Mark Memmott

After arriving in Tripoli this week, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson says she's been struck by the "sense of abandoment" in the Libyan capital.

Weeks of NATO air strikes and other allied actions aimed at stopping Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime from attacking rebels have taken a visible toll, Soraya told Morning Edition host Renee Montagne earlier today.

Good morning.

There's a new study, as we just reported, that concludes the "global war on drugs has failed." It comes from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The commission's members include former Secretary of State George Shultz, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and others who have held top policy posts around the world.

Other stories making headlines this hour include:

"The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," a high-powered commission whose members include former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan warns today.

The report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy goes on to recommend:

-- An end to "the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others."

There are now no names left in the "unaccounted for" column of the official list of those who were initially missing after the devastating tornado that swept through Joplin, Mo., on May 22.

And that report from the Missouri Department of Public Safety says the official "confirmed deceased" toll stands at 124.

Officials say this is the "final" such report they'll be issuing.

"By the end of this year," Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, the Taliban should be to the point where it's willing to take part in formal talks aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan.

But, he said during a conversation set to air on today's All Things Considered, the Taliban must "put down their weapons ... abandon [any ties] to al-Qaida" and agree to live "under the Afghan constitution."