THE World Food Programme yesterday warned it may be forced to scale back vital aid flights for victims of the South Asia quake within days if it does not receive more donations.

North Korea has threatened to test a nuclear weapon unless Washington accepts Pyongyang’s conditions for a freeze on its atomic programme, jeopardising disarmament talks, a senior US official said in Beijing.

North Korea said today that the chances of another round of six-nation talks over its nuclear programme had ”fallen into danger”.

US intelligence analysts have detected slight “increases of activity” around a North Korean nuclear plant but have made no “hard conclusions” on whether the country is reprocessing nuclear fuel for potential weapons use, US officials said yesterday.

North Korea has threatened the US that it plans to export nuclear weapons and test an atomic bomb, it was reported today.

US AND North Korean envoys began talks in Beijing yesterday to resolve a stand-off over the North's suspected nuclear weapons programme [[[[]]]] the first face-to-face meeting between the nations in six months.

A TOP US envoy ended a diplomatic shuttle through Asia on Sunday, reporting no new initiative to defuse a nuclear crisis with isolated North Korea amid signs that Washington wants to talk, but only on its own terms.

SOUTH Korea yesterday said it was prepared for a worst-case scenario that included war if diplomacy failed to resolve the crisis over the North’s suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.

President George Bush said today he is prepared to reconsider a plan to give North Korea energy and food aid if the communist regime disarms its nuclear weapons programme.

Less than a day after police foiled a plot to kill American diplomats in Pakistan, US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca arrived in the capital to discuss the war on terror.

Israeli troops have entered the West Bank town of Jenin, the military says.

North Korea is willing to talk about concerns over its nuclear weapons programme, South Korean officials said today.

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