In a brief televised appearance on Monday, President George W. Bush called the test "unacceptable," a "grave threat" to the United States and a danger to international peace and security. After consulting with leaders from China, South Korea, Russia and Japan, Bush said the international community would respond in an appropriate manner. He also called on the U.N. Security Council to take decisive action against North Korea. Bush called North Korea a "leading proliferator" of nuclear technology and accused the nation of supplying that technology to Iran and Syria. North Korea stepped up its threats aimed at Washington today, saying it could fire a nuclear nuclear-tipped missile unless the United States acts to resolve its standoff with Pyongyang, the Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday from Beijing. Even if Pyongyang is confirmed to have nuclear weapons, experts say it's unlikely the North has a bomb design small and light enough to be mounted atop a missile. Their long-range missile capability also remains in question, after a test rocket in July apparently fizzled out shortly after takeoff. "We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes," Yonhap quoted an unidentified North Korean official as saying. "That depends on how the U.S. will act." The official said the nuclear test was "an expression of our intention to face the United States across the negotiating table," reported Yonhap, which didn't say how or where it contacted the official, or why no name was given.

   

 

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Mexico's' foreign secretary said the country may take a dispute over U.S. plans to build a fence on the Mexican border to the United Nations. Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris, his first stop on a European tour, that a legal investigation is under way to determine whether Mexico has a case. Last week, the Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to Washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. President-elect Felipe Calderon also denounced the plan, but said it is a bilateral issue that should not be put before the international community. Derbez spoke today after meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. Derbez called it a "shame" that U.S. immigration policy has been used for what he claims is a short-term political gain in the lead-up to midterm elections in the U.S. in November