World News Summary Today
British Prime
Minister, Tony Blair
SEOUL: A defiant North Korea warned the United States it will consider economic sanctions a declaration of war, despite a final chance to resolve the crisis over its nuclear program offered by the United Nations atomic watchdog.
SINGAPORE: Al-Qaeda and allied extremist organisations, including Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), remain capable of mounting devastating attacks in Southeast Asia and around the world despite the recent capture of several operatives.
LONDON: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to say that the world will regret the result if it fails to deal with the issue of weapons of mass destruction that could be used by regimes like Iraq or "terrorist" groups.
WASHINGTON: Key talks between Japan, South Korea and the US were due to open in a bid to defuse the North Korea nuclear crisis.
SYDNEY: A Solomon Islands naval boat reached a Polynesian island cut off from the outside world by a cyclone and found the storm had caused no deaths or injuries.
PARIS: French President Jacques Chirac reminded the country's armed forces to be prepared for "all eventualities", hinting at the possibility of future military action against Iraq.