•  Military officials say NATO and U.S.-led troops backed up by warplanes have killed at least 165 Taliban insurgents in two major battles in southern Afghanistan.

•  Karzai in his address at UN: "Poverty, underdevelopment, climatic hardships, and above all -- the menaces of terrorism and narcotics -- are challenges of global proportion in which Afghanistan continues to partake its share as a member of this global village."