South Korea’s military was reportedly preparing for nuclear conflict today as rival North Korea warned that an international push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang over its atomic weapons test would be an act of war.

Reports of a possible second North Korean nuclear test jolted Asia today while key powers considered punitive action against the communist nation for its first atomic blast.

World governments are playing down a leaked French intelligence document that raises the possibility Osama bin Laden died of typhoid.

French President Jacques Chirac said today that information contained in a leaked intelligence document raising the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan last month is “in no way whatsoever confirmed.”

The Bush administration today urged Israelis to avoid civilian casualties in the fighting in Lebanon and expressed sorrow about the deaths of at least 56 civilians in a village in southern Lebanon.