World briefs 3/1/04

N. Korea urges U.S. to change its policy

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea warned Sunday that six-nation talks won't help resolve the standoff over its nuclear program if the United States does not change its policy toward the communist state. The comments came a day after a meeting of the six governments in Beijing, which ended with an agreement to hold more negotiations before July and form a lower-level "working group" to handle details of the 16-month-old dispute. The state-controlled media in China, which hosted the talks, praised what they called signs of headway on North Korea's nuclear program, despite the apparent lack of a breakthrough.

Thousands show support for Venezuelan president

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Chanting "Chavez! Chavez!" more than 100,000 Venezuelans marched Sunday to support President Hugo Chavez as opponents demanding his recall staged demonstrations in several cities. Venezuela's National Elections Council postponed until today a decision on the validity of more than 3.4 million signatures opponents say they submitted to demand the vote. Council director Jorge Rodriguez said the council wanted to avoid more violence. Last week, the council announced it would ask hundreds of thousands of citizens to confirm that they had signed petitions that have technical problems. The decision infuriated opposition leaders, who have urged followers to wage a campaign of civil disobedience.

Iraqi officials agree on interim constitution

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials reached agreement early today on the draft of an interim constitution and will probably sign the document after a Shiite Muslim religious holiday ends, a spokesman for a member of the Iraqi Governing Council said. Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for council member Ahmad Chalabi, said the meeting ended at 4:20 a.m. with "full agreement ... on each article." Qanbar expected the document to be signed Wednesday -- one day after the end of the Shiite feast Ashoura. Top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer, who was closely involved in the final days of negotiation, must then approve the document. Qanbar said the draft charter will recognize Islam as "a source of legislation" -- rather than "the" source as some officials had sought -- and that no law will be passed that violates the tenets of the Muslim religion.

Senators walk out in protest of shooting

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Opposition politicians walked out of the Senate on Sunday to protest the shooting deaths of 13 people by security forces in a remote tribal region of Pakistan, scene of a recent military operation to nab al-Qaida suspects. Troops fired on a minibus that failed to stop Saturday at a roadblock in tribal South Waziristan, outraging residents of the semiautonomous region and prompting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to announce an investigation into the killings. The president said Sunday that the government would pay $1,750 in compensation to the families of those killed and half that for the injured, an indication the government acknowledged the victims were innocent civilians.

Bus plunges off road in China, killing 12

BEIJING -- A bus carrying migrant workers to faraway factory jobs plunged off a mountain road in central China, killing 12 and injuring 35, a local government official said Sunday. All the injured were sent to local hospitals, where nine were listed in serious condition, according to a duty officer at the Wanzhou county government in the Chongqing region. The bus swerved across the center line about 1 a.m. Sunday and crashed through the guardrail, falling 36 feet into a riverbed, said the officer, who declined to give his name. He said the bus was traveling from Bazhong in the poor, densely populated province of Sichuan to industrial Guangdong province, about 620 miles away, following the Lunar New Year holiday.

-- From wire reports