North Korea:Delegates at six-country talks on North Korea's nuclear programme in Beijing appear to be edging closer to a deal, with US and North Korean envoys optimistic that a resolution could be found to defuse some of the tensions over the nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula.
Christopher Hill, Washington's top negotiator at the talks between North Korea and South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia, yesterday met the communist country's chief envoy Kim Kye Gwan for a one-on-one meeting at a hotel in the Chinese capital away from the main talks.
The two men discussed a draft agreement put forward by hosts China, which is keen to display its diplomatic strengths in the six-nation talks and play honest broker between their communist allies in Pyongyang and the rest of northern Asia.
However, there were no signs of a formal breakthrough heading into the weekend.
"This is a difficult time when you're trying to talk about words on a paper and making sure you have the same understanding of the words," Mr Hill said, before using a formulation oft-repeated at previous six-party talks - he was "cautiously optimistic, but I don't want to count chickens before they hatch".
Mr Kim also sounded a note of caution, saying he and his team had been "able to reach agreement on some issues" with Washington.
The fresh impetus behind the talks came after Washington and Pyongyang held bilateral talks in Berlin in January.
The Chinese draft agreement would see North Korea "suspend, shut down and seal" nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear power plant within two months in return for energy and economic aid. Yongbyon produces plutonium that can be refined for nuclear weapons.
While the envoys engage in the tortuous matter of hammering out small details of the agreement, the bigger picture is significant as it could ultimately lead to the secretive communist enclave rejoining the community of nations.
North Korea staged a nuclear test blast in October which rattled nerves across the continent. The United Nations responded with sanctions, underlining further North Korea's status as an international pariah. The test angered its only ally of note, China, which was furious at Pyongyang's decision to go ahead with its nuclear programme.
The tone is certainly more upbeat than on the eve of the talks this week, when there was widespread pessimism over the outcome.