Rodrigo Duterte has embarked on a visit to Israel, the first such trip by a Philippine president, as part of a regional tour that will also include a stop in Jordan.

The 73-year-old said on Sunday he would seek to re-affirm and renew relations with the two countries, where an estimated 76,000 Filipinos live and work.

“I leave today for landmark visits that underscore our vision for our country – a responsible member of the world community – a Philippines that is friend to all and an enemy to no one,” Duterte said before departing for Tel Aviv. 

While in Israel, Duterte will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, with defence, labour and tourism deals high the agenda.

Duterte is eager to improve security cooperation with Israel, which has sold the Philippines three radar systems and 100 armoured vehicles, and which Manila is now eyeing for an aircraft deal.

According to Israeli government data, exports to the Philippines were worth $143m in 2017.

“[The visit] is for President Duterte to look for an alternative market for … weapons for our armed forces, as well as for the police,” Henelito Sevilla, an international relations expert at the University of the Philippines, told the AFP news agency.

Duterte will also visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the Open Doors Monument, a memorial to Filipinos who saved Jews from Nazi persecution.

Known for his controversial turns of phrase, Duterte has compared the killings committed during his controversial anti-drug war to the murder of Jews by German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

“Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said in 2017. Most mainstream historians say six million Jews died in the Holocaust.

Duterte, who took office in 2016, later apologised for his remarks, which he said were aimed at critics who had likened him to the Nazi leader.

Jerusalem vote

Late last year, the Philippines abstained from a vote at the United Nations General Assembly rebuking the US for moving its embassy to from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a controversial decision that sparked widespread international condemnation and large-scale protests.

Palestinian leaders see occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Duterte on Sunday expressed support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We shall be guided by our constitution and laws as well as our international commitments in support of efforts and initiatives including the two-state solution,” he told reporters.

Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it “assign(s) great importance to this visit, which symbolises the strong, warm ties between our peoples as well as the enormous potential for developing and strengthening the relations”.

Duterte will be in Israel until Wednesday, before going to Jordan until September 8. In Amman, he is expected to meet King Abdullah II. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Iran’s armed forces to boost their defence capacities but ruled out chances of war breaking out.

On Saturday, Iran announced plans to increase its missile capacity and acquire modern fighter jets and submarines as part of efforts to expand its military.

The announcement came in the wake of a decision by the United States to withdraw from a multinational nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions against it.

“Ayatollah Khamenei emphasised that based on political calculations there is no likelihood of a military war but added that the armed forces must be vigilant … and raise their personnel and equipment capacities,” Khamenei’s official website quoted him as telling commanders of Iran’s air defence forces on Sunday.

Saturday’s news of the military development plans came a day after Tehran rejected a French call for negotiations on future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in ongoing regional conflicts. 

Earlier this week, Iranian lawyers asked the International Court of Justice to order the US to lift the sanctions, saying the measures – which are damaging Iran’s already weak economy – violate terms of a little-known 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries.

On Wednesday, in a meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet, Khamenei warned that Iran might abandon its nuclear deal with world powers, casting doubt on the ability of European states to save the accord following the US withdrawal.

He said Iran “should give up hope on [Europe] over economic issues or the nuclear deal”, according to his website.

“The nuclear deal is a means, not the goal, and if we come to this conclusion that it does not serve our national interests, we can abandon it,” he was quoted as saying.

Iran would never negotiate with “indecent and confrontational” US officials on a new agreement, Khamenei added.

In August, Iran unveiled a new domestic fighter jet, reportedly the first to be “100-percent indigenously made”.

At the time, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country’s military strength was designed to deter enemies and create “lasting peace”, adding it was also what deterred Washington from attacking it.

United States’ decision to cut funding for the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) is “an evident politicization of humanitarian aid”, according to the organisation’s commissioner-general.

UNRWA, which says it provides services to more than five million Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, currently faces a budget deficit of $270m for the remainder of the year after the US government slashed its budget by $300m.

In an open letter to the agency’s staff, Pierre Krahenbul dismissed claims made by US State Department that it was an “irredeemably flawed operation” and prolonged the status of refugees.

“The responsibility for the protracted nature of the Palestine refugee-hood, the growing number of refugees and the growth in needs, lies squarely with the parties and in the international community’s lack of will or utter inability to bring about a negotiated and peaceful resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” wrote Krahenbul in the letter.

“The attempt to make UNRWAsomehow responsible for perpetuating the crisis is disingenuous at best. At no time over the past eight months were we notified of the specific reasons for the dramatic cut.” 

Krahenbul went on to say that the decision taken by the US, which has been its most generous and consistent donor since 1974, will not have any bearing on UNRWA’s responsibility towards Palestine refugees or affect the “energy and passion” it carries out.

EU pledges further support to UNRWA

UNRWA was formed in 1949 following the forced displacement of 700,000 Palestinians by Zionist paramilitaries in the run-up to the establishment of the state of Israel.

Over the past year, more than 50 countries have contributed to the agency.

