The Gaza Strip is facing a dire humanitarian crisis, with escalating hostilities, including bombardment and ground operations, exacerbating acute food insecurity to catastrophic levels. Between November and December 2023, over 90 percent of the population, roughly 2.08 million people, experienced high levels of food insecurity, with over 40 percent in Emergency (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 4) and over 15 percent in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). In the projected period, between December 8, 2023, and February 7, 2024, the entire population of the Gaza Strip, around 2.2 million people, faces acute food insecurity and is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse),

The UK government has proposed an emergency bill to strengthen and enable its plan of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. The government’s plan however , is facing hurdles and backlash from the MP’s and human rights community.

As the “year of elections” enters its second month, global attention has shifted towards Indonesia as the world’s third largest democracy went to the polls on February 14. While the actual results would not be known for several weeks, polling samples have predicted a victory for current Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who also happens to be the son of current President Joko Widodo.

China, the world’s second-largest economy and the biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has solidified its dominance in investment and technological advancement within the renewable energy sector. According to a study published by the European Commission in January 2024, China outpaced EU in research on clean technology.

The recent suspension of trade negotiations by the UK is an example of dairy diplomacy in action. After the temporary post-Brexit agreement between the UK and Canada expired at the end of 2023, little progress was made on designing a long-term bilateral agreement. With the UK wanting low-tariff access to Canadian markets, Canada was not willing to budge in any concessions in this space.

The Republic of China, commonly referred to as Taiwan, has recently concluded its presidential and legislative elections this year on January 14th. Unsurprisingly, it mostly proceeded as a showdown between the two largest parties, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Kuomintang (KMT).

Scheduled to run from November 30th to December 12th, the event selects its host nation to represent one of the five UN regions, with the UAE standing for Asia. However, the UAE's positioning as a host has drawn considerable backlash, chiefly stemming from its position among the top 10 oil-producing countries and the appointment of Sultan Al Jaber as its COP president.

While global observers of the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco speculated on what it meant for the trajectory of US-China relations, few noticed a brewing storm between two of the summit’s participants – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.