* Russia welcomes the shutdown by North Korea of its nuclear reactor and expects an official confirmation from the UN nuclear watchdog, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said
* Iran is prepared to consider the UN nuclear watchdog's proposal to hold direct talks with the United States on its controversial uranium enrichment program, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said
* The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is concerned over Russia's decision to suspend its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said
* Six trucks from the UN World Food Program have delivered urgent food aid to Gaza hurt by the recent internal fighting between warring factions, a Palestinian spokesman said
* Inter RAO UES, Russia's electricity import and export operator, has started electric power supplies to Romania for the first time in the past twenty years, a source in the Russian company said
* The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, said it had signed 14 deals for the commercial launches of its Proton carrier rockets
