Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has opened the annual UN General Assembly summit with a plea to the presidents, prime ministers and kings to use their power to meet UN goals to help the world’s poorest by 2015.

Kuwait stripped Shiite activist Yasser al-Habeeb of his citizenship on Monday, accusing him of abusing religious symbols and attempting to trigger sectarian tensions.

The Israeli army has finished reviewing the structure of its infantry battalions in an effort to increase their “lethal” power in urban and guerrilla warfare.

One person has been killed and 14 others have been injured after police in Indian-administered Kashmir opened fire on participants in a funeral procession.

Pope Benedict XVI has said he is deeply ashamed of the “unspeakable” sexual abuse of children by priests in the Catholic Church.

At least eight people have been killed in a blast on board a minibus in southeast Turkey, local officials have said. At least three others were injured.

The German state of Lower Saxony will start including Islam in its schools’ core curriculum as part of an initiative to counter growing anti-Islam sentiments in Europe.

The French senate has voted in favour of a bill to ban face-covering veils in public, a proposal that has sparked fierce debate in a country that is home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim population.

GAZA, (PIC)– Storming the Aqsa Mosque and the unabated settlement drive gave no room for doubt that the negotiations between the PA in Ramallah and the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) were meant to cover up for the IOA crimes, Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said.

Voters in Turkey have approved a plan for major changes to the country’s constitution. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, has hailed the vote as a victory for democracy, and the European Union has welcomed the referendum as a “step in the right direction”.