• North Korea rejects talks with South's 'puppet regime'

    Jung Yeon-Je / AFP - Getty Images

    A South Korean military vehicle drives past barricades on the road leading to North Korea's Kaesong industrial complex on Friday.

    By Jack Kim, Reuters

    SEOUL - South Korea said on Friday it will pull out all remaining workers from the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea after Pyongyang rejected a call for formal talks to resolve a standoff that led to a suspension of operations at the complex.

    "Because our nationals remaining in the Kaesong industrial zone are experiencing greater difficulties due to the North's unjust actions, the government has come to the unavoidable decision to bring back all remaining personnel in order to protect their safety," said Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae.

    About 170 South Koreans were left in Kaesong, which is just on the North Korean side of the border with the South.

    The industrial zone opened in 2004 as part of a so-called sunshine policy of engagement and optimism between the two Koreas, still technically at war after their 1950-53 war conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty.

    Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

    Launch slideshow

    The North withdrew its 53,000 workers from the complex this month amid spiraling tension between the two Koreas. The North has prevented South Korean workers and supplies from getting in to the zone since April 3.

    The North's National Defense Commission, its supreme leadership body, repeated that what it saw as the reckless behavior of the South had thrown into question the safety of the zone's operation and had forced it to stop access there.

    "If the South's puppet regime turns a blind eye to reality and continues to pursue a worsening of the situation, we will be forced to take a final and decisive important measure," a spokesman for the commission was quoted as saying.

    The zone was a lucrative source of cash for the impoverished North, providing it with almost $90 million a year. South Korean manufacturers have been paying about $130 a month to North Korea for each of the workers they employed.

    North Korea stepped up defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions in December when it launched a rocket that it said had put a scientific satellite into orbit. Critics said the launch was aimed at developing technology to deliver a nuclear warhead mounted on a long-range missile.

    The North followed that in February with its third test of a nuclear weapon. That brought new U.N. sanctions which in turn led to a dramatic intensification of North Korea's threats of nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States.

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  • Biden: 'Still time' for direct US-Iran talks

    By Adrian Croft and Myra MacDonald, Reuters

    MUNICH - The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said late Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

    Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in history" meant to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.

    "But we have also made clear that Iran's leaders need not sentence their people to economic deprivation and international isolation," Biden said. "There is still time, there is still space for diplomacy backed by pressure to succeed. The ball is in the government of Iran's court."

    To date, fitful talks on Iran's nuclear program have been between Tehran and the EU's top diplomat representing six world powers including Washington. But analysts have suggested that with his re-election behind him, President Barack Obama might have more leeway to take on direct negotiations with Iran.

    That makes the year ahead critical for chances of overcoming a stand-off which, if left to fester further, could see Iran approach nuclear weapons capability, possibly provoking military action by Israel that could inflame the Middle East.

    Progress on Iran would also help ease regional tensions as the United States prepares to pull most combat troops out of Iran's neighbor Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

    Asked whether Washington might consider direct talks with Iran to smooth the process, Biden said, "When the Iranian leadership, Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), is serious.

    "We have made it clear at the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally with the Iranian leadership, we would not make it a secret that we were doing that, we would let our partners know if that occasion presented itself.

    "That offer stands, but it must be real and tangible and there has to be an agenda that they are prepared to speak to. We are not just prepared to do it for the exercise."

    Negotiations with Iran have so far been overseen by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of France, Britain, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. But they have made scant headway, raising fears Iran is simply playing for time while it develops nuclear know-how.

    Many believe no deal is possible without a U.S.-Iranian thaw, requiring direct talks addressing myriad sources of mutual mistrust and hostility lingering since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

    Iran has avoided direct, public talks with the United States, though some suggest Tehran would eventually welcome an opportunity to end its international isolation.

    Speaking at a news conference in Munich, Republican Senator John McCain said he would have no objection to direct talks but questioned how much these would achieve if fundamental questions over Iran's nuclear program remained unresolved.

