World in brief

2 top Taliban commanders are arrested

KABUL, Afghanistan - Information from a man caught in a vehicle loaded with explosives led to the arrests of two senior Taliban military commanders, including a former security chief of the hard-line regime's leader, Mullah Omar, an official said Tuesday.

Mullah Naqvi and Mullah Qayum were active in the insurgency and were believed responsible for a series of terror attacks in southern Afghanistan, said Abdullah Laghmani, the intelligence chief in Kandahar province.

Both men were on "most-wanted" lists, Laghmani said. During the Taliban's rule, Naqvi was in charge of security for Mullah Omar's home in Kandahar city, and Qayum served as a military commander in the province, said Abdullah Laghmani, the province's intelligence chief.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A remnant of the largest iceberg ever recorded is blocking Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, threatening tens of thousands of penguin chicks with starvation and cutting off a supply route for three science stations, a New Zealand official said Tuesday.

The iceberg, known as B15A, measures about 1,200 square miles, said Lou Sanson, chief executive of the government scientific agency Antarctica New Zealand.

He called it "the largest floating thing on the planet right now" and said U.S. researchers estimate it contains enough water to supply Egypt's Nile River complex for 80 years.

Tens of thousands of the chicks could starve in coming weeks because the ice buildup in the sound has cut off their parents' access to waters where they catch their fish, Sanson said.

GEORGETOWN, Cayman Islands - A strong earthquake struck the Cayman Islands on Tuesday - the strongest since 1900 - rattling windows and sending residents fleeing into the streets. No serious damage or injuries were reported.

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.7 earthquake was 20 miles south-southeast of Georgetown, said Kathleen Gohn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.

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