Nation/world briefs 4/27/04

N. Korea balks at South's offer to send relief

DANDONG, China -- North Korea balked Monday at opening its heavily armed border to relief trucks from rival South Korea, even as international aid groups sought more help for thousands injured or made homeless by a massive train explosion. As a cold rain fell on the devastated community of Ryongchon, relief workers warned that more food, blankets and medicine were needed immediately in the impoverished nation.

Researchers practice for possible Mars trip

HANKSVILLE, Utah -- While robots have been scurrying around Mars for months, resear-chers here on Earth have been trying to make a little bit of Utah seem more like the Red Planet. Six-member teams have spent weeks in a silo-shaped module here trying to simulate what astronauts might endure should they ever wander Mars.

Gadhafi making trip West to push for relations

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is making his first trip to the West in 15 years this week, aiming to im-prove relations with the European Union despite lingering charges of human rights abuses by his government. Gadhafi's two-day visit starts today at the European Commission to work at "preparing the ground for a full normalization of relations," an EU statement said.

Powell announces plan for aid to North Korea

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday the United States will give financial assistance to North Korea in the aftermath of a devastating train collision there. Powell said the Bush administration was working toward that end with the United Nations.

Twenty-two die in island clashes in Indonesia

AMBON, Indonesia -- Mobs set fire to buildings at a Christian-run university on Monday in Indonesia's Maluku islands, where at least 22 people have died in two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims, police and witnesses said. Police rushed reinforcements to the provincial capital Ambon to stem the fighting.

Crisis in Nepal deepens as protests continue

KATMANDU, Nepal -- Nearly every day, angry people fill the streets of Katmandu, demanding a return to democracy in their Himalayan kingdom. Nearly every evening, hundreds of those same people pack the city's jails. Most are freed after a few hours under arrest. On Monday, police in the capital arrested more than 300 protesters.

Ten U.S. contractors in Iraq previously penalized

WASHINGTON -- Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage. The United States is paying more than $780 million to one British firm that was convicted of fraud on three federal construction projects and banned from U.S. government work during 2002.

-- From wire reports