    "I don't know when we will have direct talks between the United States and Iran. That is a subject for the president of the United States. I don't think anyone here objects to that," he said. But he added, "to have grounds for optimism, I think, would be a mistake."

    Israel, which describes the prospect of Iran being able to weaponize enriched uranium as an existential threat, has made clear it would be ready to bomb the nuclear sites of its arch-enemy to prevent that outcome. The United States has also said it would not rule out the use of military force. 

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  • Annan: Major powers back Syria transition plan leaving question of Assad open

    Handout / Reuters

    Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Habeet, near Idlib, Friday

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated 1:30 p.m. ET: Major Western and Arab powers meeting in Geneva on Saturday adopted a watered-down version of special envoy Kofi Annan's Syria peace plan that leaves open whether President Bashar al-Assad can be part of the transition government.

    "It is for the people of Syria to come to a political agreement." Annan said. "I will doubt that the Syrians who have fought so hard to have independence ... will select people with blood on their hands to lead them," he said.

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the deal in Geneva "paves the way" for a post-Assad unity government. Assad should hear "loudly and clearly" that his days are numbered, she said. "It is now incumbent on Russia and China to show Assad the writing on the wall," Clinton said.

    Russia had refused to back a provision that would call for Assad to step down, insisting that outsiders cannot order a political solution for Syria.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underscored the point that the plan does not require Assad's ouster, saying there is "no attempt in the document to impose on the Syrian people any type of transitional process."

    Lavrov warned that there is an attempt to provoke a spiral of violence and incite sectarian hatred in Syria.

    A transitional governing body could include members of the current government and opposition and would be formed by mutual consent, Reuters reported. The pact calls for constitutional reform and free and fair elections, Reuters reported.

    Annan said the Syria action group nations did not set a time for its next meeting.

    On Friday, Syrian troops shelled a suburb of Damascus, killing an estimated 125 civilians and 60 soldiers, Syrian human rights activists said. The uprising in Syria since March of last year has killed some 14,000 people. 

    Syria on Saturday retook control of the restive Damascus suburb of Douma, where fleeing residents said most civilians had cleared out.

    Syria retakes Damascus suburb

    Foreign ministers from Western powers and Arab countries attended the meeting convened by Annan to try to forge a common strategy to end the 16 month-old conflict in Syria but differences remained over the fate of Assad.


    Clinton held talks on Friday night in St. Petersburg with Lavrov but failed to resolve differences, Reuters said.

    Russia, Assad's main ally, insists that any transition plan must not be imposed on Syria by foreign powers.

    French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, arriving for the talks, told Reuters that it was “absolutely essential that the violence stops and that a political transition can begin.”

    “Kofi Annan made reasonable propositions and I hope that they will be upheld and that's the point of today's discussions,” he added.

    Syria rebels: Assad forces bombard towns as 170 tanks mass near city

    Hopes have centered on persuading Russia — Syria's most important ally, protector and arms supplier — to agree to a plan that would end the four-decade rule of the Assad family dynasty.

    But the Russians want Syria alone to be the master of its fate, at a time when Assad's regime and the opposition are increasingly bitterly polarized.

    A bomb targeting Syria's highest court has exploded in Damascus. NBC's Bill Neely reports.

    "Ultimately, we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria. If that comes through political dialogue, we are willing to do that," said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, Turkey. "We are not willing to negotiate (with) Mr. Assad and those who have murdered Syrians. We are not going to negotiate unless they leave Syria."

    Turkey sends military convoys toward Syrian border

    International tensions also heightened last week after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, leading to Turkey setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with its neighbor. 

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  • Diplomats surprised as nuclear talks with Iran 'constructive and useful'

    Leaders from around the world have gathered in Turkey with representatives from Iran, hoping to resolve an ongoing nuclear controversy that is threatening relations in the Middle East. NBC's Ali Arouzi reports.

