The word sand usually conjures up images of a holiday on the beach. But the fine grains also happen to be a precious commodity. Humans extract 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel every year, making it the second most exploited resource on the planet. Can the world keep digging for more? The Down to Earth team investigates.

Would Beijing back away from its strategic partnership with Moscow if the war in Ukraine goes nuclear?

Beijing has no reason to sanction Australia, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The call comes after ministers from two countries met for the first time in years.

The conflict has cut off supplies from Ukraine's ports, which once exported vast amounts of cooking oil as well as cereals such as maize and wheat. This has reduced the global supply and caused the price of alternatives to soar. Global food prices are almost 30% higher than the same time last year, according to the UN.

Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al-Mashat, granted an interview to FRANCE 24 in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan. Although the war in Ukraine is threatening Egypt's food security, the minister believes that "pre-emptive action" undertaken by Cairo in the past few years will help "mitigate" the impact of a possible wheat shortage. Al-Mashat also called for the COP27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in November to be one turning of "pledges" into "implementation".

A violent attack on several women in northern China earlier this month has raised questions over gender-based violence in the country. CCTV footage from a restaurant in the city of Tangshan showed a man getting rebuffed after he put his hand on the back of a woman. He then slapped her, then with other men beat the group of women before punching, kicking and dragging them outdoors. For more on women's safety and their rights in China, we talk to Professor Maria Jaschok from the University of Oxford.

Much of the UK has been crippled by the largest rail strike in decades. Some 40,000 workers participated in Tuesday's walkout, calling for higher wages to deal with the spiraling cost of living. Experts say the disruptions will weigh on economic growth. Also in the show: EasyJet is on the frontline of the aviation industry's staff shortages, and businesses in Las Vegas will continue performing Elvis-themed weddings, after reaching a deal with the late singer's estate.

The billionaire was named prime minister for the fourth time and asked to form a government to save the country from financial collapse. He urged fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal.

German airline Lufthansa has said it is canceling over 2,000 additional flights at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs due to staff shortages. Its low-cost subsidiary, Eurowings, is also expected to cancel flights.

The G7 leaders are meeting for three days in Elmau, Germany. The summit has turned this idyllic corner of Bavaria into a high-security zone that has impacted local businesses and schools, as Sabine Kinkartz found out.

The G7 summit is set to kick off in Germany, with Western leaders facing up to a daunting set of crises — Russia's war in Ukraine and climate change top the list. As DW's Richard Walker reports, these issues are nothing new for the group of leading economic powers.

Germany's Olaf Scholz is hosting the G7 summit in Bavaria, where world leaders pledged $600 billion dollars to help low-income states build "climate resilient infrastructure." The Ukraine war is also high on the agenda.