New earthquake hits Afghanistan as death toll from first rises to 2,205
Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Another earthquake has hit eastern Afghanistan as the death toll from Sunday’s powerful earthquake climbed to 2,205, with another 3,640 people injured, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.
The Thursday earthquake was a moderate 5.6 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. It was still unclear whether the new quake caused further damage.
Search and rescue efforts from the initial quake are ongoing in the affected areas, according to Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, who provided the updated casualty numbers via social media.
“Tents have been installed for displaced families in multiple locations,” he said, “and the organized distribution of primary and urgent humanitarian assistance is currently underway.”
The 6.0 magnitude quake struck just before midnight on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A series of aftershocks struck amid rescue efforts, including a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday about 20 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the USGS.
Crowds form as Palestinians, including children, line up in Gaza City, Gaza to receive food distributed by a charity amid ongoing Israeli blockade and attack/Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — At least five people died of hunger in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday morning.
A total of 193 people, including 96 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition” in Gaza since the ongoing war began, according to the health ministry.
Israel is under increasing international pressure to facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by nearly two years of conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian militant groups, chief among them Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — a global initiative monitoring hunger with the backing of governments, the U.N. and nongovernmental organizations — warned last week that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza.
Aid distribution in Gaza is being conducted via sites run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating in Gaza in late May. Israel says aid distribution must go through GHF to prevent Hamas seizing aid.
Israel also said it allows the GHF “to operate independently” in the distribution of aid and that troops operate “in proximity” to make sure food is delivered in an “orderly fashion.”
Almost 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while traveling to collect aid in the months since those sites opened, the United Nations said in a statement last week.
ABC News’ Samy Zyara, David Brennan, Somayeh Malekian, Diaa Ostaz and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
The Flag of Greenland, known nationally as “Erfalasorput”, flies above homes on March 28, 2025 in Nuuk, Greenland.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The top U.S. diplomat in Denmark was summoned for a meeting at the country’s foreign ministry, Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen confirmed on Wednesday, over alleged pro-American influence operations in Greenland.
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen said in a statement. “It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the kingdom in the time ahead.
“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom will of course be unacceptable,” Rasmussen said. “In that light, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the U.S. chargé d’affaires for a meeting at the ministry.”
“The cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland is close and based on mutual trust, just as there is close cooperation and dialogue between the relevant Greenlandic and Danish authorities,” Rasmussen added.
The meeting came after Danish public broadcaster DR published a report in which unnamed government and security sources said that three Americans with connections to President Donald Trump were conducting influence operations in the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
DR said it was unclear whether the Americans were acting on their own initiative or under orders from others.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to take control of Greenland, framing the huge Arctic territory as vital for American national security. The president has proposed purchasing the island and refused to rule out taking military action to take control of it.
Politicians in Denmark and Greenland have said that the island is not for sale.
In a statement sent to ABC News on Wednesday, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service said it is aware that Greenland has been the target of “various types of influence campaigns” aimed at “creating discord in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland.”
“Influence activities can generally be carried out via traditional physical influence agents or via disinformation, i.e. deliberate production and dissemination of misleading information,” the statement added.
ABC News’ Dada Jovanovic contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The World Health Organization’s staff residence in Deir al Balah, Gaza, was attacked three times by the Israel Defense Forces, WHO officials said in a statement.
The Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi, according to the Tuesday statement. The WHO said male staffers and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint.
“WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah in Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse,” WHO said.
The IDF released a statement on Tuesday on social media about its military action in Deir al Balah.
The statement, which was released after the WHO statement, didn’t mention the WHO by name, but said the Israeli military had been “in contact” with international organizations prior to the start of its action in Deir Al Balah.
“We emphasize that the IDF maintains continuous and consistent contact with the international organizations, and throughout the war, the IDF has facilitated the safe evacuations of their personnel from evacuated areas, in coordination with the troops and in accordance with operational requirements,” the IDF said in its statement.
