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Survivors of the flood tell the BBC they are still in need of government support.

South Africa win a chaotic, rain-affected opening T20 in Cardiff by 14 runs as England fail to chase 69 in five overs.

A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late on 31 August 2025, with its epicenter near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. Early reports indicate a significant loss of life, including many children, with hundreds of fatalities and thousands injured, alongside widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Credit: UNICEF/Amin Meerzad

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 10 2025 (IPS)

Over the past week, Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly following the August 31 earthquake, which measured over 6.0 in magnitude and caused an immense loss of life and widespread destruction of critical infrastructure. Compounded by the nation’s fragile economy, severe shortages of essential resources, and persistent access challenges, humanitarian organizations have found it increasingly difficult to reach vulnerable communities—especially women and children.

On September 9, the United Nations (UN) launched a four-month emergency response plan totaling to USD 139.6 million in an effort to support roughly 457,000 people left struggling to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake. The response will prioritize communities in high-elevation areas as well as women, children, and the disabled, who are the most vulnerable populations. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) also announced a response plan that would target the Nangarhar and Laghman provinces, aiming to distribute cash assistance and essential items such as dignity kits.

“The Afghanistan earthquake has caused massive devastation. Hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas already scarred by decades of conflict and displacement have lost their homes and livelihoods,” said UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher. “Communities hit include those where people returning from Iran and Pakistan had only just begun to rebuild their lives”.

Prior to the earthquake, Afghanistan was already in the midst of a multifaceted humanitarian crisis marked by pervasive poverty, restrictive measures on women’s autonomy, and some of the lowest civic space conditions globally. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), roughly 22.9 million people in Afghanistan urgently required humanitarian assistance prior to the earthquake, nearly half of the nation’s population.

Additional figures from OCHA show that as of September 7, approximately 500,000 people across the Kunar, Laghman, and Nangarhar provinces of eastern Afghanistan have been directly impacted by the earthquake, with over 2,200 civilian fatalities and 3,600 injuries recorded. Over 6,700 homes were destroyed or damaged, with many families losing their food stocks and finding refuge in open, makeshift settlements that leave them exposed to the elements, compromising safety and privacy.

OCHA warns that millions are facing limited access to essential services, with critical infrastructures for sanitation, healthcare, water, food, and education having been damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Stephen Rodriques, the resident representative for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, informed reporters that 68 major water sources have been destroyed, leaving thousands without access to clean water. Shannon O’Hara, Head of Strategy and Coordination for OCHA Afghanistan, has said that outbreaks of infectious diseases such as cholera are imminent due to an overwhelming lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, as well as roughly 92 percent of civilians residing in open shelters practicing open-defecation.

Afghanistan’s ongoing hunger crisis has further escalated following the earthquake. The World Food Programme (WFP) have reported that nearly 10 million people are facing acute food insecurity. Rates of child malnutrition have also skyrocketed to the “highest levels on record”, as roughly one in three children face stunted development and urgently require medical intervention. WFP projects that approximately 15 people will need lifesaving food assistance in the coming months, with winter weather conditions expected to amplify health risks and access challenges for humanitarian personnel.

Women and girls are projected to face the heaviest burden of this crisis. Estimates from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) show that thousands lack access to essential feminine hygiene supplies, while around 11,600 pregnant women have been directly impacted by the earthquake. This is particularly concerning as Afghanistan holds one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the entire Asia-Pacific region.

“For pregnant women, a natural disaster can turn an already challenging time into a life-threatening crisis,” said UNFPA Representative in Afghanistan, Kwabena Asante-Ntiamoah.

“In a context like Afghanistan, it is essential that women are delivering assistance to women and girls,” added UN Women Afghanistan Special Representative, Susan Ferguson. “Cultural restrictions can make it harder for women to access support and services – as we have seen with the Afghan women returnees from Iran and Pakistan,” the UN Women official stressed. “Women humanitarians are vital to overcome these barriers. Without them, too many women and girls will miss out on lifesaving assistance.”

Currently, humanitarian access to vulnerable communities in high-elevation areas remains severely strained, as landslides and rock falls have destroyed critical roads and cut off remote populations. The approaching winter season is expected to exacerbate these challenges. “Even before the earthquake, these villages were difficult to reach,” O’Hara said. “Now, with the earthquake, it takes extraordinary effort to get there.”

Additionally, numerous aid groups have warned that persistent funding shortfalls threaten to curtail lifesaving emergency services in Afghanistan. WFP’s top official in Kabul John Aylieff noted that current funds can only feed earthquake victims in Afghanistan for a few more weeks before being depleted entirely. Meanwhile, helicopter support from the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS)— critical for reaching remote areas— has been suspended until additional funding is secured.

“As relief efforts are well underway, this week is a tragic testimony to the devastating impact of aid cuts on one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries,” said Ibrahim. “The international community must step up now to address Afghanistan’s escalating humanitarian needs—from drought-affected communities and returnee crises on both sides of its borders, to sudden natural disasters like the one that has just struck.”

Through its newly-announced emergency response plan, the UN is dedicated to providing multi-sectoral support, including shelter, clean water, food assistance, protection, education, and agricultural and livestock aid to help foster livelihoods. Relief efforts have already begun in the hardest-hit areas, with humanitarian personnel delivering hot meals, tents, warm clothing, and blankets to communities in need. Additionally, the UN is in the process of establishing safe spaces for women and children, aiming to keep high-risk populations at the center of their response.

