Dry winter sparks fears of food crisis
SEOUL – As North Korea heads toward the “barley hump” – the lean season before the rice and corn harvest in the summer – aid agencies are warning that an unusually dry winter is compounding chronic food shortages in the impoverished country.
And while North Korea may no longer be in a state of famine, malnutrition remains such a widespread problem that even slight changes in weather can have an outsized impact on ordinary people’s food supply.
Winter crops – including wheat and barley – should be growing now, but after an exceptionally dry year in 2014, rainfall around the country has been markedly lower than usual so far this year.
Yemen’s rebels criticized over coup
SANAA, Yemen – A day after taking power, Shiite rebels in Yemen found themselves increasingly under pressure Saturday as thousands protested against their rule, and a group of nearby countries denounced their “coup.”
The leader of the Houthi rebels, Abdel-Malak al-Houthi, gave an impassioned speech defending dissolving Yemen’s parliament Friday as the only response to a power “vacuum” one his group created by besieging the country’s president, who later resigned.
The ongoing unrest in the Arab world’s poorest country could benefit Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, considered by America as the world’s most dangerous wing of the terror group.
Washington Post & Associated Press
