New York, Sept 27: Going by party lines, Republican Party’s presidential candidate John McCain should be strictly following his partyman and US President George Bush’s policy of attacking Pakistan to root out terrorism, but during the first presidential debate it was Democrat Barack Obama who appeared to toe Bush’s policy.

Varanasi, Sept 27: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that a nuclear deal with the US will be bound by international conventions on bilateral treaties.

"As a sovereign country, when we enter into any agreement with a sovereign nation, it is guided by the law of treaty and for that there is a guiding principle, evolved over the years, Vienna Convention, and all other ways in which the international treaties are being governed," Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a seminar here yesterday.

New York  - The Middle East quartet charged with overseeing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process voiced confidence in the ongoing talks between the two sides toward a final resolution to the long conflict.

The quartet, made up of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, said that a "meaningful and results- oriented" process was underway and again called for both sides to reach a deal by the end of this year, in a statement following talks at the United Nations in New York.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she still believed a comprehensive agreement on a two-state solution was possible by the end of 2008, a goal first set in November 2007 at a US-hosted summit in Annapolis, Maryland.

New York  - The world's major powers agreed on and submitted a new Security Council resolution Friday calling on Iran to halt its nuclear activities, but did not seek additional sanctions against the Tehran regime.

The council's five permanent members - the US, China, Russia, France and Britain - plus Germany touted the new resolution as a show of unity after the UN-backed International Atomic Energy Agency last week said Iran was still expanding its uranium enrichment programme.

Washington  - Ten of the world's richest countries have pledged 6.1 billion dollars to help poor countries deal with the effects of global warming, the World Bank said Friday.

The money will be part of two new investment funds to be run by the World Bank and other development banks to finance projects that help poor nations cut their greenhouse-gas emissions and tackle some of the already-existing consequences of a warming planet. Countries will get the funding through a combination of loans and grants.

New York  - Israeli and Palestinian officials traded accusations over the failure to achieve peace in the region while Western powers sharply condemned Iran's threats against Israel during a series of meetings and speeches on the Middle East at the United Nations on Friday.