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First refugees cross Greece-Macedonia border after standoff

A trickle of refugees have been allowed to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia - the first for two days following clashes earlier this week.

Macedonia briefly opened the border crossing overnight, letting around 170 people cross, Greek Police said.

However some 10,000 people remain camped at the crossing, awaiting their turn.

It comes after clashes broke out on Monday as hundreds attempted to storm the border crossing.

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Over £500 million in aid ready for migrant crisis states

Over £500 million will be sent to "overwhelmed" member states Credit: Reuters

A plan is in action to disburse £545 million of emergency humanitarian aid to help tackle the migrant crisis, the European Commission has announced.

It comes after new figures indicate last year's total of one million seaborne migrants to Europe could be matched well before the end of the year.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates nearly 129,500 migrants had arrived by sea so far in 2016, plus another 1,545 by land.

Now over £540 million of emergency humanitarian funding between over the next two years has been pledged by the European Commission to help alleviate the crisis.

Humanitarian aid commissioner Christos Stylianides confirmed the news over Twitter, saying it would go be distributed to "overwhelmed member states."

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