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The European Union has announced €250,000 in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan to support families displaced by conflict and those recovering from last year’s earthquakes, with around 70,000 people expected to benefit.
The funding will target vulnerable communities in Khost, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktika and Paktya provinces, where displacement has risen in recent months. The EU said the assistance would address urgent needs, including food, shelter and healthcare.
In a statement, the EU said the funding would help “assist the most vulnerable, including those already impacted by last year’s earthquakes,” adding that it would support around 70,000 people in the affected provinces.
The aid will be delivered through the Afghan Red Crescent, which will distribute food and cash assistance and provide emergency shelter. The EU added that the funding is also expected to improve access to primary healthcare, safe water, sanitation and other essential services.
The assistance forms part of the EU’s contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The EU said it remains a leading humanitarian donor in Afghanistan, with more than €161 million allocated in 2025 for humanitarian partners. It also noted that dozens of EU-funded humanitarian flights have been organised in recent years, including three this year carrying 270 tonnes of nutritional supplies.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that conflict, displacement and natural disasters continue to strain communities across Afghanistan, increasing the need for emergency support.
Oil prices fell after the U.S. expanded economic sanctions on Iran, as Tehran vowed to retaliate and warned it had tools to respond, raising concerns over potential disruption to regional oil supplies.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Kyiv wants peace but will not surrender to Russia, as foreign leaders joined Independence Day events marking 35 years since Ukraine’s independence.
Kyiv has recently received a small number of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors capable of downing Russian ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. It comes as Britain and France pledged stronger military support for Ukraine.
Only four commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, following 13 transits a day earlier, as disruptions continue to restrict traffic through the key energy chokepoint.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told allied foreign ministers Washington will focus on sanctions and other pressure on Iran “for the time being”, Axios reports. Meanwhile, Iran and Oman have resumed talks on a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
At least 15 infants were killed when a fire broke out at a state-run hospital in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, triggered by a fault in the air conditioning system, local broadcaster Geo TV reported on Wednesday.
The YPG has announced that it is dissolving its so-called autonomous administration and ending its separate military and civilian structures, marking a significant step towards bringing the group under the authority of the Syrian state.
Government officials, investors and technology leaders have gathered in Tashkent for the inaugural Silk Road Finance and Technology Forum, a new platform aimed at exploring how financial technology can drive economic growth across Central Asia.
Türkiye has established four sub-commissions to oversee the implementation of a new legal framework tied to the disarmament of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Central Asia is moving beyond experiments with digital assets as governments begin putting new forms of digital money into practice.
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