UN special coordinator for Lebanon hopes new govt will be formed within ‘days’

After years of political and financial crises, Lebanese people are now also in danger of going hungry. Germany has promised more food aid as imports from Ukraine and Russia dwindle.

In the World This Week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tries to negotiate humanitarian corridors in Ukraine while on a visit to Kyiv. French President Emmanuel Macron's re-election honeymoon period proves short-lived, with the focus quickly turning to June legislative elections. And Tesla founder Elon Musk makes a $44 million offer for social media platform Twitter.

Antonio Guterres arriving Borno state, various of internally displaced persons cheering, various of street scenes, Antonio Guterres speaking, mothers and children in a hospital ward, military checkpoints, armed soldiers.

The number of people facing hunger rose to 193 million last year as conflict, climate change and economic crises ravaged people's livelihoods, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday.

Lebanon is electing a new parliament soon. Even though many people harbour hope for change, it won't be a walk in the park for the opposition. Traditional power structures remain deeply embedded.

In a UN Security Council briefing, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the streets in Iraq could "boil over" if political leaders were unable to end a political stalemate that has gripped the country for over seven months.

The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has traveled to China at Beijing's invitation. But the US has raised doubts about Chinese officials giving her "necessary access" to asses the situation.

The 13-2 vote in favor of the resolution was not enough to secure its adoption as Beijing and Moscow have veto-rights. The US said the rejection means Pyongyang "will feel free to take further escalatory actions."

Activists slammed UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet for her restrained criticism directed at China's leaders after her return from Xinjiang. But Bachelet noted that her visit was "not an investigation."

The UN says it is the sixth time a peacekeeping convoy has been targeted in less than a month. The West African country has been gripped by a jihadist insurgency for the past decade.

An ongoing maritime dispute between Lebanon and Israel has re-entered the spotlight after a production vessel docked in an offshore gas field on Sunday. The Lebanese claim the ship is in disputed territorial waters, but the Israelis refute this. Both countries have yet to agree on maritime demarcation lines and have called on the US to mediate new talks. For more analysis, we speak to oil and gas policy expert Laury Haytayan, who is MENA Senior Officer at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).