Islamist terrorists may exploit the chaos and misery caused by the floods in Pakistan to gain new recruits, the country’s president said today.

The US will increase its aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan to $150m (€117.1m), Senator John Kerry said today, stressing that Washington does not want Islamist extremism to increase on the back of the crisis.

The Government has accused Iran of harassing and oppressing minority religions.

The Government should stress its commitment to maintaining development aid targets, the Opposition said today.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told world leaders his country will defy any further UN Security Council resolutions imposed by “arrogant powers” seeking to curb its nuclear programme.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to the American people, which will be released in New York today, a state newspaper reported.

The United Nations’ top HIV/Aids official says it is no longer realistic to hope that the world will meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of the pandemic by 2015.

Brian Cowen has travelled to New York this weekend to participate in a UN General Assembly session set to be dominated by debate on Afghanistan and the Middle East Peace Process.

Ireland is to spend an additional $30m per year on the fight against Aids.

More than 600,000 people in China are estimated to be infected with the Aids virus with the number increasing by 30% each year.