Humanitarian crises

US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs Massad Fares Boulos attends the Sudan Humanitarian Fund event at the Institute of Peace in Washington, on Feb. 3, 2026.

US says Sudan warring parties back withdrawal plan as donors pledge $700M in aid

State Department senior adviser Massad Boulos announced Tuesday that a "comprehensive peace plan" has been approved by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, though it still needs to be approved by Sudan's warring parties.

Sudanese army soldiers parade in the streets of eastern Sudan's city of Gedaref on Aug. 14, 2025, to mark the 71st anniversary of the formation of the Sudanese army.

RSF shells Sudan’s Kordofan as US-Saudi truce plan stalls: What to know

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces have launched drone and artillery attacks in Dilling, just a week after the Sudanese army said it broke a nearly two-year siege on the town.

US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos (L) meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 8, 2026.

US envoy pushes for Sudan truce in meeting with UAE’s MBZ after talks in Saudi Arabia

Boulos’ meeting in Abu Dhabi follows discussions earlier this week in Riyadh, as the two Gulf countries navigate both Sudan diplomacy and a dispute over Yemen.

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

Tamara Alrifai

Latest News

Analysis

US options constrained in Sudan as RSF snubs Washington, sanctions fail

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 21: Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations | Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rubio testified on the proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of State. (Photo by John McDonnell/Getty Images)

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

After 13 hours, 150 Gazans allowed to enter South Africa: What to know

A South African Airways (SAA) flight is seen on the tarmac before departing from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sept. 23, 2021.

Meet Rama Duwaji, Mamdani's wife and New York’s first lady of Syrian descent

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Interview

International Red Cross chief says Gaza conflict goes beyond anything he has ever seen

Members of the Red Cross stand amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as heavy machinery operates in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on Oct. 27, 2025.

Pierre Krahenbuhl

Pierre Krahenbuhl

Director-General of the International Committee

dog turkey

Culture

Husky dog rescued from rubble 23 days after Turkey earthquakes

The dog’s overall health is good despite dramatic weight loss, volunteers say.

People displaced by conflict receive food aid and provisions to meet their basic needs.

Breaking | Last Updated: February 27, 2023, 5:04 pm

US announces $444 million to Yemen as humanitarian needs soar

Despite the fresh US assistance, a donors conference for Yemen raised less than one-third of what the United Nations said is needed to avert further humanitarian crisis.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (L) and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (R) give a press conference at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Damascus, Syria, Feb. 27, 2023.

Egypt's FM Shoukry visits Syria, Turkey in renewed earthquake diplomacy

The top Egyptian diplomat's visit to Syria and Turkey marks a first after almost a decade.

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Ukraine's Zelenskyy on first such visit to Kyiv since 1991.

Saudi Arabia signs $400 million deal for Ukraine aid in historic visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this was the first official visit of the Saudi foreign affairs minister in more than 30 years, and most senior for any Arab delegation since Russia's invasion last year.

A family pass by a ruined building in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 25, 2023.

New earthquake hits Turkey’s disaster zone, killing one, trapping several

The new quake collapsed several buildings in a province that is among 11 Turkish provinces that were badly hit by the massive Feb. 6 earthquakes.

People fish from the Galata bridge, near Suleymaniye mosque (backround) in the Eminonu district of Istanbul, on January 10, 2023. (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists: Time running out to save Istanbul from major earthquake

Seismologists are calling for urgent measures to prepare Istanbul for a major earthquake expected in the near future, warning of catastrophic destruction in Turkey’s most populous city and economic capital.

Turkey quake refugee

A Syrian exodus: Some 30,000 refugees return home after Turkey's earthquake

The UN's refugee agency stresses that Syrian refugees who visit their homeland can return to Turkey later.

A man sits atop a rolled-up tent in the garden of Yenimahalle Cemevi.

Turkey bans layoffs, introduces benefits, amid mounting earthquake failures

The Turkish government’s new decisions come amid mounting criticism over its failure to provide a timely and organized response to the killer earthquakes.

Backers of the the Southern Transitional Council (STC) which seeks independence for south Yemen, stand guard outside a bank in the Crater district in the centre of Yemen's second city of Aden on August 12, 2019. - (Photo credit should read NABIL HASAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Reports: Saudi Arabia to deposit $1 billion in Yemen’s central bank

The European Union also announced additional funding for Yemen, while a famine watchdog said that economic warfare is increasingly causing hardship for Yemenis.

Greece's Minister for the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Christos Stylianides (R) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) during a meeting with a Search and Rescue team that assisted during the earthquake in Turkey, in Athens, on February 21, 2023. (Photo by MICHAEL VARAKLAS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken urges Turkey, Greece to end dispute in wake of earthquake goodwill

Wrapping up his Greece visit, the top American diplomat focused on unity among allies as the Ukraine invasion's first anniversary nears.

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Powerful new earthquake hits Turkey, trapping several under rubble

Another 6.4-magnitude quake struck Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, one of the worst-hit areas just two weeks ago, killing at least six people.

rescuers of Aleyna Olmez hug in Turkey

248 hours after earthquake, Turkish teen rescued from rubble

Aleyna Olmez, a 17-year-old girl in Kahramanmaras miraculously survived under the rubble of a collapsed building for nearly 11 days.