New York - Despite a massive financial crisis afflicting rich countries, a one-day United Nations development conference witnessed a strong outpouring of aid from leaders both public and private to help the world's poorest nations.

Major charitable foundations, government leaders and businesses of all stripes joined forces Thursday to push for progress in ending poverty, hunger and fighting diseases, and warned that the ongoing financial turmoil was no reason to bring those efforts to a halt.

The pledges totalled 16 billion dollars according to an initial UN estimate, including more than 3 billion dollars to eradicate malaria, 2 billion dollars to tackle an ongoing food crisis and 4.5 billion dollars for educational programmes.

Washington - Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro were invited Thursday to join a group of countries seeking membership in the NATO alliance, the US State Department said Thursday.

The Adriatic Charter, which consists of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, extended invitations to the two Balkan states during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"This decision was made in the firm belief that this expansion of the charter will further strengthen mutual cooperation and advance Euro-Atlantic integration," McCormack said.

New York - World leaders from both business and politics promised 16 billion dollars in new programmes to help slash poverty, combat disease and boost education in the world's poorest nations, during a United Nations conference Thursday on development.

The pledges included more than 3 billion dollars to eradicate malaria, 2 billion dollars to tackle an ongoing food crisis and 4.5 billion dollars for educational programmes, according to the UN's initial estimate.

"That expression of global commitment will be all the more remarkable because it comes against the backdrop of a global financial crisis," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

United Nations, Sept 25 : Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said that his country was ready to take several steps for every single step Pakistan would take to address the burgeoning challenge of extremism.

“Afghanistan stands ready to take several steps for each single step that Pakistan will take to address the challenge of radicalism and terrorism,” The News quoted Karzai as saying at the UN General Assembly session.

New York - South American leaders gathering at the United Nations this week have been touting their own new political union, which was hailed as a coming of age for the continent.

The regional leaders gathered for a closed-door meeting Wednesday of the Union of South American Nations, a collection of 12 countries.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who hosted the body's first emergency meeting last week, hailed the union as a signal that South America could finally manage its own problems.

Last week's Santiago summit, which dealt with a political crisis in Bolivia, "tells us that the values of democracy, dialogue, human rights and peace are becoming stronger than ever in Latin America," Bachelet said.

New York - Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias on Wednesday vowed to work out a definitive settlement with the Turk Cypriot community to end the ethnic division and achieve a federal government on Cyprus.

Christofias has been pursuing negotiations with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Turkish Cypriots, in the last year. He now said that all Cypriots should agree on what they want and achieve it.