Foreign briefs

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's foreign minister believes most al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives, including Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, are in hiding across the border in northwest Pakistan.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, Foreign Minister Abdullah said the fugitives still pose a threat and all countries in the region should work harder to track them down.

Palestinian threat is like a cancer

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Palestinian militants pose an existential, "cancer-like" threat to Israel, and must be defeated at all costs to restore the deterrence Israel lost when it withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, Israel's new army chief said.

Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon's comments to a rabbinical assembly late Sunday stirred angry criticism by left-wing politicians, who said he overstepped his bounds as a military officer.

Rain-swollen Yangtze River threatens

YUEYANG, China (AP) -- Surging floodwaters pushed the giant Yangtze River to dangerous levels, putting a strain on dikes shielding the metropolis of Wuhan as storms dumped more rain on sodden central China Monday.

No flooding was reported in Wuhan, a city of 7 million people. But the river was 20 inches above a level thought to threaten the safety of its dikes.

Japan, North Korea wrap up talks

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- Japan and North Korea wrapped up their first high-level talks in two years Monday, far from resolving long-standing differences but with an agreement to pursue more negotiations over the next month.