Trump scales back military drills with South Korea because of ‘good friend’ Kim

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By Kang Jin-kyu, with Matthew Pennington in Washington AFP | Posted by TOE Donald Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea, hours before the exercises began on Monday. The US president cited his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his latest rebuke to long-standing alliances with Western partners. South Korean officials said the exercises had begun as planned and that they hoped the personal chemistry between Trump and Kim would bring them back to talks. North Korea has not responded publicly, though it has previously voiced anger at the regular joint manoeuvres, which take place in the South. The drills began as American allies in East Asia fret over North Korean displays of weapons capabilities and its growing alignment with Russia as well as traditional backer China. “Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I ...
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Haiti hunger crisis deepens as almost 6 million face acute food insecurity

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Nearly 6 million people in Haiti are expected to face acute food insecurity in the coming ‌months, underscoring how gang violence, mass displacement and economic strain are ‌keeping the Caribbean nation in the grip of a deepening humanitarian crisis, according to ​a new assessment published on Thursday.

About 5.8 million Haitians – more than half the population – are facing acute food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said, with more than 1.8 million of them in the emergency phase ‌and in urgent need ⁠of food assistance.

The crisis has been fueled by worsening insecurity, economic shocks and repeated disruption to markets and ⁠farming, the report said. Armed groups have expanded their control in parts of the country, while more than 1.4 million people have been displaced, straining ​food supplies ​and pushing vulnerable households deeper into ​hunger.

The latest IPC projection is ‌slightly below an earlier estimate of 5.91 million people facing acute food insecurity, and the number in the emergency category has also edged lower, improvements that agencies have linked in part to food assistance, easing inflation and better harvest conditions in some areas.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has ‌said sustained food aid helped about 200,000 ​Haitians move out of emergency levels of ​hunger since last year, ​yet aid groups said some recent gains were fragile.

“Fighting ‌hunger is essential to restoring stability ​in Haiti. We cannot ​build peace if families cannot feed their children,” WFP Haiti Country Director Wanja Kaaria said in a statement.

Humanitarian agencies warned conditions ​could deteriorate again without ‌more support, citing the spike in global fuel prices caused ​by the Iran war which has further strained transportation and ​agricultural production costs.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/fJjTkEb

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