Pravdateam/Lexical peculiarities

Question, problem, issue, matter, subject, item, topic, theme
Question is a specific subject, especially a difficult political problem, that has been discussed for a long time in order to decide what to do about it: Politicians have been discussing the Irish question for years now.

Problem is a situation that causes difficulty and needs to be dealt with:

The main problem is unemployment.

Issue is a subject or problem that is often discussed or argued about, especially a social or political matter that affects or interests a lot of people:

The President is to choose a few key issues on which to concentrate.

Matter is a subject that people disagree about or are concerned about, and that needs to be considered and discussed in order to deal with it or find an answer: The first item on the agenda today is the matter of public transportation.

Subject is what you are talking about or writing about in a conversation, discussion, book, film, work of art etc:

The President has his own views on the subject.

An item is a report or article in a newspaper or magazine, or on television or radio:

There were several interesting items in today's newspaper.

Topic is a subject that people like to talk about and give their opinions on, especially because it is interesting, important, or in the news a lot

Politics is his favourite topic of conversation.

Theme is the main idea or subject of a book, poem, film, speech etc:

Guilt and punishment is the theme of the story.