|
|
Famine Pushes North Koreans to Cannibalism
Widespread famine has driven some in North Korea to cannibalism, others to sell themselves or their children.
Start Date: 1/10/99
A report in the January 3, 1999 Sunday Times (UK) says that refugees fleeing into China from North Korea are telling horrendous stories of human cannibalism. Currently, famine in North Korea is among the most severe in earth, driven by recurrent drought and flooding, failed agricultural policies of the communist state, and reduction in food aid from Russia and China since the end of the Cold War. Now, the country is "wasting away," according to some observers. So desperate are the people that some have resorted to eating children who die; others have reportedly captured live orphaned children found abandoned on city streets and killed them for food. Three youths were reportedly executed recently for murdering a woman and butchering her body for sale.
Not surprisingly, many North Koreans are trying to flee into China, especially women who can choose to be sold as wives if they can get across the Yalu River which marks the border between the two nations. However, if the refugees are caught by border guards, they face certain torture and death in North Korean "holding camps."
The United Nations has earmarked $274.7 million in relief aid for North Korea in 1999, the largest amount allotted to any country.
 Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security.
|
Built by Frontier on a Macintosh on 6/17/00; 11:51:04 AM.
Web Comments  -
Produced by Larry Lowe
Served 5948 times since 1/10/99.
|
The Global Economy: In the Eye of the Millennium
A new survival economy is beginning to replace the consumer economy as the collapse of the global economy and its financial underpinnings spreads from Asia to Russia, South America and now North America and Europe.
The Economic Boom: How Big, How Broad, How Long?
In February 2000, the current U.S. economic expansion became the longest in history, but some forecasters think it still has a very long way to go.
Russia Slowly Rebounds; West Remains Wary
In Russia, a nation cursed by misfortune, things are finally starting to look up. But Russia's situation remains dire; political instability looms, and Yeltsin's reforms are threatened by reactionary forces.
Iran Moderates Seen Gaining Over Hard-Liners
Led by moderate president Mohammad Khatami, a new spirit of intellectual freedom is sweeping Iran, but not without strong opposition.
India and Pakistan: Bus Diplomacy
The start of the first commercial bus service between India and Pakistan in 51 years signalled a new resolve between the two countries to build stronger ties rather than risk future war.
The Taliban's War on Women
Since 1996, the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime in Afghanistan has imposed cruel constraints upon Afghan women, likened by some human rights activists to the Nazi treatment of Jews in pre-holocaust Poland.
Millennium Cults Grow More Bold as 2000 Nears
Around the world, cultists await the end of the world as we know it at the turn of the millennium.
The Global Economy: Will It or Won't It?
The U.S. economy continued to show strength in early 1999, but Japan, Russia and some other economies were troubled, raising questions of a possible global recession ahead.
Snapshots From the 'Battle of Seattle'
The WTO Conference in Seattle was met by massive protests, signifying that many people around the world do not believe trade should take precedence over human rights and the environment.
Kosovo: Bombing Stops, But Major Challenges Ahead
Serb troops began pulling out of Kosovo, NATO suspended bombing and peacekeepers awaited orders to deploy, raising hopes that the Balkan conflict was over and nearly one million refugees could soon start for home.
|
|
