The United Nations is warning famine is spreading in northern Gaza, with babies dying of malnutrition and Palestinian families starving. And yet it says all this is avoidable, and accuses Israel of refusing to allow food assistance into the strip and worsening the hunger crisis.

Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela's President for a third term. The ceremony went ahead despite international calls for him to stand aside, after July's disputed election. The top court declared Maduro the winner, but detailed voting tallies have never been published.

senior political analyst Marwan Bishara highlights the contrasting approaches of European nations toward normalizing relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He emphasizes that while countries like France and Germany hesitated, Italy took a proactive stance, aligning itself with Hungary and the Czech Republic in re-establishing ties with Assad's regime. Bishara suggests that the rhetoric of the Italian foreign minister on dictatorship and human rights underscores the broader hypocrisy of European positions regarding the rights of those living across the Mediterranean.

Yemen's Houthi group says the US and UK have carried out a series of strikes on 12 locations in the capital, Sanaa. The Israeli military also conducted attacks across the country -saying it tar-geted Houthi military infrastructure.

After a two-year political stalemate, Lebanon has a president. The election of army chief Joseph Aoun by parliament is welcomed from Washington to Tehran. He takes the helm of a country ravaged by war and economic crises. What are his immediate challenges?

The fires burning through Los Angeles now are already the worst in the history of California, a state known for its wildfires. Thousands have lost their homes, and nearly 180,000 have been forced to evacuate. What is it like to be in the city on fire?

United States President-elect Donald Trump has been sentenced to what’s known as an “unconditional discharge” for his conviction over hush-money payments made to an adult film actress, making him the first former US president ever sentenced for a crime. Judge Juan Merchan delivered the decision on Friday, a day after the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Trump’s legal team to delay sentencing before the Republican leader’s inauguration on January 20.

Israeli settlers have carried out arson attacks in a number of Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank. Local media released this video of settlers setting fire to Palestinian homes in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, and to villages east of Hebron. Civil defence crews are working to extinguish the blaze. Menachem Klein, a Professor of Political Science at Barilan University, joins live from West Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Hamdah Salhut reports live from Amman, because the Palestinian Authority has suspended Al Jazeera's operations in the Occupied West Bank.

Conflict is threatening cultural heritage through intentional destruction, looting, and damage during wars, as seen with ISIL (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. It's erasing identities and displacing communities. Both conflict and neglect result in the loss of irreplaceable history, traditions, and cultural identity. This episode explores the significance of preserving cultural heritage, the societal impacts of its destruction, and what can be done to safeguard these irreplaceable connections to our past.

Italian foreign minister says Syrian people and Syria will be able to depend on Italy. Italy's foreign minister visits Syria to support post-Assad transition