Afghanistan: World Bank approves first humanitarian aid since 2021

Today's news: Egypt on the Gaza border sets up camps for Palestinian refugees; South Korean trainee doctors resign from their hospital posts; Ukrainian drones hit one of Russia's largest and most modern landing ships; Thailand boosts tourism from abroad with anti-accident insurance policies.

AFGHANISTAN

The World Bank has approved a new type of support for Afghanistan. Around 300 million dollars will arrive in the country but will remain outside the control of the Taliban leadership and will complement the ongoing financing of the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund in supporting basic services such as food, water, healthcare, education and work. It is the first time the World Bank's own funds have been sent to Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE-EGYPT

Egypt - unofficially - is preparing the area on the border with Gaza to accommodate Palestinian refugees in case an Israeli offensive in Rafah causes an exodus across the border. An operation against which the United States has once again expressed itself negatively. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the largest hospital still functioning in Gaza, Nasser's hospital in Khan Yunis. The NGO Doctors Without Borders which operated in the hospital said that following the Israeli attack and bombing "our medical staff had to flee leaving the patients there".

INDIA

Indian farmers are demanding higher prices for their crops and are staging a protest taking to the streets of New Delhi. A march "frozen" at least until Sunday, when the unions will finalize a new meeting with Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who already met with farmers' representatives on Thursday together with Trade Minister Piyush Goyal and Interior Minister Nityanand Rai. “We believe we can all find a peaceful solution together,” protest leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

The Armed Forces of Ukraine, supported by intelligence services, completely destroyed with drones one of Russia's largest and most modern landing ships, the Tsezar Kunikov, which was in Ukrainian territorial waters near Alupka, and would not have survived none of the crew, version not confirmed by Moscow.

CHINA

Snow and ice storms continue to batter China: starting from the weekend, temperatures will drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius, while millions of people return from trips made for the Lunar New Year. Heavy snow will hit the provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi in the north, the central province of Henan and the eastern province of Shandong but temperatures will also reach freezing in some parts of the south, affecting road, rail and air transport.

SOUTH KOREA

About 20% of trainee doctors serving at South Korea's hospitals said they would resign starting Tuesday to protest the government's new plan to admit more students to medical schools. This was communicated by representatives of the interns who work in the five largest hospitals in the country, all in Seoul.

THAILAND

Foreign tourists will receive medical coverage of up to 500,000 baht (18.6 thousand Singapore dollars) in case of accidents in Thailand and compensation of up to one million baht in case of death, under the government's new campaign to ensure tourists safety while staying in Thailand. The campaign aims to instill confidence in foreign tourists if they are unwell while visiting the country. The Ministry of Tourism has allocated a total of 50 million baht to finance the project.

KAZAKHSTAN

At Mažilis, the Astana parliament, the new law on migration was approved, which should encourage Kazakhs to move from the southern to the northern regions, and prohibits entry into Kazakhstan to those judged to be participants in terrorist organizations and those found guilty of sexual abuse, particularly against minors.

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