Tag: aid

By mule and helicopter, volunteers deliver aid to Helene victims

By Karl Plume and Nathan Frandino ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (Reuters) – An army of private volunteers including mule drivers and helicopter pilots are helping deliver supplies and rescue stranded victims after one of the deadliest storms in recent U.S. history ripped through the mountains of western North Carolina. One week after Helene slammed into the Florida Panhandle and devastated wide swaths of half a dozen states, untold thousands remained cut off around Asheville, North Carolina, […]

Israel says it has secured $8.7 billion U.S. aid package

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Thursday it had secured an $8.7 billion aid package from the United States to support its ongoing military efforts and to maintain a qualitative military edge in the region. The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been received and earmarked for critical military purchases, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems including the Iron Dome anti-missile system, David’s Sling and an advanced laser […]

Food piles up at Gaza crossing as aid agencies say unable to work

By Jack Moore JERUSALEM, June 22, 2024 (AFP) – Days after Israel announced a daily pause in fighting on a key route to allow more aid into Gaza, chaos in the besieged Palestinian territory has left vital supplies piled up and undistributed in the searing summer heat. More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and repeated UN […]

Aid reaches Papua New Guinea landslide site

PORT MORESBY, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Supplies of food and medicine were beginning to arrive at the scene of a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea Wednesday, with aid workers discovering children rendered mute by the shock of the disaster. Papua New Guinea’s government estimates that 2,000 people may be buried underneath a massive landslide that struck a thriving highland settlement in Enga province in the early hours of May 24. After days of […]

NATO urged to ensure Ukraine arms flow as 100-bn-euro fund floated

By Max DELANY BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday debated the creation of a 100-billion-euro fund for Ukraine, as alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg urged them to guarantee long-term arms supplies for Kyiv’s outgunned forces. Stoltenberg pitched the five-year fund for Kyiv and a plan to deepen NATO’s involvement in delivering weapons in a bid to shield support in the face of a potential return by Donald Trump to the […]

Deadly chaos at Gaza aid distribution as WHO renews hospital warning

By Adel Zaanoun with Fiachra Gibbons in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, March 30, 2024 (AFP) – An aid delivery in Gaza descended into chaos on Saturday with shots fired and a Red Crescent paramedic reporting five dead, as almost six months of Israeli bombardment has left hundreds of thousands in desperate need. Israel’s siege, sparked by a deadly militant attack on October 7, brings nightly air strikes and in recent days major operations around […]

Israel denies Hamas claim troops killed 20 Gazans seeking aid

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israeli fire killed 20 people and wounded 155 waiting to receive desperately needed aid in the besieged territory, but Israel said the reports were “erroneous”. With the United Nations warning of a looming famine in Gaza, besieged by Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas militants, a Spanish aid ship sailed closer to the Gaza coast opening a maritime corridor from Cyprus. Efforts to get food […]

Israel says UN should organise more convoys for north Gaza

By Louis Baudoin-Laarman KEREM SHALOM, Israel, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – Israel on Thursday defended its policies on admitting trucks into Gaza, calling on the United Nations to send more convoys of aid to the war-ravaged territory. “If the UN wants to see more aid in north Gaza, it should coordinate more convoys,” said Elad Goren, head of the civil department at COGAT, a defence ministry body governing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories. […]

US House leader rejects Ukraine aid despite Biden’s plea

By Camille CAMDESSUS WASHINGTON, Feb 14, 2024 (AFP) – The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday blocked war aid for Ukraine, ignoring President Joe Biden’s plea that passing the bill was vital for standing up to “Russian dictator” Vladimir Putin. Speaker Mike Johnson, who works closely with Biden’s likely challenger in the November election Donald Trump, told reporters he has no intention even of allowing a vote on the bill. “I […]

Hamas sets new conditions in hostage medicines deal

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – A top Hamas official announced new conditions Wednesday for delivering medicines to hostages held by the group in Gaza, insisting trucks carrying the drugs must not be inspected by Israel. Under a deal thrashed out by mediators Qatar and France on Tuesday, medicines along with humanitarian aid are to be supplied to civilians in Gaza in exchange for delivering drugs needed by hostages held there. Forty-five […]

Air alert as Russia pummels Ukrainian cities with missiles

By Anna MALPAS KYIV, Ukraine, Dec 29, 2023 (AFP) – Russia launched a wave of missile strikes on Friday across Ukrainian cities, including the capital, officials said, as they raised a nationwide air alert. “We are doing everything to strengthen our air shield. But the world needs to see that we need more support and strength to stop this terror,” Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram. AFP reporters in central Kyiv heard several […]

US releases final package of authorized military aid for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, Dec 27, 2023 (AFP) – The US government on Wednesday announced what it said was the last remaining package of weapons available for Ukraine under existing authorization, with Congress now needing to decide whether to keep supporting Kyiv’s battle against Russian invasion. “The year’s final package” includes air-defense and artillery munitions, the State Department said in a statement. It added that Congress, where Republicans are split on supporting Ukraine, should “act swiftly” to renew […]