Haiti: nearly half the population face acute food shortages
According to the IPC, a world hunger watchdog, nearly 48% of Haiti's population faces acute food shortages. Over five million people are enduring ‘high levels of acute food insecurity’ from August 2024 to February 2025. Armed gang violence, rampant across Haiti, is a major factor contributing to the crisis. Despite international interventions and the appointment of a new government, the gangs currently control 80% of Port-au-Prince and key roads leading to the north and south of the country. The difficulties have led to high Inflation, with food costs now consuming up to 70% of household expenses. The lingering impacts of natural disasters like Hurricane Matthew and the 2021 earthquake further exacerbate the situation. A UN-backed mission led by Kenya has made some progress, but the IPC has warned that the overall crisis will likely worsen in the next eight months.
Nepal: latest disaster exposes government’s lack of preparedness
A devastating monsoon downpour in Nepal has led to severe flooding and mudslides, claiming over 200 lives, injuring 127, and leaving 56 missing. Rescue operations successfully saved over four thousand stranded people. However, despite warnings of more heavy rains, the prime minister admitted that he had not anticipated such flooding in Kathmandu. One critic has said that the government ‘miserably failed to not only protect people’s lives but also, according to its admission, to coordinate the resources and manpower to save them’. Even the mayor of Kathmandu struggled to mobilise resources effectively. Critics have called for a more robust disaster management strategy by revitalising the national disaster management authority, allocating resources, and involving experts. Disaster prevention and management must be a top priority, transcending political lines, to protect the nation from future crises.
Street preacher shot in the head, not expected to live
Hans Schmidt, a street preacher and military veteran, was shot in the head while sharing the Gospel in Arizona. Unaware of the gunshot, he drove to his church, Victory Chapel, with blood streaming down his face. On the way to the hospital, he suffered a seizure and became unconscious. Doctors gave little hope, telling his wife Zulya that the outcome looked grim. They expected death, and detectives even spoke of an autopsy. However, prayer warriors across the nation began interceding for him. Hans was placed in a medically-induced coma and remained unresponsive for a month. Then, miraculously, he woke up and spoke. His wife was astonished and overjoyed. Against all odds, he fully recovered, returned to his family, and resumed playing the drums at church. He has also forgiven his assailant, who was never found. Now, he continues preaching the message of God’s love, focusing on the importance of forgiveness.
Boy's life support switched off, but now 'thriving'
A four-year-old boy, whose life support was withdrawn after doctors at King’s College Hospital in London declared he was certain to die, has miraculously improved. Despite his Christian parents’ pleas to continue treatment or transfer him to a Vatican-backed hospital in Italy, the High Court ruled in favour of ending life support. However, contrary to medical predictions, the boy has returned home, breathing on his own, no longer reliant on life-sustaining machines. He is 'thriving’, smiling, and enjoying life with his family. The judge who had initially authorised the withdrawal of life support reversed his decision after visiting the boy and reviewing his remarkable recovery. The case has raised complex ethical and legal questions, with doctors and the court acknowledging that medical science does not fully understand every case. The boy, who was born deaf and blind, survived despite two heart attacks caused by a brain infection. His story highlights the unpredictable nature of medicine and the resilience of the human will to live.
