WFP warns Somalia food aid at risk of halting by April
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Friday that its life‑saving food and nutrition assistance in Somalia could end by April without u...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided a €500 million loan (almost $590 million) to the national gas company Naftogaz (NAK) for emergency gas purchases for Ukraine.
The loan is geared at reinforcing Ukraine’s energy security, which has been compromised by repeated targeted attacks from Russia this year.
This agreement marks the Bank’s largest single loan facility in Ukraine to date, said the EBRD in its statement.
The EBRD’s loan is backed by a European Union guarantee covering 90% of the loan amount, that is provided under the European Union’s Ukraine Investment Framework—an initiative aimed at unlocking financing for Ukraine’s recovery and long-term growth.
This latest financing to Naftogaz comes in response to severe Russian attacks on the company’s upstream gas production and processing facilities during the first half of 2025. These attacks have caused significant production losses and increased the need for gas imports, as the company works to restore its damaged infrastructure.
This is the fourth finance package the EBRD has provided for Naftogaz since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022. It brings the total Bank financing to Naftogaz to €1.6 billion (almost $1.90 billion), including €1.27 billion (around $1.5 billion) in EBRD loans and €330 million (around $386 million) in grants provided by Norway via EBRD.
According to the Bank's statement, the transaction will also support the reform objectives of previous EBRD engagement, with Naftogaz working towards the integration of the Ukrainian gas market with that of the EU.
Naftogaz will source natural gas competitively from 30 pre-qualified gas suppliers with contracts based on standards of the European Federation of Energy Traders.
"Replenishing the depleted gas reserves of Ukraine with the help of this financing package will be key to allow the country's critical infrastructure and population to access energy sources during the winter," the EU statement said.
"Upon reimbursement of the 2-year loan, the EBRD and the Commission will reallocate the available guarantee coverage to capital investment projects enabling long-term private and public investments, for instance in the renewables sector," it added.
Quentin Griffiths, co-founder of online fashion retailer ASOS, has died in Pattaya, Thailand, after falling from the 17th floor of a condominium on 9 February, Thai police confirmed.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s 'Board of Peace' will hold its first leaders’ meeting on Thursday (19 February) in Washington, D.C., launching an initiative aimed at stabilising Gaza and addressing global conflicts. It's drawn support from regional powers but refusals from several EU countries.
The Board of Peace will be "looking over the United Nations," said U.S. President Donald Trump at the inaugural Washington meeting, where representatives from over 20 countries gathered to unveil plans for Gaza’s reconstruction and coordinate international support.
At least four people have died and 17 others were injured after a liquid gas truck overturned and exploded in Santiago, Chile’s capital, authorities confirmed on Thursday. Police said the driver was among those killed.
The top U.S. military commander for Latin America, General Francis Donovan, accompanied by Senior Pentagon official Joseph Humire, made an unannounced trip to Venezuela on Wednesday for security talks, U.S. officials confirmed.
Millions of Colombian roses have arrived in the United States just in time for Valentine’s Day, keeping the country on track as the world’s second-largest flower exporter. Between 15 January and 9 February, Colombia shipped roughly 65,000 tons of fresh-cut blooms.
Russia’s car market is continuing to receive tens of thousands of foreign-brand vehicles via China despite sanctions imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a journalistic investigation has found.
Türkiye’s national energy company, TPAO, has struck a new cooperation deal with U.S. energy giant Chevron, signing a memorandum of understanding to explore joint oil and gas exploration and production opportunities, the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry announced on Thursday.
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Tuesday as investors worried about artificial intelligence (AI) creating more competition for software makers, keeping them on edge ahead of quarterly reports from Alphabet and Amazon later this week.
U.S. stock markets finished mixed on Wednesday (28 January) as investors reacted calmly after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, a decision that had been widely expected and largely priced in.
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