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

This image grab taken from AFPTV video footage shows smoke clouds covering the sky during wildfires in the forests of Bejaia in northern Algeria.

Wildfires kill dozens as extreme heat sweeps across Algeria, Turkey, Europe

Scientists say the wildfires have become more intense in the past years due to climate change.

A photograph taken on October 31, 2022 shows a cargo ship loaded with grain being inspected in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul. - Cargo ships loaded with grain and other agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on october 31, 2022 despite Russia's decision to pull out from a landmark deal designed to ease a global food crisis. As one of the brokers of the grain deal, Turkey has stepped up diplomacy with the two warring countries in a bid to save it as Russia warned

Turkey's Fidan says no solution without Russia to grain deal impasse

The top Turkish diplomat Hakan Fidan dismissed Kyiv's alternative solution offer to ship Ukrainian grain without an agreement with Moscow.

The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Asl Tia en-route to China transits the Bosporus.

Russia pulls inspectors from Turkey after Kremlin nixes grain deal

The joint operation center in Istanbul, which was set up as part of the Black Sea grain deal, has been the sole mechanism through which Ukrainian and Russian officials were directly working together on a regular basis since the invasion of Ukraine.

The Barbados-flagged ship "Nord Vind" coming from Ukraine loaded with grain is anchored for inspection in Istanbul, on Oct. 11, 2022.

Wheat prices rise by nearly 3% as Russia-Ukraine grain deal expires

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he may call his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in an effort to save the export deal. The deal’s termination could have economic effects on the Middle East.

This photo taken on July 10, 2012, in Ankara shows people at a traditional "doner" fast food restaurant. In Turkey 35% of the population has accumulated excess body fat to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. The Turkish health ministry has launched a campaign calling on Turks to be more active. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Bahrain, Turkey are Middle East's biggest eaters: Oxford rankings

Bahrain and Turkey are listed among the top eaters globally, while daily calorie consumption in war-ridden Yemen stands behind the recommended level.

People are seen picking out sheep at a livestock market, in Tunis' Ariana region, ahead of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, amid an increase in livestock prices, June 21, 2023.

Eid's price tag: Tunisia’s inflation leaves sheep out of reach for many Muslims

With soaring prices, Tunisian families are struggling to afford the cherished tradition of buying a sheep for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on December 23, 2014 in Beijing, China.

Analysis

Chinese panda bonds present opportunity for cash-strapped Egypt

With this agreement with the African Development Bank, Egypt is the first African country to issue bonds in Chinese currency that are placed in the domestic market of mainland China.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Egypt Sisi

Analysis

Egypt: Sisi's Africa tour highlights GERD, economic, climate change challenges

Sisi visited Angola, Zambia and Mozambique this week, demonstrating the continued importance Egypt places on political, economic and security ties with southern Africa and the continent as a whole.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Fishing boats are moored at the port of Karantina, north of Beirut, as their owners protest against the continued use of the nearby Karantina landfill waste dump site and its resultant waste pollution harming the local fishing industry, May 24, 2018.

In Lebanon, women break barriers by tinkering fishing nets to secure income

Lebanese women whose husbands are fishermen are joining them at sea and making and repairing fishing nets to secure an income for their families.

TOPSHOT - A huge electoral poster bearing a portrait of Turkish President and presidential candidate of AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a slogan which reads "Keep going with the right man" covers the facade of a high-rise building in Ankara, on May 23, 2023, ahead of the presidential election runoff on May 28, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Monitor/Premise Turkey poll: Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu statistically tied in election runoff

The poll found the economy, refugees and justice stand out as the top three issues that the country faces, with 71% of respondents favoring an imminent return of refugees in the country.

Fizzy drinks

Analysis

How a prolonged war in Sudan could threaten global fizzy drink supply

Sudan is the world's leading supplier of gum arabic, an essential ingredient in fizzy drinks that acts as an emulsifying and separating agent.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Two pairs of US hundred dollar and Egyptian hundred pound notes are held before a window showing the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and the Nile river on January 16, 2023. - With Egypt's economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink. The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan agree

Egypt inflation drops to 31.5%, but food prices still rising

Annual inflation fell slightly in April compared to the previous month as the central bank readies its next decision on interest rates.