Janine Herbst

Thirteen of Afghanistan's 34 provinces are affected.

The country is very vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Crude oil is trading higher at this hour.

West Texas crude oil is at $103.06 a barrel.

I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.

Iran is warning the U.S.

against a ground invasion after President Trump sent thousands of U.S.

troops to the Middle East.

The country's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalabaf, says if it happens, it would be met with force.

Iran also threatened to target American and Israeli universities in the Middle East as part of its war efforts.

This as ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt met in Islamabad today, trying to de-escalate the war.

Pakistan also says it's offered to hold talks between the U.S.

and Iran in the coming days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's widening his country's invasion of southern Lebanon.

Visiting troops in northern Israel today, Netanyahu says he's creating what he calls a security buffer zone to prevent Hezbollah militants from firing rockets into Israel.

But Lebanon's government says Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,200 people and displaced about a fifth of the country's population.

Empire's Lauren Frayer has more.

The European Union is trying to improve enforcement of deportation of people whose claims for asylum have been rejected.

Terry Schultz has more.