IRELAND’S hopes of having their first Amateur Champion since Brian McElhinney five years ago were dashed at Muirfield yesterday when Paul Cutler fell by the wayside in the quarter-finals.

A South Korean man on death row for murdering 13 people in one of the country’s worst killing sprees died after hanging himself.

Six people were killed and seven other injured today in an arson and stabbing spree in South Korea, allegedly by a man said to be financially distressed.

Two trains that collided triggering a massive blast in North Korea were carrying explosives and not fuel, while casualty figures appeared to be lower than originally feared, an international Red Cross official said today.

A catastrophic train accident in North Korea was caused by a collision of fuel-laden trains and there may be “a large number of people killed or injured”, South Korea’s Unification Minister said today.

SOUTH Korea urged North Korea yesterday to give up its nuclear programme after US officials said the communist state told Washington it had atomic bombs and could make more.

THE chief North Korean delegate to talks with South Korea hinted yesterday he was unwilling to discuss his country’s suspected nuclear weapons

Inter-Korean talks began in sombre mood today, with South Korea demanding that North Korea should scrap its nuclear weapons programme.