World briefs 3/22/06

Troops to help Australian town battered by cyclone

INNISFAIL, Australia -- Troops began delivering aid Tuesday to an estimated 7,000 people who lost their homes to the cyclone that battered Australia's northeastern coast. No one was killed when Category 5 Cyclone Larry came shore near Innisfail early Monday and only minor injuries were reported. But the tempest flooded streets, tore roofs off homes and flattened sugar and banana plantations. President Bush called Australian Prime Minister John Howard early Tuesday to offer American help if needed. About 170 troops were helping to deliver aid, while cleanup and special search and rescue crews were also heading to the town. Community groups and churches were setting up temporary accommodations.

N. Korea says it is able to launch pre-emptive strike

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat. The United States urged North Korea to return to international nuclear negotiations instead of making inflammatory statements. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States has no plans to invade or attack North Korea.

Soldiers, rebel groups clash in eastern Chad

N'DJAMENA, Chad -- Heavy fighting has erupted in eastern Chad, where rebels have been massing for months in a bid to overthrow President Idriss Deby. Deby and his security aides are in eastern Chad to direct military operations against the rebels, Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said Tuesday. The struggle for power in Africa's newest oil producer threatens to destabilize efforts to end another civil war -- this one in neighboring Sudan's Darfur region, which borders the site of the Chadian battles.

Human death toll from bird flu rises to 103

GENEVA -- The human death toll from the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu reached 103 after five people died from the disease in Azerbaijan, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The WHO said seven of 11 patients from Azerbaijan had tested positive for H5N1 in samples checked at a major laboratory in Britain. Five of those cases were fatal. The sources of infection were still under investigation, but officials suspected a connection to the feathers of dead swans.

U.N. Security Council postpones Iran meeting

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council postponed a meeting Tuesday on Iran's suspect nuclear program as the West searched for new ways to break a deadlock with Russia and China over the best way to pressure Tehran, diplomats said. Senior diplomats from the five veto-wielding members of the council and Germany made little headway on bridging their differences during a 4 1/2-hour meeting Monday evening. Diplomats said Russia was the main holdout, with China following behind. That deadlock has forced Britain, France and Germany -- the European troika leading negotiations on Iran -- to reopen the text of a statement that would be the first Security Council response.

U.N. seeks more than $300 million for Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The United Nations appealed Tuesday for nearly $327 million in aid to help starving people in southern Somalia, which is suffering its worst drought in a decade. About 2.1 million people are coping with severe food shortages caused by prolonged drought, war, displacement, flooding and human rights abuses, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Somalia has not had an effective central government since opposition leaders ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

-- From wire reports