New York  - Serbia's President Boris Tadic asked the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to support his country's request for a legal review of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

Tadic said Serbia has renounced use of force to retain Kosovo, which it still claims as its province.

A draft resolution asks the 192-nation assembly to support Belgrade's request to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an advisory opinion on whether Kosovo's independence is legal.

New York  - Turkey announced plans Tuesday to run for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, which, if successful, would break a 50-year hiatus.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said his country's candidature for a non-permanent seat for 2009 and 2010 will be presented to the UN General Assembly, which is scheduled to select five new council members in October.

"Turkey has not been represented in the council for nearly half a century," Gul said in an address to the annual assembly session.

New York  - World leaders called for a revival of global institutions on Tuesday as economic crises have undermined development and growing violence and conflicts have threatened peace and stability.

In a stark address before more than 100 world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world was facing countless crises at a time when the leadership to address the turmoil was lacking.

New York  - President George W Bush sought to allay worries about the US economy during a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, while reminding the body of its obligations to confront terrorism and promote democracy around the world.

Bush was addressing the UN General Assembly amid turmoil in international markets over the faltering economy, caused by the crisis in financial institutions that has prompted the largest US government intervention in history.

New York, Sept 23 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that only his country’s its troops were authorised to attack terrorists on its soil, and that any foreign troops crossing into its territory “violate the UN Charter”.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of the reported US troops’ incursions, both air and on the ground, into Pakistani territory to attack militants’ hideouts.

New York  - The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo urged world leaders attending the UN General Assembly on Monday to seek measures to protect civilians in Sudan's Darfur region while the court is prosecuting those charged with crimes there.

Moreno-Ocampo planned to speak in debate on the ethnic war in Darfur, which has killed more than 300,000 people since 2003. In July he asked the ICC at The Hague to issue a warrant to arrest Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for the killing of Darfurians.