GENOA, Italy - Five illegal immigrants, all believed to be Tunisians, died and three were injured when a fire broke out on a merchant ship that docked in Italy‘s northwestern port city of Genoa from Tunisia.
TURALEI, Sudan - Hunger is sweeping southern Sudan, bringing long queues to feeding centres and desperation even among those used to drought and war.
CAPE TOWN - South Africa‘s truth commission pardoned four men who beat and stabbed visiting American Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl to death in a township outside Cape Town in the final months of white rule.
KIJEVO, Serbia - Yugoslav troops and police dealt a stinging blow to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) by recapturing a large area of central Kosovo on a key highway held by guerrillas for the past two months.
DILI - Indonesia started its first troop withdrawal from East Timor when nearly 400 combat soldiers set sail in Jakarta‘s bid to help settle the future of the troubled territory.
JERUSALEM - Israeli lawmakers from the left and right united against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s handling of peace efforts ahead of a vote in parliament that could pave the way for early elections. Legislators will cast a preliminary vote on Wednesday on whether to dissolve the 120-member Knesset.
TOKYO - Japan‘s premier-designate Keizo Obuchi pressed ahead with his search to fill key cabinet positions amid signs that ruling party elder Kiichi Miyazawa would be tapped for the tough post of finance minister.
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to put the finishing touches on a ministerial reshuffle that has stamped his personal authority on the government.
KINSHASA - The new leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s army ordered Rwandan troops who helped to overthrow the former regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko in a seven-month bush war to go home.
LONDON - An independent inquiry cleared ministers of connivance in the supply of British arms to Sierra Leone in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
MANILA - Leading world powers said Asia‘s financial crisis was far from over but expressed confidence that the region would eventually recover its economic vigour.
BEIRUT - A pro-Israeli militiaman was killed when a roadside bomb planted by Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas went off near his patrol in south Lebanon.
SWAKOPMUND, Namibia - African leaders will meet behind closed doors to discuss the growing conflict in Angola, where government forces and former UNITA rebels are reinforcing positions and recruiting fighters.
DHAKA - Monsoon floods in Bangladesh have killed 135 people and some 20 million people have been left homeless or marooned.
MEXICO CITY - Presumed Mexican rebels attacked an army checkpoint in a southern state, wounding two soldiers and raising tensions ahead of the state‘s elections this weekend.
WASHINGTON - Special counsel Kenneth Starr‘s office pressed the Monica Lewinsky sex and perjury probe, negotiating to get President Bill Clinton‘s testimony and meeting with the ex-White House intern who seeks a deal.
UNITED NATIONS - Saying there was no evidence Iraq was hiding nuclear materiel, U.N. inspectors nevertheless were uncertain if Baghdad had concealed some past activities from their probe.
