The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Kabul - President Hamid Karzai signed Afghanistan's new constitution into law Monday, putting into force a charter meant to reunite his war-shattered country and help defeat a virulent Taliban insurgency. The constitution outlines a tolerant, democratic Islamic state under a strong presidency, as sought by Karzai, a two-chamber parliament and an independent judiciary. Pasadena, Calif. - NASA received a colour "postcard" of Mars from the Opportunity rover on Monday, providing scientists with a glimpse of the smooth, brick-red slopes that surround the newly landed spacecraft. "We're looking out back across a pretty spectacular landscape," said Jim Bell, the main scientist on Opportunity's panoramic camera. Meanwhile, engineers prepared to nurse Opportunity's hobbled twin, Spirit, back to health on the other side of Mars by deleting hundreds of files from its computer memory. Bangkok, Thailand - Thailand confirmed its first fatality from bird flu Monday, raising the number of deaths in Asia from the disease to seven - the deadliest outbreak since 1997. The victim was a six-year-old boy who fell ill after playing with chickens in his village. The Thai government was awaiting test results to determine whether five other deaths were caused by avian flu, as suspected. Six people have died in Vietnam, meaning the worldwide death toll could be 12.
