North Korea has completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods to extract weapons-grade plutonium, according to its official news agency.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) added that “noticeable successes” had been made in turning the extracted material into weapons grade plutonium.
The statement comes one day after North Korea said it was ready for talks [...]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will repay £12,415 after an independent audit of all MPs’ expenses claims since 2004.
Downing Street confirmed he would repay the money, largely for cleaning and gardening, even though the claims had been within the rules at the time.
It said auditor Sir Thomas Legg had “deemed” that any annual claims above £2,000 [...]

Royal Mail managers and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are meeting ahead of two newly announced 24-hour postal strikes.
The CWU has said all its members at the Royal Mail will strike on Friday, 6 and Monday, 9 November.
The two sides spent the weekend looking at proposals made by Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the [...]

Global shares have fallen sharply after figures showing a drop in US consumer spending dampened the enthusiasm that followed Thursday’s US GDP figures.
US consumer spending dropped by 0.5% in September after a 1.4% rise in August – the first fall in five months.
The figures wiped out gains made on Thursday sparked by data showing the [...]

North Korea has said it is ready for direct talks with the US on rolling back its nuclear programme but will “go its own way” if Washington refuses.
North Korea’s foreign ministry said wider talks including North Korea’s neighbours were possible depending on any direct negotiations with the US.
Pyongyang pulled out of the long-running six-party nuclear [...]

The latest round of UN climate talks opens in Barcelona on Monday with major divisions remaining between countries.
The week’s session is the final chance for negotiators to hammer out a text before December’s Copenhagen summit
In recent weeks, UN officials have declared there is no chance of agreeing all elements of a new legally-binding UN treaty [...]