WORLD briefs

BANGKOK. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Thailand on Tuesday for a regional security conference expected to focus on the North Korean nuclear threat, Myanmar's rights record and terrorism.

Following a five-day visit to India, Clinton flew to Bangkok where she will meet Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, before heading to the island of Phuket for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum on Wednesday.

GENEVA. The United Nations on Tuesday revealed a record $4.8 billion funding gap for its 2009 aid programs due to strained foreign assistance levels and a ten-fold increase in needs in Pakistan.

"It is clear that the global recession puts pressure on the aid budgets of all donor governments, but of course it puts immeasurably more pressure on crises-stricken people in poor countries," said U.N. emergency relief coordinator John Holmes.

WASHINGTON. Barack Obama is defending his relentless campaign for a health care bill before Congress' August recess, saying "the default in Washington is inaction and inertia." The Republican Party chairman assailed it as an "excessive push." GOP Chairman Michael Steele went so far in his quest to demand: “Take your time!”

SACRAMENTO. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers agreed on Monday to close a $26.3 billion deficit in the state's budget in a deal that includes $15.5 billion in spending cuts, they said.

The government of the most populous U.S. state, also the world's eighth-largest economy, began its fiscal year on July 1 facing the massive shortfall due to a plunge in revenues caused by the recession and rising unemployment.

GENEVA. The H1N1 virus has killed more than 700 people worldwide since emerging in April, and countries could consider closing schools to slow its spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The WHO, whose previous death toll was 429 two weeks ago, also said it was up to national health authorities to decide what measures they impose to slow the spread of the new strain.