U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for U.N. Security Council sanctions on Syria, saying there was no excuse for inaction when people were being “tortured and murdered” by their government.

"For the sake of Syria -- and the peace and security of the world -- we must speak with one voice. Now is the time for the United Nations Security Council to sanction the Syrian regime, and to stand with the Syrian people," Obama told the United Nations General Assembly.

Thousands of Palestinians on Wednesday were gathering across the West Bank for rallies in support of the campaign to join the United Nations as the 194th member state.

In Ramallah, the political capital of the West Bank, thousands of people were heading for the city Centre, waving flags and chanting slogans, for a rally expected to start late morning, an AFP correspondent said.

Gunmen shot and killed a Somali lawmaker in the northern breakaway state of Puntland, where fighting between political and clan groups is on the rise recently, officials said Wednesday.

Security officials in Galkayo said Abdurahman Ahmed Haji was shot late Tuesday by men with handguns in front of the gate of his house.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday said that for progress to be made in the thorny clash at the United Nations over Palestinian statehood, both sides will have to give.

"It's up to us, and mainly to our counterpart, the Palestinian leadership, Mahmud Abbas, and to others, to show the leadership and start to move," Barak told CNN television.

The chief nuclear envoys for North and South Korea met in Beijing to try to revive international nuclear disarmament talks on Wednesday, with little hope of any early breakthroughs.

The one-day meeting at a private members' club in the center of the Chinese capital is the second round of talks between the South's Wi Sung-Lac and his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-Ho in two months.

More than 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations' offices in Beirut on Tuesday in a show of support for a Palestinian bid to secure full U.N. membership.

"We are here to show our support for Palestine's right to be recognized as a state, a right that is stipulated by international law," said Kazem Hassan, one of the organizers of the joint rally by Lebanese and Palestinians.

The dispute that rose between Lebanon and Israel over the maritime border after the discovery of potential offshore energy reserves drew the attention of many oil drilling companies.

“Time is gold for Lebanon and the cabinet should swiftly take the necessary measures to follow up this issue,” a global oil expert told As Safir on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is expected to meet with his Cypriot counterpart Markos Kyprianou ahead of the U.N. General Assembly opening Wednesday in New York.

“Mansour had clear directions from President Michel Suleiman to meet his Cypriot counterpart,” a diplomatic source told As Safir newspaper.

President Michel Suleiman has put Israel’s infringement on 870 kilometers of Lebanese waters at the top of the agenda of his talks with world leaders in New York, including U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese diplomatic sources said.

Suleiman is in New York to participate in the annual General Assembly meeting. He is scheduled to attend a Security Council session on Libya on Tuesday and address the Assembly the next day.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon has the right to preserve its natural resources, urging officials to speed up deals with foreign companies to drill for oil and gas in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Berri reiterated to As Safir newspaper that neighboring countries will soon start oil and gas exploration.