KINSHASA - Rwandan-backed rebels have captured a key oil town and a naval base in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But a senior official of President Laurent Kabila‘s government said fighting was continuing in both the port of Muanda on the small Atlantic coast and the naval base of Banana.
ADDIS ABABA - The Sudan government and the Sudan People‘s Liberation Army (SPLA) clashed at peace talks aimed at ending their 15-year war.
ABUJA - Nigeria‘s military Provisional Ruling Council is to meet on Thursday to discuss setting up a new electoral commission and replacing the sacked cabinet of ministers.
UNITED NATIONS - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler said he had instructed U.N. disarmament teams in Baghdad to continue working normally after Iraq said it would suspend cooperation with the U.N.
LONDON - Britain accused Iraq of reneging on agreements with the United Nations about arms inspections and said defiance would prolong economic sanctions on Baghdad.
MOGADISHU - A peace deal has been agreed between rival factions in Somalia‘s western border region after 20 days of talks.
CAPE TOWN - Four years after South Africa‘s first all-race elections, one white group wants to re-establish homelands — for itself.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said shelling duels in Kashmir could get out of hand as it reported 11 more deaths from Indian firing into the Pakistani side of the disputed Himalayan region.
SRINAGAR, India - Cross-border firing continued along the disputed Kashmir border on Wednesday and the death toll from seven days of clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops climbed above 100.
UNITED NATIONS - Indonesia and Portugal agreed to hold in-depth discussions on Indonesia‘s proposals for a „special status, based on a wide-ranging autonomy“ for East Timor.
CANTERBURY, England - Anglican bishops from around the world launched into a heated and divisive debate over the place of homosexuals within the church.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat announced a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle but stunned legislators by keeping ministers they had wanted sacked for alleged corruption and mismanagement. Hanan Ashrawi, one of the most prominent Palestinians on the world stage, said she was resigning from President Yasser Arafat‘s new cabinet after his controversial reshuffle.
LONDON - Britain denied allegations by a renegade intelligence officer that British agents tried to assassinate Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton got a warm welcome from Democrats in Congress as Monica Lewinsky prepared to testify to grand jurors in the scandal engulfing Clinton‘s presidency.
PHNOM PHEN - Government leader Hun Sen‘s Cambodian People‘s Party (CPP) won the country‘s July 26 election according to preliminary results, but officials from opposition parties contesting the result remained sceptical.
ASMARA - Eritrea said it was satisfied with the result of a weekend Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting to discuss its border conflict with Eritrea.
NAIROBI - Kenyan commercial banks sacked thousands of striking employees after they defied an ultimatum to return to work.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - Turkish troops have killed 165 Kurdish guerrillas in fighting which has spread into neighbouring northern Iraq.
DUBAI - Saudi Arabia has expelled more than 750,000 foreign workers since an amnesty for expatriates violating residency regulations expired last October.