“This is a moment where the international community must dig deep and show solidarity with a population that has already endured so much suffering”, said Indrika Ratwatte, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan. “With winter fast approaching, we are in a race against time to support affected communities with just the bare minimum. The resilience of the Afghan people has been continually tested and there is a real danger, with each crisis that hits, that the fragile gains made in recent years will be reversed.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Verteidigung dominierte Ursula von der Leyens Rede zur Lage der Union – im Mittelpunkt standen Drohnen und eine Allianz mit der Ukraine.

Writtten by Anna Caprile and Tim Peters with Ana Luisa Melo Almeida.

One of the first, and boldest, measures taken by Western countries as a response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was the immobilisation of the Russian central bank assets held under their jurisdictions, the value of which could be around €300 billion worldwide, according to recent estimations.

As the war is well into its fourth year, the debate on how to use the immobilised assets to sustain Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts – a cost estimated at US$524 billion – has evolved. A growing number of international legal experts and prominent political figures have defended the lawfulness of confiscating Russian central bank assets to sustain Ukraine, both for financing reconstruction efforts and military expenses, despite these assets being protected by state immunity. However, opinions among legal scholars differ significantly, as do the positions of the governments in whose countries these assets are held.

G7 countries reached an agreement in October 2024 on using the extraordinary revenues generated by those assets to service and repay a US$50 billion G7 loan to Ukraine, while the complex debate on the legality and related risks on the use of the principal capital continues. In the absence of a clear precedent or an uncontested legal basis, political considerations, such as US policy shifts, and calculations over the economic and financial risks incurred will play a decisive role in this debate. Notably, this subject was on the agenda, for the first time, of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen on 29-30 August 2025.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Confiscation of immobilised Russian sovereign assets: State of play, arguments and scenarios‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Frozen Russian Assets

Opinion on the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 - all sections
Committee on Security and Defence
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

L’OTAN va enquêter sur l’incident impliquant des drones russes survolant la Pologne, a déclaré mercredi 10 septembre le secrétaire général de l’alliance militaire, Mark Rutte.

The post L’OTAN enquête sur l’incursion « imprudente et dangereuse » de drones russes en Pologne appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Das EU-Parlament hat den Bericht des Agrarausschusses zur Zukunft der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik angenommen – und damit bereits zum zweiten Mal in diesem Jahr ein Signal gesetzt, dass Kürzungen bei Agrarsubventionen nicht akzeptiert werden.

La présidente à l’origine du Pacte vert adopte désormais le kaki militaire.

The post État de l’Union : Ursula von der Leyen sonne le tocsin appeared first on Euractiv FR.

EU-Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen hat in ihrer jährlichen Rede zur Lage der Union strengere Regeln für die Nutzung sozialer Medien durch Kinder und Jugendliche signalisiert.

Dans son livre « La traque de Hissène Habré », l'avocat américain Reed Brody révèle des détails inédits sur le processus qui a conduit à l'emprisonnement de Hissène Habré, condamné pour le meurtre et la violation des droits humains de centaines de milliers de personnes au Tchad, et explique en quoi l'arrestation d'Augusto Pinochet à Londres a été essentielle pour y parvenir.

Nach dem Eindringen russischer Drohnen in den polnischen Luftraum hat Warschau Artikel 4 des NATO-Vertrags aktiviert und damit offizielle Bündniskonsultationen eingeleitet.

EU-Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen hat ihre Rede zur Lage der Union genutzt, um die Gefahr eines möglichen militärischen Konflikts mit Russland zu betonen – und zugleich den Abschied Europas vom Selbstverständnis als reine Wirtschaftsmacht angedeutet.

Opinion on the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 - all sections
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Michael Gahler

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Szerdán a Parlament jóváhagyta az EU kohéziós-, és szociális finanszírozásának változásait, válaszul az új kihívásokra és az EU prioritásaira.
Regionális Fejlesztési Bizottság

Forrás : © Európai Unió, 2025 - EP

Szerdán az Európai Unió helyzetéről szóló vitában az EP-képviselők von der Leyen elnököt kérdezték a Bizottság új mandátumának kezdete óta végzett munkáról és a jövőbeli terveiről.

Forrás : © Európai Unió, 2025 - EP

A képviselők nagyobb, különálló agrárköltségvetést szeretnének 2027 után, kevesebb bürokráciát a gazdáknak és ösztönzőket a környezeti és társadalmi célok eléréséhez.
Mezőgazdasági és Vidékfejlesztési Bizottság

Forrás : © Európai Unió, 2025 - EP

Die Abgeordneten fordern einen größeren eigenständigen Agrarhaushalt für die Zeit nach 2027, weniger Bürokratie und mehr Anreize zur Erreichung ökologischer und sozialer Ziele.
Ausschuss für Landwirtschaft und ländliche Entwicklung

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2025 - EP

Das Gericht der Europäischen Union hat eine Entscheidung der EU-Kommission gekippt, mit der 2023 Aufsichtsgebühren für Meta und TikTok nach dem Digital Services Act eingeführt wurden. Die Richter bemängelten, dass Brüssel das Verfahren formell falsch aufgesetzt hatte.

Die Änderungen sind Teil der Vereinfachungsbemühungen, um den Verwaltungsaufwand für kleiner und mittlere Unternehmen und gelegentliche Importeure zu verringern.
Ausschuss für Umwelt, Klima und Lebensmittelsicherheit

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2025 - EP