In Brief

* NUCLEAR – The United States put the onus on North Korea to make concessions as talks on its nuclear weapons programme entered a second day with no sign of a breakthrough.

*CLASH – Government officials in China’s southern Guangdong province vowed to resolve an irksome land dispute case in accordance with the law, as they rounded up lawyers and told them to stay away from the issue. * SCRAMBLE – Palestinians continued to scramble into Egypt from the Gaza Strip several hours after a deadline for Palestinian and Egyptian security forces to hermetically seal the border, with Hamas militants blasting a gaping hole in a concrete barrier erected to keep Palestinians out.* FRICTION – Chinese President Hu Jintao told US President George W.Bush that he would work to ease Sino-US “frictions,” but withheld support on a US push for sanctions against Iran.* SENTENCE – Indonesia handed down its second death sentence in as many days for another Islamic militant convicted of terrorism in last year’s suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.* DISARMAMENT – Aceh separatists gathered up their weapons and Indonesian police packed their bags on the eve of a rebel disarmament process and government troop withdrawal designed to end 29 years of war in the province.- Nampa-AFP* SCRAMBLE – Palestinians continued to scramble into Egypt from the Gaza Strip several hours after a deadline for Palestinian and Egyptian security forces to hermetically seal the border, with Hamas militants blasting a gaping hole in a concrete barrier erected to keep Palestinians out.* FRICTION – Chinese President Hu Jintao told US President George W.Bush that he would work to ease Sino-US “frictions,” but withheld support on a US push for sanctions against Iran.* SENTENCE – Indonesia handed down its second death sentence in as many days for another Islamic militant convicted of terrorism in last year’s suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.* DISARMAMENT – Aceh separatists gathered up their weapons and Indonesian police packed their bags on the eve of a rebel disarmament process and government troop withdrawal designed to end 29 years of war in the province.- Nampa-AFP