    By Reuters

    Updated 3:42 p.m. ET: ISTANBUL -- Iran and world powers discussed Tehran's controversial nuclear program for the first time in over a year on Saturday and, in what Western diplomats called a constructive development given their low expectations, agreed to meet again.

    Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief who has headed negotiations for the six international powers, told a news conference they had arranged to meet the Iranian delegation again in Baghdad on May 23.

    The West accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Israel – believed to be the only Middle East state with an atomic arsenal – sees Iran's atomic plans as a threat to its existence and has threatened military action.

    Amid Iran tensions, neighbor becomes den of spies

    Iran has said its program is peaceful and has threatened to retaliate for any attack by closing a major oil shipping route.

    The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action to destroy Iran's nuclear sites.

    Saeed Jalili, the chief Iranian negotiator, told a news conference there had been differences of opinion but that some important points had been agreed and that the next talks should focus on arranging measures to build mutual confidence. Iran has been hit by new waves of Western economic sanctions this year.

    Western participants had said previously that agreeing to meet for a second round of talks would constitute a successful day. It may remove some heat from a crisis in which warnings from Israel of a possible strike against Iranian facilities have stoked fears of a major war in an already unsettled Middle East.

    One non-Iranian diplomat called the atmosphere "completely different" from that of previous meetings, as Western delegates watched out for signs that Iran was ready to engage after more than a year of threats in defense of its right to pursue nuclear energy and denials it wants to be able to build an atom bomb.

    After a day in which diplomats had spoken of a more engaged tone from Iranian officials compared to the 15 months of angry rhetoric on either side that has filled the hiatus since the last meetings, Ashton called the talks useful and constructive.

    "We want now to move to a sustained process of serious dialogue, where we can take urgent, practical steps to build confidence," she said.

    The six world powers present were the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Russia, China, the United States, France, Britain and Germany.

    The talks were never expected to yield any major breakthrough but diplomats believed a serious commitment from Iran would be enough to schedule another round of talks for next month and start discussing issues at the heart of the dispute.

    During the day's meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is leading the Russian delegation, told Interfax news agency: "The atmosphere is constructive, the conversation is businesslike. As of the moment, things are going well."

     

    MSNBC's Richard Lui speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg about North Korea's suspected plans for a new nuclear test, and the deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf ahead of nuclear talks with Iran.

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  • US, China, India blamed for climate talks impasse

    Nic Bothma / EPA

    Delegates attend the High Level Segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, Thursday.

    By msnbc.com news services

    Updated: 2:55 p.m. ET

    DURBAN, South Africa -- Developing states most at risk from global warming rebelled against a proposed deal at U.N. climate talks Friday, forcing host South Africa to draw up new draft documents in a bid to prevent the talks from collapsing.

    South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane suspended the talks in Durban after a coalition of island nations, developing states and the European Union complained the current draft lacked ambition, sources said.

    "There was a strong appeal from developing countries, saying the commitments in the proposed texts were not enough, both under the Kyoto Protocol and for other countries," said Norway's Climate Change Minister Erik Solheim.

    Canada's Environment Minister Peter Kent told Reuters there was "serious negotiating to do" if the conference was to wrap up as planned Friday.

    Updated: 12 p.m. ET

    DURBAN, South Africa -- The United States, China and India could scuttle attempts to save the Kyoto climate treaty, Europe's top negotiator said Friday.

    "Durban is holding its breath: Will China, India and the U.S. accept to be legally bound?" asked EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard as a Friday deadline neared.

    Both China and the U.S. have said they would be amenable to the EU proposal to negotiate a post-2020 agreement, but each attached riders that appeared to hobble prospects for unanimous acceptance. India, which lags behind China in development even though its economy is expanding rapidly, was taking "a relatively tough stand here," Hedegaard said.

    The United States, whose Congress is generally seen as hostile on the climate issue, is concerned about conceding any competitive business advantage to China. Beijing, too, is resisting the notion that it has become a developed country on par with the U.S. or Europe, saying it still has hundreds of millions of impoverished people.

