Food security

Voladymyr Zelenskyy meets with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, on Feb. 17, 2025.

Analysis

Amid US rift and Saudi rivalry, UAE offers Zelenskyy economic lifeline

Gulf countries find themselves in a difficult position as they navigate placating Trump, maintaining good relations with Russia, and engaging with Ukraine while also providing mediation and humanitarian aid.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Sudanese army soldiers patrol an area in Khartoum North, on Nov. 3, 2024.

Battle for Khartoum at tipping point as Sudan military advances

After years of fighting between Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, the two groups’ battle for the capital city of Khartoum could be coming to a head.

Iraqi men unload humanitarian aid supplies provided by USAID to displaced Iraqis who have fled clashes between Islamic State group jihadists and Peshmerga fighters on Oct. 2, 2014, in the town of Daquq.

‘People are anxious’: USAID staff rattled by Trump's foreign aid freeze

Humanitarian organizations were bracing for foreign aid cuts but were taken aback when President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order pausing assistance for the next 90 days.

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain delivers a speech at the first meeting of the Global School Meals Coalition, in Paris, on Oct. 18, 2023.

Interview

WFP chief McCain urges funding to alleviate Syria's hunger crisis

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain warned of donor fatigue after nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria.

Cindy McCain

Cindy McCain

WFP Executive Director

Latest News

Analysis

From war to governance: Hamas challenged by security vacuum in Gaza

Children reach out with bowls, hoping to receive food during a distribution in Gaza City, with the population facing increasing hunger due to closed crossings. Oct. 21, 2024.

Abeer Ayyoub

By Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Opposition wins election in Somaliland, signals dialogue with Somalia: What we know

Waddani Party presidential candidate Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, also known as Irro, (C) casts his vote at a polling station.

WFP to send aid ship to feed displaced in Lebanon

YOAV LEMMER/AFP via Getty Images

Interview

WFP’s McCain: 'No difference' in Gaza aid flow despite Israel’s tactical pause

Cindy McCain executive director of the UN World Food Program, is pictured at the UN Security Council in this undated image, in New York.

Cindy McCain

Cindy McCain

World Food Programme Executive Director

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron (L) hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Oct. 24, 2023.

Macron warns Netanyahu forced population transfer in Gaza would be war crime

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Paris is against a military operation in Rafah and against any attempt to transfer displaced Gazans.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a news conference at the State Department Harry S. Truman headquarters on March 13, 2024, in Washington, DC.

Israel should ease 'unnecessary restrictions' on key Gaza goods, Blinken says

The top US diplomat acknowledged Israeli concerns about "dual-use" items ending up the hands of Hamas, but said "greater clarity" is needed for humanitarian groups whose work is hindered by "unnecessary restrictions."

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 08: President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media during a joint press conference with President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky on March 08, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Turkey’s Erdogan hosts Zelenskyy, hopeful on Ukraine-Russia compromise

Zelenskyy’s visit to Turkey comes one week after that of Lavrov, and as Ankara is trying to find a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on a Black Sea mechanism.

Palestinian citizens inspect the effects of destruction caused by air strikes on their homes on Nov. 25, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza.

Gaza in numbers: 30,000 dead, 80% displaced, half million on brink of famine

As the war in Gaza enters its sixth month, Palestinians face violence at aid distribution points, with possibility of famine ‘almost inevitable,’ UN

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on September 3, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Fidan, NATO chief discuss Sweden’s bid, Ukraine grain deal

The phone call comes a day after the meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine during his official visit in Kyiv, on August 25, 2023, the Independence Day of Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by GLEB GARANICH / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GLEB GARANICH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Fidan to visit Russia as Ukraine's grain deal, Syria talks stall

Ankara’s efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal and stalled high level talks between Ankara and Damascus are expected to be high on the agenda of the talks between top Russian and Turkish diplomats.

Egypt food market

Egypt’s headline inflation hits all-time high of 38.2% in July

Surging food prices helped July’s headline inflation numbers break the record of 36.8% in June.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan: Revival of Russia-Ukraine grain deal hinges on West

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Russia’s return to the critical deal was dependent on Western countries’ fulfilling their responsibilities.

Grain is loaded aboard a cargo ship at the Azov Sea Port, Rostov region, on July 22, 2023. On July 21, 2023, Russia said that it understood the concerns African nations may have after Moscow left the Ukrainian grain deal, promising to ensure deliveries to countries in need. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken to Russia: Stop using food as 'weapon of war' in Ukraine, Syria

Wheat prices in the Middle East have risen since Russia's abandonment of the grain deal last month.

A bag of rice is unloaded from a truck at an Indian grains depot near New Delhi on August 27, 2013, one day after the Indian parliament passed a flagship 18-billion-dollar programme to provide subsidised food to the poor that is intended to "wipe out" endemic hunger and malnutrition in the aspiring superpower. Despite decades of fast economic growth, India still struggles to feed its 1.2-billion population adequately with more than 40 percent of children under five malnourished, according to a major survey

Analysis

UAE rice ban after major exporter India spikes global supply fears

The UAE was the world's 16th-largest importer of rice in 2021 and the majority of it came from India.

By Salim A. Essaid

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey struggles to maintain Russia-Ukraine balance as grain crisis persists

Erdogan can ill afford to confront Russia by backing alternative means to sustain Ukrainian grain exports without Moscow’s involvement.

Russia Africa

Russia seeks to boost ties with Egypt, Algeria at Africa summit

Russia’s second Africa summit did not yield any major deals with North African countries as leaders called upon Russia to resume the Black Sea grain deal.