World briefs 05/13/03

North Korea nullifies nuclear-weapons accord

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday a 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons was nullified, citing a "sinister" U.S. agenda.

The accord was the last remaining legal obligation under which North Korea was banned from developing atomic arms. In January, Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a global accord to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The joint inter-Korean agreement to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear free "was nullified because of a sinister and hostile U.S. policy against North Korea," the North's official news agency KCNA said. The statement was monitored by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The two Koreas signed the agreement in January 1992, pledging to renounce hostilities and ban the development and deployment of nuclear weapons on the divided peninsula.

Monday's announcement came as South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was in the United States on a weeklong trip that will focus on seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons programs.

Report: Brains taken for research without consent

LONDON -- British doctors and morticians removed at least 20,000 brains for research from 1970 to 1999 without obtaining families' consent, according a government report published Monday.

The figure includes only those brains still held by hospitals and universities in England, and many more could have been taken and destroyed, Dr. Jeremy Metters, Her Majesty's Inspector of Anatomy, said in the report.

Removing organs without families' permission was explicitly outlawed in 1999. A law passed in 1961 said organs should only be taken from corpses if relatives did not object, though permission was not required.

In one case, Metters said, a hospital mortician was paid $16 for each brain he provided for research.

Israel clamps strict closure on Gaza

JERUSALEM -- The Middle East peace process pulled in different directions Monday, with Israel and the Palestinians arranging their highest-level meetings in three years and Israel imposing especially tough travel restrictions in Gaza.

The conflicting signals underscored difficulties faced by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who in two days of meetings here failed to secure Israel's agreement on the "road map" for halting 31 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence and creating a Palestinian state.

Hopes for jump-starting the plan now rest with expected talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his newly appointed Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas -- and with Sharon's scheduled meetings with President Bush next week in Washington.

Israel's military cited security needs in imposing the ban on foreigners entering or leaving the Gaza Strip. The measure, the harshest in years, affects reporters and aid workers.

Later, the army spokeswoman issued a statement easing the closure, saying journalists wishing to enter Gaza must register with the army.

Study: Hospital water source of infections

GLASGOW, Scotland -- Hospital showers and taps could be a significant source of life-threatening fungus infections for patients with weakened immune systems, researchers reported Monday.

Aspergillus, a toxic mold, is a well-known hazard especially for leukemia and transplant patients. Despite efforts to combat it with high-tech air filtration and the removal of potted plants, up to 15 percent of such patients still contract the bug. About half die from it.

Now, scientists have traced aspergillus infection in patients to hospital taps and showers.

Experts say the findings, discussed at a conference of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, could explain some of the mysterious cases and offer hospitals hope of prevention.

-- From wire reports