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| US ends aid to Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The US is ending all funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the Department of State has said. | |
| In a statement, it said the organisation was "irredeemably flawed". | |
| "The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to Unrwa," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. | |
| In January, the US announced it would withhold more than half of a tranche of funding for the agency. | |
| The agency currently supports more than five million people across the Middle East, including providing health care, education and social services. | |
| The administration had pledged $60m (£46m) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in January, but withheld another $65m pending a review. That remaining $65m is now expected to be cancelled. | |
| The US is the largest single donor to Unrwa, providing $368m in 2016 and funding almost 30% of its operations in the region. | |
| Earlier on Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany would increase its contributions to the agency because its funding crisis was fuelling uncertainty. | |
| "The loss of this organisation could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction," Mr Maas said. |