AFP - Japan's new Prime Minister Taro Aso rushed Thursday to a United Nations summit in New York less than a day after taking office, as the opposition said it was ready for snap elections within weeks.

Reuters - World leaders pushed on Thursday for stronger action to reduce global poverty in the face of spreading financial turmoil and high food prices that threaten to worsen the problems of the poor.

AFP - The Security Council will hold a ministerial debate on Israel's settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories Friday, a UN spokesman said Thursday.

Reuters - Israeli President Shimon Peres called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a danger and a disgrace on Wednesday, rebuking the Iranian president for his vitriolic condemnation of Israel and Zionism at the United Nations.

Reuters - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he was worried about the fate of a global pact banning nuclear tests and urged the United States, Iran, China and other holdouts to sign and ratify it.

Reuters - A day after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments at the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met a fringe group of ultra-religious Jews who seek the dismantling of the state of Israel.

AP - Zimbabwe's president said Wednesday he sees no obstacles to carrying out a power-sharing agreement with rivals and hopes it will lead the West to ease sanctions, which he blamed for devastating the country's economy.

AFP - Japan's new Prime Minister Taro Aso rushed Thursday to a United Nations summit in New York less than a day after taking office, hoping to show Japan as an active global player.

AP - Zimbabwe's president is only four Cabinet posts away from carrying out a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, he said in an interview ahead of his Thursday address to the U.N. General Assembly.

AP - Afghanistan's president, who addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, is urging the next American leader to send money, planes and equipment to strengthen the Afghan army.