¤ North Korea yesterday jeopardised a six-country deal on giving up its nuclear arms just one day after it was struck by vowing to keep the weapons until Washington provides civilian atomic reactors, but some participants said this did not mean the pact was dead. The US said the North's views, set out in a long statement, did not match the agreement signed in Beijing on Monday in which Pyongyang agreed to scrap its nuclear programmes in return for aid and recognition of its right to a civilian nuclear programme.

¤ President Viktor Yushchenko yesterday failed to win support for his candidate as premier, casting new doubt on hopes that his election after Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" could catapult the country into Europe's mainstream. Yuri Yekhanurov, a middle-of-the-road technocrat and longstanding ally of the President, won 223 votes, three short of the required majority in the 450-seat assembly.

¤ Counting of ballots from Afghanistan's landmark legislative elections began slowly yesterday after international observers praised the vote and al Qaeda's number two condemned it as a farce. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan warned that more fighting could be expected in the weeks ahead despite the Taliban's failure to derail Sunday's vote for a national assembly and provincial councils.

¤ An explosion occured inside a hotel in the central Israeli city of Bat Yam yesterday, setting one of the rooms ablaze, Israel's ambulance and emergency services said. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the cause of the blast was unclear. Israel's emergency services said initial reports said a room on the ninth floor of the building erupted in flames.

¤ A severe storm has ripped through southern India, killing at least 34 people and leaving 50,000 homeless, officials said yesterday. Hundreds of trees and electricity poles were uprooted by strong winds and heavy overnight rains which triggered flooding in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh state. Most of the victims were either electrocuted or died in house collapses, officials said.

¤ Heavy floods killed two women, forced at least 200 people from their homes and damaged hundreds of buildings in southern Bulgaria, officials said yesterday. Meteorologists warned the country that more rain was expected over the next few days.

¤ Moroccan authorities have detained 201 Moroccans trying to illegally cross to Europe via Spain on three rickety boats, state news agency MAP reported yesterday, quoting a Royal Navy statement. The arrests were made on Monday near northern al Hoceima town, 445 km from Rabat, it added.