India shares traditionally warm ties with Afghanistan. After shunning Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, India become a friend and a strategic partner to the Afghan government. Indian culture, including Bollywood, as its film industry is known, is hugely popular in Afghanistan and India sees an opportunity to win economic influence, boost security, and gain a trade link to Central Asia through Afghanistan.

In isolated, largely indigenous communities like Chokisis, child malnutrition rates can reach 70 or 80 percent, severely hindering kids' ability to grow, learn, work, and lead healthy lives for years to come. These dubious distinctions make Guatemala a laboratory of sorts for innovations in the production and delivery of micronutrient-fortified food.

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has decided to pay the wages of imams in flood-hit Bosnia-Herzegovina, in addition to restoring mosques and other religious service buildings that have been damaged in the flood.“At the moment, the number of damaged mosques is over 10. Among them, there is the Recep Yazıcıoğlu Mosque in Maglaj, which was built by Turkey. These mosques need to be rebuilt,” Deputy Director-General of the Diyanet Foundation (TDV) Mustafa Tutkun told state-run Anadolu Agency on May 25.

The conference, “Sharing Experiences and Developing Regional Hazard and Risk Picture for Joint Action Plan,” comprised of five thematic sessions during which participants gathered to develop a regional risk picture for informed and resilient development planning through disaster risk reduction mainstreaming for contingency planning.  The event, organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), was attended by representatives from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.

In the biggest savings measure in this year's budget, the Australian Government is cutting the country's foreign aid spending by $7.6 billion over the next five years.  The Abbott Government says Australia's aid budget will be spent where it can make the most difference.  There has been an increase to aid to Papua New Guinea in return for hosting the Manus Island immigration processing centre.

Israel offered Nigeria help on Sunday in locating 200 schoolgirls abducted last month by Islamist rebel group Boko Haram in an attack that has drawn global condemnation and prompted some Western powers to provide assistance.  "Israel expresses deep shock at the crime against the girls," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quoted him as telling Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan by phone. "We are ready to help in finding the girls and fighting the cruel terrorism inflicted on you."

An international uproar mounted Tuesday over the fate of hundreds of Ni­ger­ian schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants in mid-April, with the Obama administration preparing to send a team of specialists to Nigeria to help recover the missing girls and U.N. officials warning that the kidnappers could face arrest, prosecution and prison under international law.  A social-media campaign called Bring Back Our Girls has gained rapid traction on Facebook and other sites over the past several days.

The United States urged Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday to stick to its constitution that sets terms limits for the president, as speculation grows that Joseph Kabila may seek a third term. Highlighting an issue that exists in several African countries where leaders have sought to extend their rule beyond constitutional limits, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged $30 million in aid aimed in part at ensuring "credible" elections in 2016.