In recent years, the European Union has been the second largest contributor. It pledged more than $142m in 2017.

In a statement published on Saturday, the EU termed the US decision “regrettable”, one that will leave a “substantial gap” in the agency’s funding.

“The EU is committed to secure the continuation and sustainability of the agency’s work which is vital for stability and security in the region,” the statement said.

“The EU and its member states, and many others in the international community, including many Arab states, have pledged their support to the continuity of the work that UNRWA is doing.”

In the run-up to the UN General Assembly session later this month, EU foreign ministers, along with their international and regional partners, will discuss how to guarantee sustainable and effective aid to Palestinians, the statement added.

Countries rally to raise funds

Following the US announcement, Germany announced it will increase funding for the UNRWA, its foreign minister said.

“The loss of this organisation could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction,” Heiko Maas said on Saturday before adding that while Germany contributed $94m to UNRWA this year, it was prepared to increase its financial aid.

Maas also urged the EU and member states to work towards “a sustainable finance basis for the organization”.

His statement was echoed by Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney, who called the US decision “heartless and dangerous”.

“Ireland is a long-standing supporter of UNRWA,” said Coveney. “We will continue that assistance and discuss with our EU and other partners what more can be done to support its work.” 

On the same day, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said his country will rally donor support to ease UNRAW’s financial crisis.

“Disruption of UNRWA services will have extremely dangerous humanitarian, political and security implications for refugees and for the whole region,” Safadi told Reuters news agency.

Jordan hosts more than two million registered Palestinian refugees. Safadi warned that shutting down UNRWA would create “fertile grounds for further tensions”.

‘Most vulnerable targeted’

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported on Sunday that funding by the Arab Gulf states to the refugee agency would be condition-based on a revised definition and number of Palestinian refugees.

According to Israeli Channel 2, the US will allow the Gulf states to fund UNRWA this year to ensure continuation of the organisation’s immediate activities.

Funding for next year, however, will be subject to agreeing with the US demand to count only 500,000 refugees out of the five million, the report said.

In March, Qatar announced to pledge $50m, its largest sum to UNRWA to date, saying that the importance of the agency’s sustainable funding, which provides food provisions, schooling, healthcare, and relief and social services, was crucial to the improvement of the lives of Palestinian refugees.

Hanan Ashrawi, an executive committee member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, denounced the US decision to end all funding to the agency as “a cruel and irresponsible move targeting the most vulnerable segment of Palestinian society”.

“With such a decision, the US is doing Israel’s bidding and destroying the very foundations of peace and stability by taking all permanent status issues ‘off the table’, including the right of return for refugees and occupied Jerusalem,” she said. 

Athens, Greece – Each morning, Dimitris Chalkitos wakes up, scans the internet for job openings and sends his resume to potential employers. He then walks around Sourmena, the beachside Athens suburb where he lives, and searches for “help wanted” signs at restaurants and retail stores.

The 22-year-old engineering student has repeated this daily routine for more than a year, hoping to find work and help his debt-saddled family.

Sitting in cafe near a main square, he tensed his face while recalling printing his resume, handing it in to a nearby department store and receiving a familiar response: He didn’t have enough work experience, the manager told him.

“The biggest problem is work experience,” Chalkitos told Al Jazeera. “Most of my friends are in the same situation.”

But work experience is hard to come by in a country where four out of 10 young people are unemployed and where the economy is still in shambles after nearly a decade of financial trauma, austerity measures, tax hikes, pension cuts and massive bailout packages.

On August 20, the Greek government and its European partners celebrated the end of Greece’s catastrophic crisis.

The following day, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras applauded a “day of redemption” and “the start of a new era”.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at a swearing in ceremony [File: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

“The bailouts of recession, austerity and social desertification are finally over,” he declared.

The overall unemployment rate sunk below 20 percent last month for the first time in seven years, down from its climactic peak of 27 percent in July 2013.

And although youth unemployment is far below the 60 percent it reached in February 2013, few job opportunities and meagre wages have left many young people with little cause to rejoice.

“When the country doesn’t give you anything, you can’t give anything back to it,” Chalkitos said.

“Young people believe the state should care more about them.”

Graduates without ‘decent job prospects’

Chalkitos was 13 years old when the global economic crisis first reached Greece in December 2009, when the downgrading of the country’s credit rating led to public spending cuts.

As fears that Greece would default on its debt swelled, the centre-left Pasok-led government implemented more austerity measures in 2010, sparking protests in the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities.

In the years that followed, the crisis deepened, and Chalkitos’s parents, both public school teachers, were forced to scrabble together what they could and tighten their belts where possible: worries about bills seeped into every dinner-table conversation, going out to restaurants was no longer affordable and holidays were rare.

“All of these small things had an impact on our family psychology,” he said, redirecting his stare to his lap. “My parents were miserable.”

In January 2015, the left-wing Syriza party came to power after campaigning on promises to do away with austerity. But those measures continued largely unabated.