    Under Kyoto, rich countries are legally bound to reduce carbon emissions while developing countries take voluntary actions.

    Updated: 5 a.m. ET

    DURBAN, South Africa -- Rich and poor nations at climate change talks are lining up behind a European Union plan for achieving a global pact on cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2015, but delegates said time was running out to reach a deal before talks end on Friday.

    Ministers made incremental progress overnight toward a deal that many envoys see as being a political agreement, with states promising to start talks on a new regime of binding cuts in the gases blamed for global warming and environmental devastation.

    They say that anything less would mean the two-week-long, United Nations negotiations in the South African city of Durban were a disaster, Reuters reported.

    "Time in Durban is now really short," EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told reporters after talks that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning.

    Amy Goodman of Democracy Now joins "Up" live from the United Nation's Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa

    "The success or failure of Durban hangs on a small number of countries who have not yet committed to the (EU) roadmap and the meaningful content it must have. We need to get them on board today. We do not have too many hours left," she said.

    The slow pace of dealing with the problem is dispiriting delegates from small islands on the edge of survival, and from activists impatient with the familiar posturing of climate negotiations.

    "Waiting is going to be a disaster for us," said Samuela Alivereti Saumatua, Fiji's environment minister, who said the Pacific island this month relocated its first coastal village because of climate-related flooding and unseasonable cyclones.

    "We have cyclones now at any time of the year. We have flash floods in the coastal areas. Water supply is being salinated. Food security is going to be a problem. We are desperately looking at how we will deal with the situation," he told reporters.

    'Got to decide'
    The EU plan envisages a new deal reached by 2015, and put into effect by 2020, imposing binding cuts on the world's biggest emitters of the heat-trapping gases.

    "We're reaching the point where a number of delegations have got to decide whether they want to get a treaty with real environmental integrity," Britain's climate envoy Chris Huhne told reporters.

    "It's increasingly clear that the EU is speaking for the vast majority of participants," Huhne said.

    Two major issues for the negotiators from nearly 200 countries are finding a way of updating the Kyoto Protocol, the only global pact that enforces carbon cuts, and raising funding needed to help poor countries tackle climate change.

    Key to any greenhouse gas deal will be China, the United States, India and Brazil -- the world's largest emitters which are not bound by the cuts regime in the Kyoto Protocol.

    Three U.N. reports released in the last month show time is running out to achieve change. They show a warming planet will amplify droughts and floods, increase crop failures and raise sea levels to the point where several island states are threatened with extinction.

    South African President Jacob Zuma has said Durban will be a failure if a Green Climate Fund, designed to help poor nations tackle global warming and nudge them toward a new global effort to fight climate change, is not put into force.

    A group of 48 of the least developed countries has said it backs the European plan for a firm timetable, joining 43 small island states. Japan has said it shares "common ground" with Europe while Canada and several other developed countries have shown their support.

    US student thrown out
    The EU, Japan and others have said that any deal that does not include all major players would not nearly be enough to head off a global problem.

    The United States has said it will make its emissions cuts binding under an international agreement only if China and other developing countries that are big polluters back their commitments with equal legal force.

    If the discussions hold to form, envoys will extend discussions and release their decisions on Saturday.

    An American college student was ejected from the conference Thursday after disrupting a speech by U.S. delegate Todd Stern. Police escorted the student, Abigail Borah, 21, from the cavernous plenary of the conference as delegates applauded her removal.

    Before she was seized, Borah began reading a speech accusing the U.S. of stonewalling an agreement, but Stern denied that.

    The world's glaciers are shrinking at alarming rates. Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University and Douglas Hardy of UMass-Amherst discuss glaciers and how they melt, and pay special attention to Africa's tallest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro. NBC's Anne Thompson reports for "Changing Planet," produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

    "I've heard this from everywhere from ministers to press reports to the very sincere and passionate young woman who was in the hall when I was giving my remarks. I just wanted to be on the record as saying that, that's just a mistake. It is not true," he told reporters later.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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