Flooding and poor harvests have caused North Korea's worst food crisis since the late 1990s and have put millions at risk, the United Nations' food agency said Wednesday.

The food shortage threatens widespread malnutrition, the World Food Program said.

"Millions of vulnerable North Koreans are at risk of slipping toward precarious hunger levels," Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the WFP's country director for North Korea, told a news conference.

Hunger and malnutrition deaths continue to be reported from Madhya Pradesh. Press reported that hunger forced a 11-year-old girl to commit suicide in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur town. It is story of Sanjeeda, a resident of Moti Nagar in Jabalpur, who committed suicide by hanging herself. She was hungry for the past two days because there was nothing to eat in the house. 'I tried to get foodgrain under the Chief Minister's Annapurna Yojana (scheme) but all in vain', said Sanjeeda's mother Praveen to the police as per press reports.

MILLIONS of Zimbabweans face starvation after the widespread failure of the latest harvest brought on by the Government's mishandling of land redistribution, and shortages in the shops caused by hyperinflation.

The United Nations said hundreds of thousands of people required food aid immediately because they had harvested little or nothing in recent weeks.

It has warned that up to 5 million will need help in coming months

Himanshi Dhawan | TNN With child malnutrition levels stagnant at 46% for the past 10 years, the government has been forced to restructure its programme for nutritional intervention for children between 0-6 years. If approved by the Union cabinet, the government will spend an average Rs 4.21 per beneficiary per day, up from Rs 2 per day. The restructured Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) will be implemented in mission mode under a National ICDS Mission Directorate and increase financial powers at the grassroots level.

Xan Rice Nairobi: Ethiopia has appealed for $325 million in aid after drought and crop failure more than doubled the number of people needing emergency assistance to 4.6 million. Poor rains have affected much of southern and south-eastern Ethiopia since last year, significantly cutting harvests. The shortage of local cereals has sent prices soaring, while the cost of imported food has also risen sharply because of the global food crisis and increased fuel prices.

As many as 45 child patients of malnourishment have been detected in the city under the survey of Integrated Child Development Project (ICDP). According to the sources, the machinery of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) woke up from a deep slumber and started working to search malnourished patients and bring the situation under control. The meeting of integrated child development project department, which comes under the domain of district collector, was held recently.

SIPAJHAR