For this week's agenda we speak to Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times; and from London, Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for the BBC World Service. We look at Iran and what the international community's response will be to Tehran's test-firing short- and medium-range missiles, and the acknowledgment of a second nuclear enrichment plant. We also consider whether President Obama will follow requests from General McChrystal and Republicans about sending more troops to Afghanistan. And, China celebrates 60 years of communist rule.

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[In one mention of this story this morning, we said that Roman Polanski was picked up on a "31-year-old charge," which a listener correctly pointed out was incomplete: Polanski was charged, tried, pleaded guilty, and fled the country before being sentenced. -Eds]

Nuclear disarmament is high on the international agenda this week with discussions at the United Nations and the G-20 summit. Adding to the sense of urgency are new reports that Iran has a second uranium enrichment plant, despite having previously admitted only to one. The U.S. and Iran are set to meet in a series of high-level talks next week. In Pittsburgh this morning, President Obama spoke about the need for Iran to halt their nuclear ambitions. GlobalPost's Charlie Sennott explains the international repercussions of this new revelation while Cindy Skrzycki, also from GlobalPost, joins us from Pittsburgh with the reactions from the G-20 meeting.

If you missed it, here are President Obama's comments on Iran's secret enrichment site:

While in the Security Council of the United Nations, President Obama won unanimous adoption of a resolution to curb the proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons and move toward total disarmament, Iran continues to develop nuclear sites. This morning there are reports revealing the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant in Iran. The BBC's defense and security correspondent, Nick Childs, joins us with a look at what this announcement will mean for next week's high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Yesterday President Obama made nuclear disarmament a central theme of his speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations. Today he chairs a Security Council meeting on the issue. For a look at what the president needs to say and do to convince the world that he means business, we turn to two men who are experts in the realms of diplomacy, foreign policy and nuclear proliferation. Hans Blix served as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1997 before he was tapped to lead the U.N. committee charged with searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We also speak to Joe Cirincione, president of the anti-nuclear Ploughshares Fund. He also wrote the book "Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons."

Here are highlights of President Obama's address to the United Nations yesterday:

The five permanent members of the United Nation's Security Council — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China — are meeting in Frankfurt today, along with Germany. On the agenda: Iran's nuclear program. We talk to the BBC's Jonathan Marcus about whether stronger economic sanctions against Tehran may be in the works.

During their meeting in Moscow, Presidents Obama and Medvedev hammered out a deal to limit nuclear arsenals. Non-proliferation is the key to Obama's desire to limit arms, but when talking nukes with Russia, is it just the same old song-and-dance between the former Cold War enemies? Can the United States' relationship with Russia change? The Takeaway turns to the BBC's Defense and Security Correspondent Rob Watson and Mark Kramer, Director of the Cold War Studies Project at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies for their analysis.

Yesterday Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev signed a preliminary agreement to reduce the world's two largest nuclear stockpiles by as much as a third. Today President Obama continued to mend U.S.-Russian relations by meeting with Prime Minister Putin and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbechev. He also reached out to the Russian people, delivering a speech at the New Economic School in Moscow. Joining The Takeaway to gauge if President Obama has succeeded in rebooting our relationship with Russia isSusan Eisenhower. Granddaughter of President Eisenhower, in her own right she is a leading expert on Russia. Susan Eisenhower is the President of the Eisenhower Group. She also serves as Chairman of the Eisenhower Institute’s Leadership and Public Policy Programs. Susan Eisenhower famously broke from the Republican Party last year to endorse then candidate Barack Obama.

President Obama and his family arrived in Russia this morning. The president is meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in the first such summit since 2002, to talk about extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). How are Russians viewing the American President's visit? The Takeaway is joined by Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine.

Today President Obama kicks off a week-long trip to Russia, Italy, and Ghana. He’s currently in Moscow, meeting with President Medvedev. Iran, North Korea, and plans for a U.S. missile defense system in Europe are all on the agenda, but reducing the number of strategic and other nuclear weapons gets top billing. Presidents Obama and Medvedev aim to negotiate a new pact to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December. To gauge how effective this negotiation will be—and for a look at how this summit could redefine U.S.-Russia relations, we turn to Ambassador John Bolton. He is Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Click through for transcript

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports that North Korea test fired yet another short range missile today. This would be the sixth missile launch since the North's nuclear test on Monday. Our partner, The New York Times, is reporting this morning that the U.S. may push China to ban North Korean flights through its air space to prevent the transfer and proliferation of nuclear materials. New York Times correspondent David Sanger joins us with a look at the U.S. response to North Korea's rogue behavior. He's also the author of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power.

