EAST ASIA

WHITE HOUSE WARNS NORTH KOREA AGAINST NUCLEAR TEST

SEOUL, South Korea – North and South Korea resumed talks today after a 10-month break, a development that came as a top American security official promised “action” against North Korea if it carried out a nuclear test.

South Korea said it planned to use the talks to urge the North to return to six party nuclear disarmament talks. A Japanese official echoed comments yesterday from Stephen Hadley, President Bush’s national security adviser, that a North Korean nuclear test would provoke action against the reclusive communist regime.

“We’ve seen some evidence that says that they may be preparing for a nuclear test,” Mr. Hadley said in an interview with CNN. “Obviously, that would be a serious step, and it would require us to consult very closely with our colleagues on the six-party talks for what kind of response we should make.” He said a nuclear test “would be something where the North Koreans would be defying not only us, but our partners in the six-party talks, and action would … have to be taken.”

The secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Shinzo Abe, said that Tokyo would take the issue to the United Nations. “It is unthinkable not to impose any sanctions in case of a nuclear testing,” Mr. Abe said.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

U.N., AMERICA CALL FOR RESTRAINT AFTER CLASH AT LEBANON BORDER

The United Nations and America led calls yesterday for restraint after Israeli forces clashed with Islamic militants in southern Lebanon, the worst violence in months across one of the world’s most fought-over borders.

Israeli jets, attack helicopters, and tanks pounded four positions, which the Jewish State claimed were manned by members of Hezbollah, the armed resistance movement drawn from Lebanon’s sizeable Shiite minority.

While Israel claimed all four had been destroyed and casualties inflicted, there was no independent confirmation from the Lebanese side.

The barrage was ordered after a volley of 10 artillery shells and two salvoes of Katyusha rockets were fired last week from Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon into Israel. Israel condemned this assault although it sparked the crisis by firing an artillery shell across the border early last week. Israel said it was “an accident,” but on such a disputed frontier, it was bound to have consequences.

– The Daily Telegraph

WESTERN EUROPE

SUSPECTED BASQUE SEPARATISTS DETONATE FOUR BOMBS

MADRID, Spain – Suspected Basque separatists detonated four small bombs in the troubled region yesterday, police said – a day after Spain’s government made an unprecedented proposal for Parliament to endorse talks with the armed group if it renounced violence. Two policemen and a security guard suffered minor injuries after inhaling toxic fumes at a chemical plant where one of the pre-dawn blasts occurred, police said. The explosions came a day after Spain’s ruling Socialist party said it is seeking other parties’ support for a parliamentary motion supporting the start of talks with ETA if the group renounces violence, although the negotiations would rule out concessions toward ETA’s goal of Basque independence.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

BURMESE JUNTA IMPLIES CIA FUNDED TERRORISTS

RANGOON, Burma – Burma’s ruling military junta implied yesterday that the CIA had funded terrorists – trained in neighboring Thailand – who carried out a recent string of bombings.

Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan also raised the death toll from the May 7 bombings at two upscale supermarkets and a convention center in the capital, Rangoon, from at least 11 to 19. More than 160 others were injured.

The junta blamed the attacks on three major ethnic rebel groups and on exiled pro-democracy politicians who have formed a government-in-exile.

General Hsan told a news conference yesterday that investigators found that the bombs used in the attacks were not available in Burma but were used by terrorists trained in a “neighboring country by an internationally known organization of a superpower country.” He declined to identify the organization but apparently was referring to the CIA.

– Associated Press