When it rains it floods - but it's not the weather's fault

Article Abstract:

Floods are an annual event in China, but have been particularly severe in 1998, with 5.6 million homes destroyed and almost 14 million people being relocated. Severe drought is also an annual problem in China, with 300 cities suffering from water shortages. To a certain extent, these problems are man-made. New local industrial development has not taken account of the danger of flooding, and local government officials have left it too late to take flood precautions. The official Chinese media has failed to detail the extent to which the problems caused by flooding could have been avoided.

China, Column, Natural disasters, Flood damage prevention

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Floods deepen misery of last Stalinists

Article Abstract:

There is a severe food shortage in North Korea, where people are now having to eat roots and wild grasses to supplement meagre rice and maize supplies. Problems have also increased following floods in summer 1995, with many people still homeless and large areas of farmland remaining unuseable. The seriousness of the situation could force North Korea to agree to US president Bill Clinton's sugggestion of four-party talks between the US, China and North and South Korea.

Famines

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Stalinist door ajar for brief encounter

Article Abstract:

North Korea is normally closed to foreign visitors, but some 15,000 will attend the two-day Pyongyang International Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace. Most of the visitors are Japanese, Chinese and overseas Koreans, but some westerners will also witness North Korea's short time of contact with the outside world. This is possibly last country in the world where traditional large-scale Communist festivals are still being held.

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