
The drought represented an "unprecedented natural disaster", reported the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' party. It urged citizens to "join the struggle" to save food production in a country that is no stranger to famine. Temperatures have reached more than 40C (104F) in some regions since late July and there have been sporadic reports of deaths from the heat.
"This high-temperature phenomenon is the largest, unprecedented natural disaster, but not an obstacle we cannot overcome," a commentary in Rodong Sinmun said. "Extreme high temperatures and droughts have begun affecting farming crops, including rice and corn. We should muster all our power and capacity to fight high temperatures and droughts."
Comment: The Guardian is well known for peddling the much discredited theory of Globull Warming and so it's expected that the main thrust of their story would be that the heat is to blame for this natural disaster, but it should be borne in mind that it's probably not the 'heat' that has killed the cattle and crops, but the drought.












Comment: Record breaking drought conditions all over the world are making the headlines this year, meanwhile so are stories of torrential rains causing dams to burst: