North Korea warned today that US-South Korean co-operation could bring nuclear war to the region.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said today his office was starting a preliminary examination of possible war crimes by North Korea.

THE US yesterday moved into the final phase of its military involvement in Iraq, with administration officials saying the war was ending even as the new commander of the remaining 50,000 troops warned of the ongoing threat from “hostile elements”.

A NORTH Korean mine may have caused the explosion that sank a South Korean naval ship near a disputed maritime border, the defence minister told lawmakers yesterday.

Military divers plunged into the waters near South Korea’s tense maritime border with North Korea to search for 46 missing marines from a naval ship that sank today, but were hampered by fierce waves and high winds, officials said.

ALTHOUGH he may not get to bed before 3am, Barack Obama plans to make his first full day as president on Wednesday a jam-packed affair of prayer, diplomacy, war discussions and welcoming hundreds of visitors to the White House.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice flexed America’s muscles in the Middle East, forcefully warning Iran the US would not ignore threats and would take any action necessary to defend friends and interests in the Persian Gulf.

North Korea fired several short-range guided missiles today in an apparent test launch, South Korean officials and media reports said.

AMERICAN Defence Secretary Robert Gates slipped into Iraq yesterday to warn Iraqi leaders that the US commitment to a military buildup there is not open-ended.

South Korea’s military was checking its readiness for nuclear war in the wake of North Korea’s claimed atomic test, Yonhap news agency reported today.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not intimidate members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during planning of the Iraq war as some retired generals have charged, a former chairman said.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush issued a strong endorsement yesterday of embattled Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, telling him after a meeting at the Pentagon: “You are doing a superb job.”

President George Bush issued a strong endorsement of embattled Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld today, telling him after a meeting at the Pentagon: “You are doing a superb job.”

The Taliban has allowed camera crews to film what it claims is the wreckage of a US helicopter it shot down.