Food security

Farmers roast harvested wheat using fire in a field on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on May 18, 2026.

Analysis

How Syria’s wheat fields turned into first battleground over reconstruction

A battle over wheat prices could be the first political contest over who reconstruction will benefit.

Haddon Barth

By Haddon Barth

Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (R) arrives at the Burgenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne on June 21, 2026.

Iran rejects Trump's claim frozen funds will buy US soybeans: What to know

Trump said Wednesday that the US would release “some” Iranian frozen funds and would use them to purchase corn, wheat and soybeans from American farmers.

French Trade & Invest Commissioner for United Arab Emirates and Middle East and Business France's regional director for the Middle East Axel Baroux. — Business France

Interview

Franco-Gulf investment holds firm despite Iran war, French official says

French investors are reallocating capital toward strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence and technology rather than pulling out of the region altogether.

Axel Baroux

France’s trade and investment commissioner for the UAE and Middle East

Janti Soeripto helps at a community kitchen serving hot meals to displaced families arriving from El-Fasher.

Interview

As Sudan war drags on, US-Iran conflict compounds humanitarian crisis in Darfur

Save the Children US President and CEO Janti Soeripto said delivering aid in Sudan remains extremely difficult, with supply trucks often delayed for weeks or months even after entering the country.

Janti Soeripto

President and CEO of Save the Children US

Latest News

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran war deepens Gaza crisis as prices soar, aid falters

Children and families gather to receive free meals shortly before Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan at a displacement camp in central Gaza City, on Feb. 27, 2026.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

Youths gather atop an elevated area in al-Zahra in the central Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Dangers for Palestinian aid workers stall deal on US-built Gaza pier

Israel’s role in providing security for the maritime endeavor has raised questions over the safety and neutrality of the Palestinian aid workers involved.

Dairy cows recline in a barn at the Havelland Ribbeck farm on March 22, 2024 near Nauen, Germany.

Algeria signs $3.5B deal with Qatari firm to develop world's largest dairy farm

A Qatari food giant announced a $3.5 billion agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop the world’s largest integrated dairy farming and production project in the south of the African country.

Humanitarian aid is dropped on the Gaza Strip, west of Gaza City, on March 25, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas, with the background showing Israel's Rutenberg power station near Ashkelon.

US says Israel boosted Gaza aid flow after convoy strike, but more is needed

US envoy David Satterfield said the volume of assistance reaching Gaza is "significantly greater" than it was, but issues remain with aid distribution.

VICTORIA VALDIVIA/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Starbucks pledges $3M to World Central Kitchen for Gaza meals

The coffee giant has announced a large donation to the aid group World Central Kitchen, which lost seven of its staff members earlier this month in an Israeli airstrike.

Relatives and friends mourn the death of Saif Abu Taha, a staff member of the US-based aid group World Central Kitchen.

Israel's Gaza aid convoy strike reflects 'absolute breakdown' of process

Aid agencies who spent months urging Israel to improve its “deconfliction” system say the deadly strike that killed seven of World Central Kitchen’s staff was foreseeable.

People gather around the carcass of a car used by US-based aid group World Central Kitchen.

Humanitarian groups suspend Gaza operations after Israeli strike kills 7 aid workers

World Central Kitchen, a US-based charitable organization, said seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza. Israel said the incident is under investigation.

Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

White House: No Rafah invasion until Israeli delegation talks alternatives

"We don’t support a major ground operation," White House NSC coordinator John Kirby emphasized on Thursday, as an Israeli delegation is expected to discuss alternatives with top officials in Washington next week.

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.