US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said they were optimistic, even as they conceded they were unlikely to sign a deal this year on a successor to an expired nuclear arms control treaty.

The Obama administration, reversing the Bush government’s limited interest in nuclear disarmament, is gearing up for early negotiations with Russia on a new treaty that would slash stockpiles of nuclear warheads.

The United States was urged today to take the lead among 10 nations yet to sign up to a global nuclear test ban treaty to take a significant step toward a goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

US officials have found traces of radioactive air which may confirm that North Korea did carry out a nuclear test as it claimed on Monday.

Denouncing Iran’s successful enrichment of uranium as unacceptable to the international community, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today the UN Security Council must consider “strong steps” to induce Tehran to change course.

A LANDMARK new US-India nuclear agreement would enable New Delhi to expand atomic weapons production and encourage Pakistan and China to do likewise, critics say.

Pressure is mounting on the United Nations nuclear agency to report Iran to the Security Council as it prepares for an emergency meeting today to ease a stand-off with the Tehran regime.

The White House has released excerpts from a secret October 2002 intelligence document to demonstrate how flawed intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear weapons ambitions wound up in a speech by President George Bush.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday admitted the US motive for going to war with Iraq was motivated by the events of September 11, rather than any new information on weapons of mass destruction.

The US government stood accused today of misrepresenting intelligence information to justify the war with Iraq.