Nikos Xydakis, a Syriza parliamentarian, acknowledges the challenges ahead, but maintains that the government has made progress since his party’s ascent three and a half years ago.

“There are hundreds of thousands of young people in their early thirties without decent job [prospects] since graduating school or university,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The promising fact is that every month the number of people finding jobs rises.”

Pointing to an increase in exports, Xydakis said: “Both obviously reflect an improvement in the situation of the working class of the population, but this is not enough.”

Unemployment is a ‘Greek reality’

Formally exiting the crisis is one thing, but the impact of the last nine years will be long lasting, according to several politicians and analysts.

The financial meltdown decimated a quarter of the country’s economy, minimum wage shrank, tens of thousands of businesses closed, thousands of factories shut down and more than 300,000 people emigrated to find work abroad.

Xydakis explained that the government is now considering a series of measures to lighten the burden on working-class Greeks. The exit “won’t be easy”, he said.

“On the contrary, it will need a lot of effort and hard work, imagination and innovative ideas from every one of us if we want to rebuild an economically stable country… capable of responding to the challenges of the global market.”

Pedestrians wait for the bus in central Athens [File: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

Twenty-four-year-old Yiannis Pappas, who three years ago graduated with a degree in 3D animation, has bounced from one short-term job to the next.

Currently unemployed, he was laid off several times and has had little luck finding employment in his field. “It’s a Greek reality,” he told Al Jazeera.

Like others before him, he moved to Sweden for work, but returned seven months later after struggling to find sustainable employment.

Many of his friends are searching for opportunities elsewhere in Europe, Pappas said, explaining that he, too, is now exploring the possibility of moving to Germany to continue his education and find work.

Just 15 when the crisis started, Pappas says many young Greeks have abandoned their hopes of finding the jobs they once aspired to.

“A lot of young people don’t understand where we are now,” he said, insisting nontheless: “I’m not giving up yet … Greeks are a tough crowd.”

Back in the Sourmena cafe, Dimitris Chalkitos sums up his feelings.

“This situation isn’t my generation’s fault,” he said. “We didn’t vote for the politicians who created it.”

With politicians lauding a new era, Chalkitos sees more hardship ahead.

“The crisis isn’t over. It just became our routine, our lives.”

The US military has made a final decision to cancel $300m in aid to Pakistan, the Pentagon says, citing Islamabad’s perceived failure to take decisive action against armed groups in the country.

The Coalition Support Funds were part of a broader suspension in aid to Pakistan announced by President Donald Trump at the start of the year, when he accused Pakistan of rewarding past assistance with “nothing but lies and deceit”.

The Trump administration says Islamabad is granting safe haven to fighters who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighbouring Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies.

“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy, the remaining $300m was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said on Saturday.

“We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups,” said Faulkner before adding that the aid amount would be used on “other urgent priorities” following Congress’ approval.

A Pakistani official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of a formal notification of the US decision on assistance but said one was expected by the end of September, according to media reports.

The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018

The announcement came just weeks after Pakistan’s newly elected prime minister Imran Khan took office.

Khan has repeatedly blamed Pakistan’s participation in the US-led “anti-terror campaign” for the surge in attacks on home soil over the last decade and has vowed to rebalance Islamabad’s relationship with Washington.

The disclosure also comes just days ahead of an expected visit to Islamabad by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the top US military officer, General Joseph Dunford.

Just over a week ago, a telephone conversation between Pompeo and Khan stirred up controversy, with Islamabad calling Washington’s account of the discussion “factually incorrect”.

Pakistan Foreign Office refuted the US statement which said “Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan”.

“The impression that has been given in their press release, which mentions terrorists operating in Pakistan, is in contrast with reality. And I say this with full confidence,” said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Herein lies the crux of the dysfunction in US-#Pakistan ties: Expectations are hopelessly and endlessly divergent. https://t.co/2DKN4B9raj

— Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) September 2, 2018

Some analysts warn there may be no real way to pressure Islamabad and say a suspension in aid could see the US lose crucial influence over Pakistan which will instead look to other countries for support, particularly its longtime ally China. 

“The announcement is to put Pakistan under pressure. Pakistan is expected to give a very tough response and also take it up with Pompeo when he’s in Islamabad,” Mateen Haider, a defence and security analyst, told Al Jazeera.

“The co-operation between Islamabad and Beijing is also increasing rapidly, particularly in the field of defence and security. Pakistan is now buying most of its defence equipment from China instead of the US and that strategic partnership is upsetting Washington.”

Pakistan has fought fierce campaigns against homegrown armed groups, and says it has lost thousands of lives and spent billions of dollars in its long-time war against them. 

But US officials accuse Islamabad of ignoring or even collaborating with groups, which attack Afghanistan from safe havens along the border between the two countries.

The White House believes that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and other military bodies have long helped fund and arm the Taliban for ideological reasons, but also to counter rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.

It also believes that a Pakistani crackdown could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the long-running war in Afghanistan.