World Highlights

¤ North Korea accused US President George W. Bush of shattering trust before a new round of six-nation talks today designed to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

Washington and Pyongyang are sparring over when the North should open up to disarmament inspectors and whether in return it would receive a new light-water nuclear reactor, less open to covert development of weapons-grade material, and other rewards.

¤ One month after Pakistan's devastating earthquake, aid agencies are facing a cash crisis as the threat of disease and death looms over vast numbers of homeless survivors and a bitter winter closes in.

The United Nations is struggling to raise $550 million for a medium-term programme to help victims of the October 8 quake that killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistan and about 1,300 in India.

¤ Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev took steps to patch up his international standing damaged by a parliamentary election Western observers said was sullied by vote fraud.

The opposition was planning protests from today against a vote that handed a huge majority in parliament to Mr Aliyev's supporters, though analysts said the demonstrations would be short-lived with no prospect of a Ukraine-style revolution.

¤ Top trade ministers admitted they could delay a mid-December deadline for an outline global deal because divisions were too great, but stuck to a target for a treaty by the end of next year.

Officials from key members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), meeting in Geneva, said a full blueprint on a pact to energise economies and alleviate poverty would be too difficult and it would be better not to risk a failure in Hong Kong and settle for something more modest.