Taliban has gone, terrorism remains, says Karzai: Afghan

Taliban has gone, terrorism remains, says Karzai: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday blamed a suicide car bomb attack that killed four German peacekeepers in Kabul on foreign terrorists, adding that the ousted Taliban regime was finished as an organization. Addressing a news conference, Karzai pointed to the Pakistan-Afghan border as the main threat to security in Afghanistan, where attacks on peacekeepers, aid agencies and civilians have increased noticeably in recent months. "I am not worried about the resurgence of the Taliban," the 45-year-old said at the presidential palace in Kabul. "The Taliban movement as a movement is finished, is gone." -- Reuters

Zimbabwe police arrest second opposition leader: Zimbabwe police arrested a second key opposition leader on Monday on fresh treason charges in connection with protests against President Robert Mugabe last week, police said. Welshman Ncube, Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was picked up by police earlier on Monday, said police spokesman Andrew Phiri. "We can confirm that we arrested him this morning. We are questioning him on two counts. One of contempt of court and the other of treason," Phiri said. -- Reuters

NASA again delays Mars probe launch in Florida: Bad weather forced NASA to postpone the launch of a Mars robot on Monday, delaying a mission to determine if life ever existed on the red planet. NASA managers decided thunderstorms headed toward the Cape Canaveral, Florida launch site were likely to interfere with the launch scheduled for 2:02 p.m. EDT (1:02 a.m. Tuesday in Jakarta). They rescheduled liftoff for 1:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday (12:58 a.m. Wednesday Jakarta time). The Mars Expedition Rover, which is about the size of a lawn mower, is the first of two probes to be launched this month on an international mission to find water on Earth's neighbor and to determine if it was there long enough to support life. --Reuters

Former Iraq exiles meet as U.S. woos alternative leaders: A group of one-time Iraqi exiles gathered on Monday in the Kurdish north to discuss the country's political future and their fears they were losing influence with the U.S. occupiers. Their talks came as Paul Bremer, the American overseer for Iraq, stepped up his efforts to woo tribal and religious leaders while moving ahead with plans for an interim administration. Most of the formerly exiled politicians on a seven-member leadership council huddled on the sidelines of an anniversary session in Arbil, Iraq of the Kurdish regional parliament also attended by British and U.S. officials. --AFP