Refugee crisis

With several proposals on the table, Europe continues to struggle for a unified response to the migration crisis.

Germany is expecting between 240,000 and 460,000 new refugees in the coming year, which translates to a heavy additional burden on Germany's social spending.

Aid agencies estimate that fighting in the country has rendered homeless at least 7.6 million people still living in the country.

Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said Syria is disintegrating, and the war is drawing dangerously close to Israel’s border.

Fishermen in Aceh province reportedly rescued 900 people in three boats last week, while several still remain stranded at sea in sinking boats.

Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants are increasingly finding themselves isolated after being abandoned in boats by human traffickers.

The number of displaced people across the globe topped 50 million for the first time since the end of World War II, Amnesty said in a report.

The increase in the number of refugees dying in boat sinkings is directly related to the outbreak of conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Africa.

More than one million people have been displaced by the conflict in Ukraine, including 814,000 Ukrainians now in Russia with various forms of status, the UNHCR United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Iran continues to back Assad's regime as the U.S. and the West pledge more money and supplies to the rebels.