North Korea said on Tuesday that it had completed preparations to launch a satellite into orbit, as South Korea and other Asian nations told their airlines and ships to change their routes to avoid the North Korean rocket.

Countries of the Far North are set to be the new players in the emerging Arctic frontier. The polar ice cap is melting at much faster rates than previously predicted, and may be completely ice free by the summer of 2040 or sooner. There are vast untapped resources in the Arctic Ocean such as new shipping lanes, fishing grounds, tourism, and it is believed to contain the largest of the world's remaining energy reserves. This year has brought about a frenzy of oil and gas exploration which will only increase as the ice recedes.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday his organisation could not be sure that Iran's nuclear programme did not have military aims.

"The agency is unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities," Yukiya Amano said, according to a copy of his speech to a closed-door meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation governing board.

Heads of states and leaders from 57 nations, including India, will attend the Nuclear Security Summit on March 26-27 to discuss a host of measures to prevent nuclear fissile material falling into rogue hands, but the Fukushima disaster in Japan last March seems to have shifted spotlight on the safety of nuclear power plants.

The United Nations chief urged Iran on Friday to implement Security Council resolutions under which Tehran should curb sensitive nuclear activity, but the Islamic state once again signalled it has no intention of doing so.

The United Nations has received alarming reports of malnutrition in two Sudanese border states where the army is fighting insurgents, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.

Fighting broke out in June between the Sudanese army and SPLM-North rebels in South Kordofan and spread in September to the state of Blue Nile. Both states border newly independent South Sudan.

Pakistan has urged "some major powers" to commence negotiations on the larger issue of nuclear disarmament instead of pushing for a treaty to ban production of fissile material used as fuel for atomic weapons, saying the treaty was a limited non-proliferation goal.

Why can't action be initiated for breach of public peace: RDO

Fifteen individuals from Idinthakarai in Tirunelveli district have moved the Madras High Court Bench here challenging a show cause notice issued to them by Cheranmahadevi Revenue Divisional Officer on September 5 seeking explanation as to why action should not be taken against them for allegedly attempting to disturb public peace demanding the closure of Koodankulam nuclear power plant.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said Tuesday that a Russian proposal could be “a basis to start negotiations” on Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

The proposal calls for the other countries to make limited concessions to Iran for each step it takes toward opening its nuclear program fully to international inspection and giving up activities that could yield nuclear weapons.

Climate change is generating an "unholy brew" of extreme weather events that threaten global security, the UN chief said Wednesday as the Security Council recognised the issue's potential effect on world peace.

But the 15-member council apparently failed to agree on whether climate change itself was a direct threat to international peace and security, even after a rebuke by the United States wh