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President Obama is to call for business investment tax breaks.

The president already has a proposal in mind to allow companies to write off new capital spending to allow them to speed up their investment strategies.

The Australian government has been returned after help from two Independent members, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.

The pair broke Australia's political deadlock on Tuesday by agreeing to back Julia Gillard, the caretaker prime minister, in a Labor minority government.

After more than a fortnight, Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor today revealed they would give Labor their crucial votes, meaning the party has secured the 76 seats needed to rule.

The opposition party, the Liberals, have 74 seats.

US president Barack Obama has announced his government will spend billions of dollars to build huge infrastructure projects in the country, to create jobs and boost confidence in the American economy.

New York officials have announced that the centrepiece tower to replace the World Trade Centre in New York will be complete in 2013.

The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is visiting Montenegro and Moldova to highlight the two countries’ poverty reduction and social development efforts ahead of the UN summit to review global progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The newly-appointed United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos arrived in Pakistan today, her first day on the job, to witness the humanitarian response to the flood disaster and encourage more donor support to the millions of people affected across the length of the South Asian country.

Pakistan president Asaf Ali Zardari has called for "trade, not aid", to deal with the devastation caused by floods in the country.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is “very much encouraged” that direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders have been launched today and called for those talks to tackle core issues so that a lasting peace can be reached in the Middle East.

Pastoralists’ disproportionate contribution to Ethiopia’s economy is belied by their marginalized status and by policy assumptions that they would be better off farming. But those who raise livestock tend to make the most of marginal land, according to experts, and are often proficient at adapting to changing circumstances.

US President Barack Obama may have hailed the end of US combat operations in Iraq, but the seven-year war has left an indelible mark on many ordinary people who are still traumatized by the horrific things they experienced.