EAST ASIA

DEATH TOLL RISES IN COMMUTER TRAIN CRASH

AMAGASAKI, Japan – The death toll rose to 73 today in Japan’s deadliest rail crash in decades as crews pulled more victims from the wreckage. Investigators focused on whether excessive speed or the driver’s inexperience caused the train to derail and slam into an apartment building.

The seven-car commuter train carrying 580 passengers ran off the rails yesterday morning near Amagasaki, a suburb of Osaka about 250 miles west of Tokyo. It hit an automobile before plowing into the nine-story complex, injuring more than 440 people. Rescuers worked through the day and used floodlights overnight to reach survivors and the dead. Police said a few other passengers were still trapped but no one was responding, an indication that there were no more survivors.

– Associated Press

SOUTH KOREA WARNS NORTH AGAINST NUCLEAR TEST

In a rare harsh tone, South Korea warned North Korea yesterday against conducting a nuclear test, and the communist state said it would consider any U.N. sanctions a “declaration of war.”

The South Korean warning comes amid fears the isolated state is trying to harvest plutonium for more weapons after it apparently shut down a nuclear reactor and that it might be preparing for its first nuclear test.

Recent revelations have prompted Secretary of State Rice to say that although Washington had no timeline for taking North Korea to the United Nations, it was willing to go to the Security Council. Such a move could lead to economic sanctions on the North.

– Associated Press

WEST AFRICA

SECURITY FORCES FIRE ON CROWDS AFTER TENSE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at crowds of angry opposition supporters in Togo’s capital yesterday, as vote counting got under way a day after a tense presidential election in the West African nation.

Key electoral rivals meeting in Nigeria in a bid to avert the mounting violence agreed yesterday to abide by the outcome of Sunday’s ballot and form a national unity government, President Obasanjo of Nigeria said.

The Togolese ruling party candidate, Faure Gnassingbe, who briefly succeeded his father Gnassingbe Eyadema but stepped down under pressure to pave way for elections, and Gilchrist Olympio, the main backer of opposition candidate Bob Akitani, were invited to the talks.

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

IRAQI POLITICIANS FACE PRESSURE TO FORM GOVERNMENT

Iraqi politicians, pressured by America, tried again yesterday to end a nearly three-month deadlock over forming a new transitional government, with insurgents emboldened by the impasse launching well-coordinated weekend attacks that killed 29.

Three road bombs aimed at American military convoys exploded in the capital yesterday, including one in western Baghdad that killed an American soldier, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Clifford Kent. Another roadside bomb hit a convoy in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, killing one American soldier and wounding two, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police said two civilians also were wounded.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIAN INTELLIGENCE ABANDONS HEADQUARTERS IN LEBANON

Syrian intelligence agents abandoned their main headquarters in Lebanon yesterday, leaving the nerve center from which they controlled much of the neighboring country’s affairs for 29 years. With the Syrians leaving, its Lebanese allies in the security services also were collapsing. Major General Jamil Sayyed – often described as the enforcer of Damascus’ policy – announced his resignation, and another top security commander left the country with his family. Only a token Syrian force remains for today’s ceremony at a Lebanese airbase in the eastern Bekaa Valley to mark the official end of the Syrian presence.

– Associated Press