YANGON, Myanmar — A top police official said Myanmar was considering releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest this week, but canceled the decision after an American stayed at her house in violation of the country's security law.

Brig. Gen. Myint Thein said today that authorities were talking of releasing her after nearly six years under house arrest. He said the release would have been on "humanitarian grounds and because she is the daughter of the country's founder Aung San."

But earlier this month, she was arrested for allegedly violating conditions of her house arrest by sheltering John W. Yettaw, who showed up at her home uninvited. Suu Kyi is on trial for the charges and faces up to five years in prison.

SMALL BOMB SIMILAR TO OTHERS IN NYC

NEW YORK — An early morning explosion, caused by a small bomb and reminiscent of other mysterious blasts around the city in the past few years, destroyed a sidewalk bench and shattered windows in a Starbucks coffee shop.

No one was hurt in the blast, which happened around 3:30 a.m. yesterday on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Investigators were looking into the similarities between the explosion and three others in the past four years, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. The bomb went off around the same time of day as an explosion at the British Consulate in 2005, another at the Mexican Consulate in 2007 and one at the Times Square military recruiting station in 2008.

IRAQI TRADE MINISTER RESIGNS UNDER FIRE

BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister has accepted the resignation of his trade minister, shortly before a move in parliament to oust him over alleged corruption in his department, the government said yesterday.

Trade Minister Falah al-Sudani submitted his resignation May 14. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki delayed accepting it to allow parliament to review the allegations.

Those allegations include claims the minister's two brothers skimmed off tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks on food and other goods imported by the Trade Ministry.

One of the brothers was arrested this month allegedly trying to leave the country. The other is at large.

TALIBAN URGE CIVILIANS TO RETURN TO CITY

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban yesterday urged civilians to return to the Swat Valley's main city, promising they would not attack security forces battling for control out of concern for the safety of trapped residents.

Pakistan's military dismissed the gesture as a ploy that would allow the militants to blend in with the residents of Mingora, and said it had no intention of halting its offensive in the valley. The appeal also appeared designed to play off the growing public concern for thousands still stuck in Mingora amid shortages of food and water.

More than 2 million civilians have fled Swat and nearby districts.

TRAIN INJURES 2, WOMAN AND CHILD SAVED

MILWAUKEE — A freight train smashed into a minivan stuck on railroad tracks yesterday, injuring both a police officer and a husband who scrambled to pull his wife and boy to safety.

The woman and child were unhurt, said Jim Gage, the police chief in suburban Elm Grove.

The officer, 41-year-old John Krahn, was in satisfactory condition last night following surgery, said a spokeswoman for Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee. Scott Partenfelder, 47, was in critical condition after eight hours of surgery, the hospital said.

EIGHT PATIENTS DIE IN TURKISH HOSPITAL FIRE

ANKARA, Turkey — A fire today at a western Turkish hospital left eight intensive care unit patients dead, authorities said.

Gov. Sahabettin Harputlu of Bursa province said it was not clear whether the patients died of smoke inhalation or when life-supporting machines were left without power during the fire at the Sevket Yilmaz hospital.

A suspected short-circuit sparked the fire in the hospital's basement and affected the entire building when the hospital's ventilating system did not work because of the power failure, Harputlu said.

All 44 of the hospital's patients were evacuated; eight died, and several others suffered from smoke inhalation but were in stable condition, authorities said.