President Shimon Peres said on Sunday that Israel's reaction to landmark contacts between the United States and Iran had been too "scornful" of its key ally.

His comments came just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington for talks with President Barack Obama, determined to expose what he described as "sweet talk" by Israel's arch-foe.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel slammed Republican lawmakers Saturday as "astoundingly irresponsible" for threatening to shut down the government over a short-sighted political whim.

If Congress fails to agree on a new budget measure by the close of the fiscal year on Monday, officials estimate that about half of the Pentagon's nearly 800,000 civilian workers would be placed on unpaid leave.

The surprise first phone contact Friday between presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani was not only a dramatic moment in U.S-Iranian ties, but also in the field of digital diplomacy.

Moments before the U.S. leader announced from the White House podium that he had had a chat with his opposite number, the Iranian president had sent a tweet that may well live on in history.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone Friday in a historic and first direct contact between leaders of their estranged nations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The stunning 15-minute call, starting at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT), was the fruit of a diplomatic opening forged by Rouhani's election in June on a mandate to ease confrontation with the West and lift nuclear sanctions that have pulverized the Iranian economy.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday toned down expectations for his planned meeting with Premier Nawaz Sharif this weekend at the U.N., saying Pakistan remained an "epicenter of terrorism."

Singh, making what will likely be a farewell visit to the White House after a decade in power, told President Barack Obama that India still faced "difficulties" because of the activities of its neighbor and bitter rival.

U.S. President Barack Obama will welcome Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif to the White House on October 23 to encourage his pledge to improve relations with Washington and India.

The announcement of Sharif's visit came from the White House as the premier met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

The United Nations gave a grim warning Wednesday that Lebanon faces an explosion of social tensions unless the international community helps to handle hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

President Michel Suleiman told foreign ministers from the world's leading nations that his country faces an "existential crisis" because of the influx fleeing the war between President Bashar Assad and opposition rebels.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wants to reach an agreement over the country's nuclear program within three months and has full backing to broker a deal from the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it was reported Wednesday.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Rouhani said he was keen to set a three or six-month timetable to seal a nuclear deal, emphasizing that Iran envisioned a process lasting "months not years."

The major powers inched toward a U.N. Security Council resolution to back the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons on Wednesday as U.N. experts resumed the hunt for evidence of poison gas attacks.

Russia and the United States are negotiating a Security Council resolution to legally enforce the disarmament plan that they agreed to head off a U.S. military strike.

U.S. President Barack Obama is not disappointed that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani balked at meeting him at the U.N., and is instead focused on formal nuclear talks, the White House said Wednesday.

Expectations that the two leaders could hold the first meeting between presidents of the United States and the Islamic Republic at the U.N. General Assembly were dashed on Tuesday.