AFGHANISTAN

A daylong battle near a Taliban-controlled town in Afghanistan's Helmand province killed more than 60 Taliban fighters and one soldier from the U.S.-led coalition, American military officials said. The soldier was not immediately identified.

Several dozen insurgents attacked a joint coalition-Afghan patrol near Musa Qala with machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.

The coalition returned artillery fire and called in fighter aircraft. The coalition said there were no immediate reports of civilian deaths or injuries.

ISRAEL Ties are cut with Gaza Strip banks

Israel's largest bank said it was severing its last remaining ties with Palestinian banks in Gaza, after the Israeli government's declaration of the coastal strip as an "enemy entity."

Bank Hapoalim said in a statement that it would cease activities with banks and branches in the Gaza Strip.

The statement did not indicate the extent of the bank's operations in Gaza or say when the decision would take effect, and a spokeswoman declined to elaborate.

A Gaza expert said the move could cause monetary chaos there. Palestinians have no currency of their own and do most of their local business in Israeli shekels.

NEW ZEALAND 'Rings' mountain erupts, injuring 1

New Zealand's Mt. Ruapehu erupted, spewing ash and rock that injured a climber and prompted the evacuation of about 50 people off the mountain, local media reported today.

The 10-minute eruption Tuesday night sent a cloud of ash and dust to a height of 15,000 feet, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said. It also caused mudslides down the mountain, which was the location of Middle Earth in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy.

The injured climber and three companions were in a hut near the summit when rocks came crashing through the roof, the Dominion Post newspaper reported. The climber, who sustained leg injuries, was taken down the mountain by vehicle.

BRITAIN Magna Carta copy to be auctioned

A 13th century copy of the Magna Carta, a milestone of English freedom, will be offered for sale Dec. 10 in New York, Sotheby's auction house said.

The vellum manuscript owned by the Perot Foundation is estimated to sell for $20 million to $30 million, Sotheby's said.

The document was on display at the National Archives in Washington for more than 20 years, until Thursday.

King John was forced by barons to agree to the charter in 1215. It guaranteed that freemen would not be imprisoned or deprived of property without due process, including a right to a speedy trial before a jury.

Other versions of the Magna Carta were issued by John's son, King Henry III, in 1216, 1217, 1225 and 1264. The copy offered by Sotheby's is dated 1297, the year it was incorporated into the statute rolls of King Edward I.

From Times Wire Reports