In Brief

2 die as wildfires force evacuations near L.A.

LOS ANGELES : Two huge wildfires driven by strong Santa Ana winds burned into neighborhoods near Los Angeles yesterday, forcing frantic evacuations on smoke- and traffic-choked highways, destroying homes and causing at least two deaths. More than 1,000 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft battled the 4,700-acre Marek fire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley and the 5,000-acre Sesnon fire at the west end. Residents downwind were warned to remain alert into the night, as winds were forecast to roar over 60 mph. Authorities confirmed more than three-dozen mobile homes burned in the Marek fire and TV news helicopter crews counted about 10 homes destroyed by the Sesnon fire. "It is a blowtorch we can't get in front of," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Frank Garrido. One person was killed in a crash on the 118 Freeway after traffic stopped as fire neared the route. Earlier, a fatality was discovered at the Marek fire, where neighborhoods abut rugged canyons below the mountainous Angeles National Forest. The man appeared to have been a transient living in a makeshift shelter, officials said.

N. Korea renews U.N. access to nuclear site

VIENNA, Austria : North Korea declared yesterday that it will resume shutting down its nuclear program and allow U.N. experts to monitor the process, including making sure the plant that produced plutonium for its test bomb remains disabled. The moves, revealed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, were a strong indication that Pyongyang was making good on its pledge to return to a deal with the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan meant to strip it of its weapons-enabling nuclear program. Pyongyang announced Sunday that it would resume dismantlement in line with the deal offering political and energy rewards in exchange, after the United States removed North Korea from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. "The agency inspectors were ... informed today that as of 14 October 2008, core discharge activities at the [nuclear] reactor would be resumed," said a restricted IAEA document to the agency's 35 board members. It said "monitoring and verification arrangements" of the U.N. nuclear agency also would be restarted.

Police clash with pro-Serb protesters