President Barack Obama will visit the Demilitarised Zone separating North and South Korea next week.

The US and North Korea resumed talks yesterday that had been delayed by the death of North Korea's long-time leader Kim Jong-il two months ago, with the US envoy saying he and his counterpart covered US food aid and other topics.

An army intelligence unit was used to infiltrate civil rights groups and protest organisations after Margaret Thatcher came to power. Former soldiers claim that they were ordered to undertake the spying missions by a senior officer in the Ministry of Defence.

The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could put a brake on talks ultimately aimed at getting the secretive communist state to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

Nuclear envoys from North and South Korea emerged smiling from a face-to-face meeting yesterday, saying they were ready to work together to resume disarmament talks.

Sue Willett was an expert in the economics of defence and international defence policy. She became one of the foremost authorities on the vicious cycle of debt, underdevelopment and conflict in the developing world and called for radical action by the international community to break the cycle. Her conviction that the developed world can only bring about security if it pursues an ethical arms policy has been vindicated time and time again.

The Cabinet Office is to conduct a new assessment of alternatives to Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent in a fresh concession to the Liberal Democrats, it was announced today.

If Hot Sauce Committee Part Two has a slightly confusing, unfocused manner, that's hardly surprising.

The US is trying to restart moribund nuclear disarmament talks over North Korea, after the Communist leadership there showed off a new and highly sophisticated uranium enrichment plant.

The threat posed by North Korea's nuclear programme has reached an "extremely dangerous level", an adviser to South Korea's president has said.

Armed forces minister Nick Harvey today gave a strong hint that the final decision on the like-for-like replacement of Trident would take place after the 2015 general election.

Ken Coates was an inveterate campaigner for left-wing causes, internationalism and peace for more than 60 years. A prolific author of books, pamphlets, and articles in many journals, he was still dictating his ideas and arguments 48 hours before his death.

Time to reform firearms law

The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, cornerstone of global disarmament efforts, has gained a new lease of life – but at the price of a small but telling diplomatic victory for Iran, and new strains between Israel and its most important ally, the US.