Idlib: Has the world stopped caring about Syria?

We challenge a UN official on the international response to the Idlib crisis and discuss evangelical support for Trump.

Idlib: 'A crisis on a monumental scale'

In the past three months, nearly one million people have fled advancing Syrian government forces in Idlib province near the border with Turkey. With Ankara refusing to open border crossings and millions of civilians trapped, the United Nations has warned of an impending bloodbath and a "massacre on a scale that has never been seen during this entire war".

Mark Cutts, the UN's deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, called it a "crisis on a monumental scale".

What can be done to resolve the conflict in Yemen?

A UN study says development in Yemen has been pushed back by two decades as civil war enters its fifth year.

A child dies every 12 minutes in Yemen. The civil war in the country, now in its fifth year, has killed more than one-quarter of a million people.

Peace efforts have made little progress and fighting appears to be no closer to an end. 

The United States and some other Western powers continue to support the Saudi-UAE coalition against Houthi rebels.

Every day brings horrific stories of civilian deaths - including women and children - from violence, famine or disease.

A United Nations study identifies 44 million Yemenis, nearly 40 percent of the population, as living in extreme poverty.

Is the world failing Yemen?

Yemenis mark the eighth anniversary of the revolution which toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Millions of Yemenis saw an opportunity for change in 2011.

Protesters inspired by the Arab Spring demanded the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

He eventually stepped down after three decades in power, but hopes of democracy soon faded.

Four years of civil war has led to what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis - with widespread famine, disease and suffering.

Will the US end its involvement in the Yemen war?

A group of senators, led by Bernie Sanders, plans to resubmit a draft bill to stop US support for the war in Yemen.

Yemen has been in a state of war for the past four years.

The United States has firmly backed the Saudi-UAE coalition which has been fighting Houthi rebels.

But repeated attacks on civilians by the coalition have drawn widespread international condemnation and have contributed to the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Things could be about to change now.

The Things We Keep: Which news stories stay with us and why?

In an age of non-stop news feeds and disposable media, which stories and images stay with us and how do they shape us?

Casey Kauffman and Alessandro Cassigoli met when they were in their early 20s, sharing a flat in Rome.

Casey, an American who aspired to become a journalist, and Alessandro, an Italian with ambitions of becoming a filmmaker, had very different personalities. But a friendship soon blossomed between them.

Casey would meet people from all walks of life, while Alessandro would film his encounters.

An unworthy war? US/UK reporting on Yemen

As the assault on Hudaida makes news, we examine flaws in coverage of the war in Yemen. Plus, chemical attacks in Syria.

A conflict described by Amnesty International as the "forgotten war", Yemen has found itself in the news this past week.

The reason was an assault by the combined forces of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on the port city of Hudaida. While it's the Saudi-led coalition that has waged this war for the past three years, many media outlets describe Yemen as a proxy war, hence the term 'Iran-backed Houthi rebels'.

But what about the US and the UK whose weapons sales and military assistance have enabled the Gulf states to carry on the war?

Is Saudi Arabia's crown prince really a reformer?

We debate the extent of reforms in Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the war in Yemen.

Arena: Is Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman really a reformer?

The 32-year-old crown prince, known colloquially in the West as MBS, is touring the world touting the anti-corruption and pro-women reforms he has initiated in his country.

While bin Salman has been praised by some as a revolutionary, rights groups have voiced concern, pointing to the continued crackdown on dissent within the kingdom, and to alleged war crimes committed in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition.

The Battle for Venezuela

The Big Picture examines the present-day crisis in Venezuela by exploring the divisions rooted in its past.

Venezuela is gripped by crisis. Economic collapse and political meltdown have devastated a country that was once the wealthiest in the region, and still, today boasts the world's largest oil reserves.

Latin America's once 'model democracy' now struggles to maintain order and feed a divided people.
But the seeds of its current demise were sewn a century ago, when the events of its formative years ensured that the fate of Venezuela would be written in oil.

As the country developed into a functioning "petrostate", other vital elements of its modernisation were left distinctly under-developed.

How can the crisis on Manus Island be resolved?

Ten days after Australia withdrew support for its prison camp in Papua New Guinea, detainees refuse to leave.

Ten days ago Australia officially withdrew support for the prison camp it has maintained on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island since 2012.

The camp is located on the site of a former PNG naval facility. For the last five years, Australia has maintained a policy of detaining refugees intercepted at sea there and at a similar camp on Nauru, rather than allowing them to reach Australian soil.

But after Australia withdrew its support for the camp, control is going back to the PNG government.

Citing safety concerns, however, the approximately 600 people living there have refused to leave, despite the rapidly deteriorating conditions.

How can world leaders end Yemen's crisis?

UN issues warning millions could die in Yemen if the Saudi-led coalition does not lift its blockade.

"Millions will die" - that is the stark warning from the UN humanitarian chief over the crisis in Yemen. Out of sight and out of mind for most of the world, millions of children, mothers and fathers are struggling to find food.

Now the UN warns that Yemen could face the largest famine the world has seen for many decades. It is urging the Saudi-led coalition to end its devastating blockade and allow aid into the country.

Srebrenica's Bone Hunter (video)

How a genocide survivor in Bosnia and his years-long search for human bones continues to inspire hope

Filmmakers: Muris Beglerovic and Jasmina Djikoli

In July 1995, months before the end of the three-year Bosnian war and in violation of international law, the Serbian army marched into the United Nations' supported enclave of Srebrenica.

Led by General Ratko Mladic, thousands of women and children either fled Srebrenica to neighbouring Potocari, or were forcibly evacuated by the Bosnian Serb army. The remaining men and boys of the then majority-Muslim town were systematically tortured and murdered in what would come to be known as the darkest hour for Europe since World War II.

