AFGHANISTAN: The United Nations said on Tuesday that Afghanistan needs $4.62 billion (£3.7bn) in humanitarian aid from the international community this year to help nearly 24 million people in desperate need.

According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Afghanistan is facing its third consecutive year of drought, its second year of severe economic hardship and the continued consequences of decades of war and natural disasters.

ETHIOPIA: Peace talks between Ethiopia’s federal government and a rebel group from the country’s Oromia region opened on Tuesday in the Tanzanian island archipelago of Zanzibar, according to a spokesperson for the militants.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the talks with the Oromo Liberation Army on Sunday at an event to celebrate a ceasefire, signed in November, with another rebel group from the northern Tigray region.

IRAN: An Iranian court issued a $312.9 million (£250.6m) judgement against the United States over a 2017 Islamic State-claimed attack on Tehran, authorities said today, the latest judicial action between the nations amid their decades-long enmity.

At least 18 people were killed and 50 wounded in the June 2017 attack. The assault saw gunmen attack Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s mausoleum and the country’s parliament.

LIBYA: A rubber boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants sank off the coast of Libya and at least 55 people drowned, including women and children, the United Nations migration agency said today.

The International Organisation for Migration said the disaster took place on Tuesday when at least 60 migrants had set off from the coastal town of Garabouli, east of Tripoli.

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear.