All posts by 234Radio

More than half of Haiti’s population is experiencing critical levels of hunger as armed groups tighten their grip across the Caribbean nation and the ravaged economy continues its downward spiral.

A report released on Friday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that some 5.7 million Haitians – of a population of roughly 11 million – are facing severe food shortages. The crisis threatens to worsen as gang violence displaces families, destroys agricultural production, and prevents aid from reaching those desperately in need.

The assessment shows 1.9 million people are already at emergency hunger levels, marked by severe food gaps and dangerous rates of malnutrition. Another 3.8 million face crisis-level food insecurity.

The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with nearly six million people projected to face acute hunger by mid-2026 as Haiti enters its lean agricultural season.

Haiti’s government announced plans on Friday to establish a Food and Nutrition Security Office to coordinate relief efforts. Louis Gerald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council, said authorities would mobilise resources quickly to reach those most affected.

But the response faces enormous obstacles. Armed groups now control an estimated 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital, and have expanded into agricultural regions in recent months.

Violence has forced 1.3 million people from their homes – a 24 percent increase since December – with many sheltering in overcrowded temporary sites lacking basic services.

Farmers who remain on their land must negotiate with gangs for access and surrender portions of their harvests. Small businesses have shuttered, eliminating income sources for countless families. Even when crops reach normal yields, produce cannot reach Port-au-Prince because gangs block the main roads.

The economic devastation compounds the crisis. Haiti has recorded six consecutive years of recession, while food prices jumped 33 percent last July compared with the previous year.

The deepening emergency affects children with particular severity. A separate report this week found 680,000 children displaced by violence – nearly double previous figures – with more than 1,000 schools forced to close and hundreds of minors recruited by armed groups.

The international community authorised a new 5,550-member “gang suppression force” at the United Nations earlier this month, replacing a smaller mission that struggled with funding shortages.

But the security situation remains volatile. On Thursday, heavy gunfire erupted when government officials attempted to meet at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, forcing a hasty evacuation from an area long controlled by gangs.

North Korea unveiled its latest and “most powerful” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a military parade presided over by the country’s leader Kim Jong Un, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports.

The parade on Friday in the capital Pyongyang featured some of North Korea’s most advanced weapons, including long-range strategic cruise missiles and drone launch vehicles, but special prominence was given to the Hwasong-20 ICBM, which KCNA described as the military’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system”.

Mounted on an 11-axle launcher truck for its debut at the parade on Friday, the very existence of the massive Hwasong-20 was only revealed in recent weeks as North Korea tested a new solid-fuel rocket engine that it said was intended for a future generation of ICBMs.

State media said the engine, built with carbon fibre, is capable of producing 1,971 kilonewtons of thrust – a measure of propulsive force which is more powerful than earlier North Korean rocket engines.

“The Hwasong-20 represents, for the moment, the apotheosis of North Korea’s ambitions for long-range nuclear delivery capabilities. We should expect to see the system tested before the end of this year,” said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Hwasong series of ICBMs has given North Korea the capacity to strike long-range targets, but questions remain over the sophistication of its guidance system and the ability of the missile’s warhead payload to withstand atmospheric re-entry.

Experts believe the Hwasong-20 could be designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads, a capability that Kim has called on his military to develop in order to give his arsenal of missiles a better chance at penetrating enemy defences.

“The system is likely designed for the delivery of multiple warheads,” Panda said.

“Multiple warheads will increase stresses on existing US missile defence systems and augment what Kim sees as necessary to achieve meaningful deterrence effects against Washington,” he said.

Following the parade marking the 80th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, Kim delivered a speech in which he called North Korea a “faithful member of socialist forces” and “a bulwark for independence” against the threat of the West’s global hegemony, according to KCNA.

“Today, we stand before the world as a mighty people with no obstacles we cannot overcome and no great achievement we cannot accomplish,” Kim said.

Among foreign dignitaries in Pyongyang to attend the event was Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Meeting with Kim, Medvedev expressed gratitude for North Korea’s support for the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, Russian state news agencies reported on Friday.

“The nature of relations between people and between countries is revealed during times of trial,” Medvedev said on the Russian social media platform Max.

“This fully applies to the alliance between our countries”, he said.

“We are grateful to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for its steadfast support of the special military operation. Our soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder to liberate the Kursk region. This feat will forever remain in our hearts,” he added.