World in brief

U.S. to give to N. Korea relief

WASHINGTON - The United States will give the Red Cross $100,000 to help the homeless in North Korea in the aftermath of last week's devastating train explosion, the White House said Monday.

The administration also is prepared to provide medical supplies and equipment, as well as a team of specialists in emergency medicine to work with the North Koreans, if needed, a White House statement said. The United States has been North Korea's largest provider of food aid.

The death toll from Thursday's explosion stood at roughly 160 Monday, and more than 1,300 people were listed as injured.

In Dandong, a North Korean town pulverized in the explosion, tents and blankets, instant noodles and water purification tablets were streaming in.

But North Korea was hesitant to open its heavily armed border with South Korea to let in aid shipments from the South Korean Red Cross.

BOGOTA, Colombia - A judge acquitted three suspected Irish rebels of training Colombian insurgents in explosives Monday, but convicted them of the lesser charge of passport fraud.

The verdicts came nearly three years after James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley were arrested after leaving a rebel stronghold deep in Colombia's southern jungles.

Judge Jaime Acosta sentenced the suspected Irish Republican Army members to terms from two years and two months to more than three years for traveling on false passports. But because of time served since their arrests, Acosta ordered them freed once they pay fines of $6,500 each.

U.S. SEEKS NATO TROOPS: The United States pressed reluctant allies Monday to provide more peacekeepers for Afghanistan as top envoys from NATO made an unprecedented visit to review security. The peacekeeping mission is now limited to the capital and the northern city of Kunduz.

PRINCESS DIANA INQUIRY: London's police commissioner, Sir John Stevens, on Monday retraced Princess Diana's final moments in the streets of Paris in an effort to determine if she was the victim of a criminal conspiracy or a simple traffic accident in 1997. Stevens, who planned to return to London today, said he hoped to complete his investigation by early 2005.

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