embassy in Nairobi despite having grenades thrown at him was hailed by officials as a hero who gave an eyewitness account of last week`s bombing.

NAIROBI - The official death toll from the bombing in Nairobi has risen to 211. The toll excludes six bodies which rescuers can see in the rubble.

KINSHASA - After a week of stunning setbacks, President Kabila`s army says it is holding its ground against Rwandan-backed rebels in the former Zaire.

LUANDA - Fighting has flared between the Angolan armed forces and the UNITA rebel movement in the northern province of Malanje.

KABUL - The Islamic Taleban movement gained key areas in the northeast and central Afghanistan after heavy fighting with the opposition.

BEIJING - A major Chinese industrial city escaped damage from a surge in waters barrelling along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but officials warned of a new flood crest over the next few days.

BOGOTA - A gang of thieves armed with sub-machine guns took at least 20 people hostage in a Bogota shopping centre after bungling a bid to rob a nearby bank.

TOKYO - Japan`s ailing economy is expected to struggle through a thorny patch before it manages to crawl out of its prolonged slump.

PRISTINA, Serbia - Serb sources said ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed 10 policemen in Kosovo as diplomatic efforts continued to end the violence.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal judge granted President Bill Clinton`s lawyer in the Monica Lewinsky case permission to view Clinton`s videotaped deposition in the sexual harassment case brought against him by Paula Jones.

MOSCOW - President Boris Yeltsin, on holiday in northwestern Russia, will hold talks on Tuesday with his top Kremlin aide.

YANGON - The fate of 18 foreign activists held in Myanmar for distributing pro-democracy leaflets was unclear as the military government accused the group of being part of a plot.

LISBON - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was pressing Iraq to avoid a showdown over arms inspections and keep the promises made to him on his dramatic mission to Baghdad in February.

WASHINGTON - The United States offered a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who bombed American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last Friday.

SRINAGAR, India - At least 19 people were killed in separatist violence between security forces and militants in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir state.

MASERU - The government of Lesotho agreed to the appointment of a regional committee to investigate opposition allegations of electoral fraud, defusing a political crisis which had turned violent.

LOME - Citizens largely ignored a "dead town" strike called by Togo`s opposition in the capital Lome to protest against alleged fraud in a presidential election last June.

MOSCOW - Authorities in the Chelyabinsk region of central Russia claimed a breakthrough in talks with coal miners who have been blocking the Trans-Siberian railway for two weeks demanding payment of wage arrears.