For more of The Takeaway's coverage of North Korea, click here. For a look at Kim Jung Il, click here.

North Korea continues to raise the stakes in its game of nuclear poker, conducting a second nuclear test in as many days on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a South Korean newspaper has reported that U.S. spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has started up its nuclear plant again. The international community has condemned Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. But the only country with real clout over North Korea is China: the nation is North Korea’s neighbor and main trading partner. To find out China's take on the North Korea situation, The Takeaway talks to John Pomfret, author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China. He writes the blog Pomfret’s China on the Newsweek/Washington Post website.

Just hours after the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's nuclear tests, Pyongyang tested more missiles. President Obama criticized the tests, prompting North Korea to respond that its "army and people are fully ready for battle... against any reckless U.S. attempt for a pre-emptive attack."

An American attack is extremely unlikely. But what clout does the U.S. or the international community have? The Takeaway turns to John Bolton: he served as the Permanent U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 and is currently a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Click through for transcript

In case you missed the President's remarks on North Korea, here they are:

The U.S. and the United Nations now have to calibrate their reaction to North Korea's recent missile test, while also worrying about Iran's nuclear ambition and fears of proliferation on the subcontinent. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, is the international regulatory agency charged with monitoring the use and development of nuclear energy. But the agency is in the middle of electing a new general director. There are five candidates vying for the job and they are officially announcing their candidacies today. How much can the agency do?

Hans Blix knows something about those nuclear politics. He served as Director General of the IAEA from 1981 to 1997 before he was tapped to lead the U.N. committee that was eventually charged with searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He joins The Takeaway to discuss North Korea and the new era of nuclear politics.

North Korea says it carried out an underground nuclear test, prompting widespread international concern. Pyongyang says the device that it detonated was more powerful than a previous one tested in 2006. Meanwhile, a news agency in South Korea says the country also test-fired a total of three short-range missiles. The Takeaway is joined by Dr. Jim Walsh, a specialist in international security and a research associate at the M.I.T's Securities Studies Program.

North Korea is claiming it test fired a trio of nuclear missiles yesterday. Such claims haven't always turned out to be true, but there are indeed reports of seismic activity in the area. The official North Korea news agency said these explosions were more powerful than the previous tests in October 2006. The claimed tests are raising tensions in the region and Japan has already called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation. For more we turn to the BBC's Jonathan Marcus.

The Cold War may be over, but arms control still matters. Russian and U.S. negotiators are beginning talks to make further cuts in nuclear arsenals. The former Cold War rivals are hoping to come to terms on a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, which expires in December. For more, we turn to the BBC's Russia analyst Steven Eke, who's following the story.

The North Koreans have launched what they say is a “communications satellite’ into orbit. America and its allies suspect the state’s “satellite” is in fact a long-range ballistic missile, which North Korea was testing. North Korea and their leader Kim Jong-Il remain defiant in the face of global protest and strong warnings from North Korea's neighbors. After the launch, the U.S. and its allies denounced the move and called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to . The BBC's John Sudworth and Brian Myers of Dongseo University join The Takeaway to discuss the implications of this launch.


Our partners at the New York Times are reporting that the North Korean Missile Launch Was a Failure, Experts Say.

Thirty years ago on Sunday, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant had a partial meltdown. The incident stirred fear and panic in the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere, and stopped the growth of nuclear programs cold. Joining us with a look back and a look at nuclear power's future is Jonathan McClelland is President of the New York City Chapter of the United States Association for Energy Economics and also joining us is Christian Parenti, contributing editor for The Nation.

Here's part one of a 1999 PBS documentary, "Meltdown At Three Mile Island", chronicling the terrifying near-catastrophe that occurred in Pennsylvania at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in March 1979.

For over thirty years, Iran has been working on a nuclear reactor. They claim that the facility will be used to provide energy to the country, but the West is clearly skeptical. Today Iran conducts a virtual test of the reactor and the world is watching closely. For more, Jon Leyne of the BBC joins us from the site of the nuclear reactor.

Russia agrees to build four nuclear power plants in India.