France's foreign minister says he believes progress on the Iranian nuclear crisis is still possible using a combination of firmness and dialogue.

The Russian company building Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr said today the launch will be postponed due to payment delays.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says implementing a plan to shut down North Korea's nuclear weapons program will take some time.

U.S. and North Korean finance officials have ended a second round of talks on U.S. financial sanctions against Pyongyang with no clear resolution to the dispute. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing that North Korea has blamed the sanctions for holding up progress on parallel six-nation talks about its nuclear programs.

The U.S. chief negotiator on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs says talks could re-start soon, after host China agreed to arrange them as quickly as possible. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

A top North Korean official today met visiting Iranian diplomats for talks.

North Korea's state media say an Iranian Foreign Ministry delegation arrived in Pyongyang today.

The president of Iran dismissed U.N. sanctions imposed against his country as, in his words, "superficial" and "unimportant." He spoke in Tehran Sunday, one day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved measures aimed at persuading Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington.

Despite a push for a diplomatic breakthrough at the end of 2006, the effort to keep North Korea out of the nuclear weapons club not only did not succeed - it lost ground. In October, the North defied international warnings and conducted its first nuclear test. Despite the resulting international sanctions, an emboldened Pyongyang says it will hold on to its nuclear weapons until its demands are fulfilled.