N Korea floods kill at least 200

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SEOUL, AUG 15 (AP): Torrential rains in North Korea have forced thousands of families from their homes and left at least 200 people dead or missing, an aid official said, adding that the worst floods there in a decade will worsen Pyongyang's already precarious ability to feed its people.
To cope with damage from the storms that began last week, the North has asked the United Nations to assess the situation in affected regions as part of a preliminary request for assistance - an indication of the dire situation in the impoverished nation. North Korea struggles to provide for its people and as many as 2 million people died from famine that began in the mid-1990s that the government blamed on natural disasters, but was also caused by outdated farming methods and the loss of the country's Soviet benefactor.