The United States should meet one-on-one with North Korea to help revive stalled six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program, a Chinese official was quoted as saying yesterday.

"To restart negotiations and make progress, I hope Washington agrees to hold bilateral talks with Pyongyang," said Yang Xiyu, director of the China Foreign Ministry's Office for Korean Peninsula Issues, according to the official newspaper China Daily.

The Bush administration has demanded that North Korea give up its nuclear program and has rejected one-on-one talks, arguing that the problem is regional and requires a multinational settlement.

"While we speak directly with all the parties, including North Korea, at the six-party talks, we continue to believe that a multilateral approach is needed to resolve shared concerns about North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons," State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said.

Dublin, Ireland

Sinn Fein leader says party rejects crime

Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, used his keynote address at the party's conference yesterday to reiterate that the party rejects criminal activity.

His statement came after months of allegations linking the IRA — and Sinn Fein — to crimes including a bank robbery, a money-laundering ring and a killing.

"There is no place in republicanism for anyone involved in criminality," Adams said.

"We know that breaking the law is a crime," he said, but in a nod to his hard-line supporters and to the party's history, he added, "But we refuse to criminalize those who break the law in pursuit of legitimate political objectives."

In a speech largely devoted to broad attacks on the British and Irish governments, and Sinn Fein's Protestant rivals in Northern Ireland, Adams also tried to assuage fears that the IRA might return to the violent and explosive campaign against Britain's rule in Northern Ireland.

"The peace process is the only way forward," he said. "I do not underestimate the depth of the crisis or the difficulties. But I am absolutely certain that there is a way beyond this crisis."

Kabul, Afghanistan

Clash with militants leaves 5 dead, 5 hurt

A gunbattle between U.S.-led coalition forces and militants in eastern Afghanistan left three militants and two civilians dead, the U.S. military said yesterday.

The clash, which began Wednesday when militants fired on the coalition forces, also left two coalition soldiers and three civilians wounded.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan did not specify where the incident occurred except to say in the country's east, which borders Pakistan. It also did not say how the civilians were caught in the crossfire.

More than three years after the fall of the hard-line Taliban regime because of a U.S.-led invasion, about 17,000 U.S. forces are still hunting al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in eastern and southern Afghanistan.

Cotonou, Benin

Leader orders arrests in payment scandal

President Mathieu Kerekou has ordered the arrest of all those involved in U.S. defense contractor Titan's illegal payments to his election campaign, a police source said yesterday.

The San Diego-based company pleaded guilty Tuesday to funneling about $2 million into Kerekou's political campaign in 2001 in the hope of winning higher fees for a telecommunications project it was developing in the West African country.

Titan's representative in Benin, Karim Amadou, was arrested Thursday, and police were still seeking former communication minister Gaston Zossou and one of his staff, the source said.

Sheikhupura, Pakistan

5 killed, 25 injured when train derails

A passenger train derailed in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province yesterday, killing five people and injuring 25, police said.

Police and railways engineers were examining the track to see what caused the accident.

The train was bound for Narowal, another town in Punjab state.

Pakistan's railways are antiquated, and train accidents have killed hundreds of people in recent years. Accidents are often blamed on faulty equipment or human error.

Canberra, Australia

40-plus surfers cram onto a single board

More than 40 surfers cruised into the record books yesterday when they successfully rode a giant surfboard off an Australian beach, breaking the world record set by an English team of 14 people in 2003.

Newspaper reports of how many riders took part ranged from 44 to 47.

The 40-foot-long, 10-foot-wide board, created by board shaper Nev Hyman, arrived by semitrailer. More than 20 people carried it to the surf.

Hyman said the four-minute ride to shore was worth the monthlong effort to build the board.

"It was the best four minutes of my surfing life. It went in strong and straight," Hyman said.