The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: corbe on January 16, 2018, 08:54:49 pm
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U.S. keeps half of U.N. relief agency budget frozen
Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 10 news 9 mins ago
The Trump administration has decided to continue freezing $65 million of the annual funding it gives the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to Palestinian refugees — but it will release $60 million to the organization for "urgent humanitarian needs," U.S. officials say.
Between the lines: The decision was a compromise. Axios reported earlier this month that the Trump administration froze $125 million of the annual funding to UNRWA, which was supposed to be transferred to the organization by Jan. 1, in retaliation for Palestinian protests against President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The back story: In the last 10 days there were interagency discussions about whether to release the funding, cut it completely or partially unfreeze it.
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https://www.axios.com/us-keeps-half-of-un-relief-agency-budget-frozen-6d22fa4e-726c-4dca-8154-33d6f40358fd.html?source=sidebar (https://www.axios.com/us-keeps-half-of-un-relief-agency-budget-frozen-6d22fa4e-726c-4dca-8154-33d6f40358fd.html?source=sidebar)