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President Obama flies to New York on Monday for an annual presidential tradition that this year could become a diplomatic disaster.

The newly formed congressional supercommittee's 12 members are charged with finding more than $1 trillion in budget savings this fall. Their clout could attract more campaign contributions, and lawmakers are demanding greater accountability for the money the panel's members take in.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) and UN Population Fund chief Babatunde Osotimehin at launch of 7 Billion Actions Initiative

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss (right) and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attend the closing of the Assembly’s sixty-fifth session

In Libya, there's growing concern over the vast arsenals of weapons that have flooded on to the streets since Moammar Gadhafi's ouster. Warehouses of surface-to-air missiles, mortars and anti-tank mines have been looted.

US Ambassador to China Gary Locke has said that both the countries have participated along with rest of the world in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan and eradicating extremism.

Burma's normally defiant authorities have in recent weeks been welcoming their domestic and international critics for candid discussions. They have also slightly loosened their iron-clad grip on the media, leading observers to speculate on whether authorities could be softening their hard-line position. Analysts and rights activists have welcomed the moves but have dismissed suggestions that it represents any substantive change.

With the nation facing the specter of a renewed recession and Washington virtually paralyzed by partisan gridlock, President Obama sought to turn the screws on Republican lawmakers in his much anticipated speech Thursday to a joint session of Congress.

World food prices remained virtually unchanged during the month of August, with only slight increases observed in the prices of cereals and meat, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today.

The cost of maize meal-based porridge provided by aid agencies has been going up.