North Korea will face U.N. statement

Five permanent member countries of the United Nations Security Council and Sixth is Japan, have reached an agreement on a draft statement about North Korea's long-range rocket launch last weekend, envoys said on Saturday.

British U.N. Ambassador John Sawers incorrigible the agreement, which came after a nearly two-hour meeting on Saturday that ended a weeklong deadlock on a Security Council response to North Korea's rocket launch last Sunday.

"We now have an understanding amongst the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Japan on a draft presidential statement to put to the other members of the 0council," Sawers told reporters.

Presidential statements are formal statements of council positions read out by the president of the Security Council. They are generally considered to be weaker than resolutions. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice declined to disclose any details of the statement but said, "We think this text sends a clear message."

The full 15-member Security Council was expected to receive the draft text at a closed-door meeting scheduled for 6:30 GMT, U.N. diplomats said. The agreement, they said, came after Japan said it would back a U.S.-drafted statement to be issued by the council.

The United States, Japan and South Korea say North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile, not a satellite, in violation of Security Council resolution 1718 banning the firing of such missiles.

The statement does not declare North Korea in "violation" of 1718, diplomats said it suggests the launch was not in conformity with it, a compromise that was acceptable to Beijing.

Japan had been approaching for a council determination that would declare Pyongyang in violation of resolution 1718 but Russia and China, which are undeviating veto-wielding council members, opposed this. They were not convinced the rocket launch, which North Korea says put a satellite into orbit, was a violation.

Nuke discussion between US and Iran

US has said it would start conference with Iran over its nuclear program. The decision is has being seen as a further step toward the direct engagement with Iran that US President Barack Obama has promised.

It followed an call to Iran to join in a new round of talks, which would include Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. It also coincided with an unusual face of conciliation toward the United States by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, reports the New York Times.

Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in a talking in Isphahan that his government would welcome talks with the Obama administration, provided that the shift in American policy was "honest."

The Obama administration's choice is the latest in a series of gestures to Iran, ranging from Obama's videotaped New Year's greeting to the Iranian people three weeks ago to an impromptu encounter last week between an Iranian diplomat and a presidential envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke.

He also briefed them on the administration's broader Iran policy review, which is nearing completion, the State Department said. By showing a readiness to engage Iran, American officials said, the administration is trying to build support among allies like Germany and France, and more skeptical players, like Russia, so that if diplomatic efforts fail, it can marshal support for tougher sanctions against Tehran.

US and Russia to renew discussions after a decade

U.S. and Russia will reopen conference to reduce their nuclear weapons, a BBC report mentioned President Barack Obama and his Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying on Wednesday here, ahead of the G-20 economic summit which begins on Thursday.

The discussions will be the first such talks for more than a decade. The announcement came on the fringes of the G20 summit of world leaders which is convening in London.

The U.S. and Russia have also agreed to discuss "mutual international co-operation", the two presidents said.

Obama said earlier there were very real differences between Washington and Moscow, but that there was also a broad set of common interests.

After their meeting, Medvedev said that he viewed prospects for future bilateral relations "with optimism". Meanwhile, Medvedev invited his American counterpart to visit Moscow in July - an invitation Obama has accepted.

US not interested in Kashmir Issue

US has made it clear that it would turn clear of the Kashmir issue as it seeks to engage India and other key stakeholders in the region in its new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

'We don't intend to get mixed up in that issue,' President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser, Gen James Jones, told reporters Friday when asked if the US expected to address issues between India and Pakistan, particularly Kashmir, as part of its new regional come up to.

'But we do intend to help both India and Pakistan build more trust and confidence so that Pakistan can address the issues that it confronts on the western side of the nation,' he said referring to Pakistan's tribal areas which Obama and other US officials have described as terrorist safe havens.

'But no, Kashmir is a unconnected issue,' Jones said. 'But we think that the times are so serious that we need to build the trust and confidence in the region, so that nations can do what they need to do in order to defeat the threat' posed by Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups.

'As America does more, we will ask others to join us in doing their part,' he said referring to Obama Administration's plans to 'forge a new contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region.'

The proposed group will include America's NATO allies and other partners, the Central Asian states, Gulf nations, Iran, Russia, India, and China, Jones said noting, 'All have a stake in the promise of lasting peace and security and development in the reign.