A world dangerously off course - the stark warning from the United Nations after finding more than 295 million people faced acute hunger in 2024. And fears are growing for its future, as major donor countries reduce funding this year. Climate change and economic crises affected 96 million people and 18 countries, including Syria and Yemen. Conflict and violence are the leading causes of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Sudan, after two years of civil war. In Gaza, Israel's blockade of all food, water and medicine has entered a third month, creating a manufactured crisis. So is global food hunger a failure of systems, or a failure of humanity?

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The US-Israeli plan to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, amid the use of starvation as a weapon of war, enables Israel to "force the ethnic cleansing of a huge part of Gaza’s population”, argues Matt Duss, the executive vice president of the Center for International Policy. United States President Donald Trump visited the Middle East, which saw a shift in US policy on Yemen, Iran, and Syria.

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It took three years to get officials from Ukraine and Russia in the same room. But president Vladimir Putin who proposed the meeting, didn’t go to Istanbul and the talks ended in less than 90 minutes.The result: an agreement for a large-scale prisoner exchange, talks about their presidents meeting, and both sides pushing their vision of a future ceasefire. Yet, diplomacy isn't narrowing the great gap between Russia and Ukraine. So, is president Putin agreeing to further talks to avoid more sanctions? And with Russia steadily advancing on the battlefield can president Zelenskky afford to push for peace, without further compromise?

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United States President Donald Trump's tour of the Middle East this week is his first international trip since he started his second term. Conspicuously absent from his itinerary, however, was Washington’s closest ally in the region: Israel.

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Trillions of dollars were pledged during the US president’s three-nation tour of the Gulf this week. The US is preparing to lift decades-long sanctions on Syria, and could be close to a nuclear deal with Iran. Previous presidents might have been expected to make a stop in Egypt, Jordan or Israel. But notably Trump's deal-making tour did not include those countries. So, are the Gulf nations now in sync with the US on some of the biggest challenges in the region? And is Trump re-shaping the Middle East or is it the Gulf states that will dictate future US foreign policy?

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A hundred years after the birth of Malcolm X, and in the shadow of a second Trump presidency, Ibram X. Kendi – author of the international bestseller How to Be an Antiracist – returns to the meaning of Malcolm’s legacy in his newest book. What does it reveal about where the US is now, and what still needs to be said about race in America?

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The rise of artificial intelligence has schools racing to respond to tools like ChatGPT. While some fear it may replace teachers and erode human connection, others see it as a chance to transform and improve education.

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How will history judge the West’s complicity in the Gaza genocide? With Israel’s assault nearing its second year, the divide between those condemning the violence and those remaining silent continues to widen.

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Even before he flew to the Gulf, the focus in American media was on the billions of dollars of new investments Donald Trump was eyeing. The US President has since signed mega deals, making his 'America first' goal as much a part of economic strategy as foreign policy. One of the biggest was in Qatar, where Boeing secured its largest ever order of wide-body jets from Qatar Airways. Doha also promised to invest more than $10bn in the Al Udeid air base, one of America's biggest military facilities in the world. Trump says he's forging a future with the Middle East defined by commerce, not chaos -- but does it mean regional stability and security are now taking a back seat? And how likely is it that the US President would throw America's weight behind ending the devastating war in Gaza?

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Syrians are describing it as a turning point -- "the second joy, since the fall of Assad". US President Donald Trump has announced he will lift all sanctions on Syria--as a way to help the country rebuild after years of civil war. The UN estimates half of the Syrian population is displaced, and nearly 75% need humanitarian aid. It says, at its current rate of growth, Syria will take at least half a century to achieve its pre-war economic level. President Ahmed Al Sharaa has already called on the US to invest in the nation's oil and gas sector. But can he capitalise on the removal of US restrictions and transform the fragmented and devastated country? And what about Syria's fragile security situation?

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