KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday announced that he had set up a council to pursue peace talks with the Taliban, who have been waging insurgency in Afghanistan for almost nine years.

MAPUTO (AFP) - Three Mozambican police were injured in clashes with demonstrators in Maputo over food prices on Friday evening, police said Saturday.

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Nine people are believed to have been killed when a plane crashed at a popular New Zealand tourist site on Saturday, medical officials said.

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan on Saturday offered to resign over the ministry's controversial hiring of his daughter, a spokesman for the ministry said.

MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Earl weakened further late Friday and was downgraded to a tropical storm, US government forecasters said.