U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that a number of allies in the Gulf region and ​in Asia have ‌requested currency swap lines from the United States to help deal with energy shocks ⁠and other fallout from the Middle East war. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Dr Kristi Diwan, Senior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

More than $71 billion will be needed over the next decade for recovery and reconstruction in war-ravaged Gaza, according to an EU-UN assessment published on Monday. In their final Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), the United Nations and the European Union said that more than two years of war in the Palestinian territory "has led to unprecedented loss of life and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis". FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Dr Deen Sharp, urban geographer and editor of "Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope".

Elon Musk did not appear Monday for a voluntary interview with Paris prosecutors, who had issued the summons in February as part of an investigation into allegations that X's algorithm was used to interfere in French politics. The probe was later expanded to include dissemination of Holocaust denial and sexual deepfakes by X's AI chatbot Grok. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Professor Julia Hörnle, Chair of Internet Law at Queen Mary, University of London.