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Famine looms in Sudan as a result of what has been called 'a forgotten war'. Our reporter gains rare access to the front line city of Omdurman near the capital Khartoum, and we hear from the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Port Sudan.Also in the programme: a senior Haitian journalist tells us Haiti may need to engage with gang leaders to achieve any lasting peace; and a visibly emotional Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announces he is stepping down.(IMAGE: People hold pots as volunteers distribute food in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023 / CREDIT: REUTERS / El Tayeb Siddig)

Haiti's powerful gangs which control more than 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince have already voiced their opposition to the transitional presidential council. They warned they will continue to attack government targets unless an interim administration acceptable to them is created. We ask a former minister recently appointed by the council how the country can be saved from collapse. Antony Blinken has warned that Gaza's entire population is facing acute food insecurity. We hear from one of the aid agencies and an Israeli spokesperson about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Also in the programme: we speak to the singer of the anarchist band Chumbawumba who refuses his music to be associated with right-wing political parties; and we ask the mayor of Yellowknife in Canada how she is preparing for wildfire season. (Photo: Haiti's National Penitentiary on fire, in Port-au-Prince Credit: REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol)

LONG: Both sides face increasing pressure to halt the fighting to allow urgently needed aid into the territory, and the safe evacuation of Israeli hostages. We get the latest on these talks and hear about the situation on the ground in Gaza.Also on the programme: the head of the European Council calls on EU countries to shift their economies to a war footing; and how the architecture known as tropical modernism developed in Africa.(Picture: Pictures of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza. Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

Dozens of US citizens have fled the chaos and violence of Haiti on a government-chartered plane. More than 10 bodies were removed on by ambulance on Monday from Petion-Ville on the outskirts of the capital. The BBC’s Will Grant reports from the port city of Cap-Haitien.Also in the programme, the Israeli military says it has taken control of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in what it called an operation to "thwart terrorist activity"; and the Gambia considers repealing a ban on female genital mutilation.(Picture: People gather on a street where several bodies were found in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 18 March 2024. Credit: Johnson Sabin/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Israel launches overnight raid on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and tells civilians to evacuate. And as aid agencies warn of imminent famine in northern Gaza, the EU's foreign policy chief says Israel bears responsibility.Also in the programme: we hear from Haiti where the security crisis continues and the US has been airlifting its citizens out; and an extreme heatwave forces schools to close in South Sudan.(IMAGE: Palestinians gather to receive aid outside an UNRWA warehouse as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City March 18, 2024 / CREDIT: Reuters / Mahmoud Issa)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been handed a landslide victory in an election his opponents condemned as a sham. The last day of voting was marked by silent protests at polling stations.Also on the programme: We speak to the prime minister of the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and Grenadines about the political plan for Haiti; and the Moroccan police seized more than ten tonnes of cannabis resin from a fishing boat in Agadir. (Photo: Journalists stand in front of the screen with preliminary results of the presidential elections during a briefing at the Central Election Commission in Moscow. Credit: MAXIM SHIPENKOV/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Aid agencies warn that the humanitarian situation in the country is deteriorating amid gang warfare and lawlessness. Police have launched an operation to wrest control of the capital from gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier. Also on the programme: history is made in Wales as Vaughan Gething is set to become the first black national leader in Europe; and part of a historic Egyptian TV and film studio goes up in smoke. (Picture: Police officers take part in an operation on the surroundings of the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince following a fire March 14, 2024. Credit: REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo)

Around 50 protesters have been arrested in Russian cities on the final day of a vote set to confirm Vladimir Putin in office. Long queues formed outside polling stations, heeding a call to gather in protest. The call came from the wife of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died suddenly last month at a penal colony above the Arctic Circle. We hear from a member of President Putin's United Russia party.Also on the programme: One resident's story of living in Iceland's volcano zone; and how the tiny island nation of Palau sees its place among the big powers in the Pacific.(Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Sputnik/Kremlin)

Police in Haiti are reported to have launched an operation to arrest the leader of the coalition of gangs which now control most of the capital. Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier is seen as the main instigator of the protests which forced the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, to resign last week. We hear from a former US diplomat to Haiti.Also in the programme: People in Russia are casting their ballots on the second day of a vote; and Mad Women- a new play about three women artists, living with bipolar disorder.(File Photo: Former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier and leader of an alliance of armed groups, speaks to a news outlet on a mobile phone during a news conference, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 11, 2024. Reuters/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo)

Vladimir Putin faces no serious opposition. The election comes just a month after the death of the President's most prominent and vocal critic, Alexei Navalny, in a penal colony in Siberia. We hear from a young voter who plans to spoil her vote in protest.Also on the programme: The judge overseeing an election fraud case against Donald Trump has rejected the former president's attempt to have the chief prosecutor disqualified; and snakes on plate? Why scientists think that pythons could be a sustainable alternative to conventional livestock. (Picture: Voters in front of a mural of President Putin of Russia. Credit: EPA)