Over 8,000 men, some only children, were executed in a span of days; an ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of bodies are estimated to still be lost in the land surrounding Srebrenica.

Why are Rohingya refugees stranded in no-man's land?

Thousands of ethnic Rohingya cross into neighbouring Bangladesh, but they are not welcome.

It is a humanitarian crisis that is growing continuously. A week after former UN chief Kofi Annan released a report with recommendations to end years of persecution of the Rohingya people, the situation in Rakhine state in Myanmar appears to be getting worse.

Women and children are among the tens of thousands of the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority trying to get across the border into Bangladesh. But Bangladesh does not want them. Security is being tightened and many people are being turned away, leaving them stuck in no-man's land.

The refugees tell of attacks by the Myanmar military, of Rohingya villagers being killed and their homes set on fire. But the Myanmar army says it has launched a security crackdown on a rebel group after coming under attacks.

War, famine and cholera: Is no one able to help Yemen?

The United Nations cancels a consignment of vaccines because of the continuing conflict.

The war in Yemen has been called The Perfect Storm.

The Arab world's poorest country is on the brink of famine and struggling with the world's worst outbreak of cholera.

The UN says it cannot send in life-saving vaccines because of the ongoing violence.

So is Yemen heading for a catastrophe? And are calls for help falling on deaf ears?

Child Soldiers Reloaded: The Privatisation of War (video)

How private companies recruit former child soldiers for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

From opportunistic guns for hire on the fringe of domestic conflicts to a global force operating within a multibillion-dollar industry - the private military sector seems to be flourishing.

As armies and war increasingly become outsourced, private military companies have taken on a wider increasing range of responsibilities, from security and intelligence analysis to training and combat roles.

"The private military industry is a part of how the countries fight wars today ... The US government doesn't track the number of contractors used in places like Iraq or Afghanistan. We know it's a lot, we don't know exactly how many," says Sean McFate, a professor at Georgetown University who used to work for a private military company. 

Gaza in the dark as fuel for power plant runs out

Rival Palestinian factions blame each other for electricity crisis which is putting patients' lives at risk.

The two million people of Gaza are already living in dire conditions due to a lack of clean drinking water, restriction of movement, and a high rate of unemployment.

Now, they have to survive on just four hours of electricity a day because there is no fuel for the power station.

Gaza's ruling faction Hamas has to rely on the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank to provide the fuel. Hamas, however, says it cannot afford to pay the taxes the PA charges.

The PA says Hamas is incapable of running the plant efficiently.

What can be done to save millions facing famine? (video)

A man-made humanitarian crisis, unprecedented in recent history and one that is entirely preventable.

Close to 20 million people in three African countries and Yemen are at risk of starvation.

The UN secretary general says more than $4bn is needed within the next three weeks or many more will die. Antonio Guterres made an emergency visit to Somalia, where a national disaster has been declared because of drought. About half of the country’s population faces severe food shortages.

In South Sudan, famine has been declared in parts of the country. Up to a million people there will soon run out of food.

And the UN says that 400,000 Nigerian children face malnutrition. Close to 80,000 of them might not survive the next few months.

Who is to blame for famine in South Sudan?

The United Nations says millions are going hungry in the world's newest country.

South Sudan has huge areas of fertile land but many of its people are dying from hunger.

The crisis is man-made, following years of civil war and a collapsing economy.

Government leaders and the United Nations have declared famine conditions in Unity State in the north where around 100,000 people are on the verge of starvation.

The UN says five million South Sudanese - that's about half the population - are in need of urgent help. Around a quarter of a million are severely malnourished.

Syria war crimes probe: Will anyone be charged?

UN votes to set up panel to investigate atrocities committed during nearly six years of war that have devastated Syria.

The UN General Assembly has voted to set up a panel to look into war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the nearly six-year-old Syrian war.

There has been no shortage of evidence of crimes carried out in Syria during the bloody conflict - both by the government and opposition fighters.

In no other conflict have so many atrocities been so widely seen and shared on television and social media.
More than half the population has been driven out of their homes, and nearly 400,000 people killed.

Residents have remained under siege and heavy bombardment for months at a time.

Pakistan's Displaced Poet (Video)

An elderly poet can't accept life in a refugee camp and faces the agonising decision of whether to return home.

Baba, a poet and former teacher, lives with his family in one of many tarpaulin-covered tents at the Jalozai camp, southeast of Peshawar, in Pakistan, which was originally set up to house refugees fleeing the civil war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Jalozai has welcomed thousands of internally displaced people in recent years, including Baba and his family, who were forced off their land by fighting between the Pakistan Army and insurgents. Baba's son scrapes together a living by selling balloons and carting around a film projector.

The film simply and powerfully observes Baba's plight, his futile attempts to kill time, his desperate desire to leave the camp and return to his village, and the larger struggles of other refugees at Jalozai. The story takes a dramatic turn when Baba disappears.

What will it take to end Syria's war?

We ask Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, and speak to White Helmets spokesman Farouq al Habib.

As air strikes continue to bombard parts of Syria, what will bring an end to the war?

In this week's UpFront, Mehdi Hasan speaks to Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria, about what it will take to bring peace to the country. We also speak to White Helmets spokesman Farouq al Habib about the award-winning challenges the aid group faces in warn-torn Syria.

And in the Reality Check, Mehdi Hasan debunks the myth that Islam and democracy are not compatible.

Has the UN failed in Syria?

Heavy air strikes hit parts of Aleppo on Thursday after the Russian-backed Syrian army announced an offensive to take full control over the largest city in the country.