 p.m. ET and Thursday, Dec. 26, at 5 a.m. ET. The channel will re-air Chiefs-Steelers on Dec. 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET and Dec. 26 at 2 a.m. ET. There is the possibility for additional re-airs but portions of the NFL Network’s programming schedule are still being determined. In addition, replays of both games will be available with NFL+ Premium ($14.99/month) in the U.S. and via DAZN internationally.

Note also that the two Netflix Christmas Day games will air on broadcast TV in the competing teams’ local markets and will be available live on U.S. mobile devices with an NFL+ subscription.

World

Zelenskyy lambastes Putin over Christmas strikes: 'What could be more inhumane?'

Published

8 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Zelenskyy lambastes Putin over Christmas strikes: 'What could be more inhumane?'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy excoriated Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday for launching attacks against energy infrastructure on Christmas Day.

Zelenskyy suggested the attacks were “inhumane,” but said they would not ruin Christmas.

“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” he declared in a post on X.

The Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged a “massive strike” on its part, saying it hit energy facilities that supported Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex,” Reuters reported.

“The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit,” the ministry said.

RUSSIA BATTERS UKRAINE POWER GRID AMID RISING CONCERN PUTIN COULD ORDER BALLISTIC MISSILE ATTACK THIS WEEKEND

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks with the media during the European Council Meeting in Brussels on Thursday. (Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Strikes against Ukrainian fuel and energy sources involved 78 air, ground and sea-launched missiles, in addition to 106 Shaheds and other kinds of drones, Ukraine’s air force claimed, according to The Associated Press.

“Unfortunately, there have been hits. As of now, there are power outages in several regions. Power engineers are working to restore power supply as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy noted.

Still, the Ukrainian leader declared that “Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas.”

US CITIZEN IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA GIVEN NEW 15-YEAR SENTENCE IN WAKE OF ESPIONAGE CONVICTION

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Thursday. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. has provided billions of dollars’ worth of aid to help Ukraine fight the Russian onslaught that erupted in 2022, but Americans and their congressional representatives have been divided regarding whether the U.S. should continue supplying aid to Ukraine.

President-elect Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, has called for a cease-fire and negotiations.

TRUMP MEETS WITH MACRON, ZELENSKYY AHEAD OF NOTRE DAME REOPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS

President-elect Trump looks on during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Sunday. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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In a post on Truth Social this month, Trump declared that “Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.