Afghanistan: fear of a humanitarian disaster, UN calls for dialogue with the Taliban

The international community must discuss with the Taliban to avoid a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, insists the UN chief, as the first commercial flight landed in Kabul on Monday, one of the first signs of normalization in the country since the return of Islamists to power. The situation is becoming critical for millions of Afghans, already affected by an acute drought, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and decades of war. According to the UN, in the absence of support, almost the entire Afghan population (97%) is at risk of falling below the poverty line next year, compared to 72% today. There, the UN requested more than 600 million dollars in aid for humanitarian organizations in that country. Paris has announced that it will release 100 million euros in this framework, when Washington will contribute 64 million euros. The UN said at the end of the meeting that donor states had pledged a total of $1.2 billion in aid, but did not specify how much was earmarked specifically for the emergency appeal.

IN A NUTSHELL

Tropical Storm Nicholas turned into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico as it approached the coast of the United States and is heading for the city of Houston, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Monday evening.

Chanting “my body, my voice”, abortion rights defenders demonstrated on Monday evening outside the house of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, accused of wanting to dismantle the gains of the 1970s.

Students in the Antilles, especially in Guadeloupe, went back to school on Monday, ten days after the official start of the school year in France, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, before switching largely to distance.

Emmanuel Macron received the Olympic and Paralympic medallists from Tokyo to “celebrate” and “prepare” for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Games “at home” where it will be necessary to “do a lot more” in terms of medals. On this occasion, he indicated that he would soon announce “a massive plan for local sports facilities”