LONDON - The euro made a strong debut on the foreign exchange markets on Monday as traders signalled their confidence in Europe‘s unified currency, heralding a new era of economic integration and a potential challenge to the global dominance of the dollar.
JERUSALEM - Israeli police arrested eight members of a U.S. Christian cult on Sunday, saying they planned to carry out violence ahead of the millennium to hasten the second coming of Jesus.
LUANDA - The United Nations‘ planned withdrawal of peace observers and suspension of flights from Angola‘s war zones threaten to worsen the plight of thousands facing starvation and disease,.
BAGHDAD - President Saddam Hussein slammed Western-imposed no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq as illegal and said his people would resist them with "bravery and courage".
SINGAPORE - British Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated on Monday that the time was not yet right for Britain to join the new euro currency regime.
MOSCOW - Russia‘s draft 1999 budget, which the government says is vital for securing international credits, will probably be passed by the State Duma (lower house of parliament).
LONDON - Investors in Europe celebrated the start of trading in the euro by bidding up the new currency and most of the continent‘s stock and bond markets.
PARIS - French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement returned to work on Monday, four months after falling into an eight-day coma following surgery.
BAALBEK, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes blasted suspected Hizbollah guerrilla targets north of the city of Baalbek in Lebanon on Sunday, injuring seven people.
JERUSALEM - Plans to build a disputed Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem which caused a 19-month impasse in Middle East peace moves went ahead on Sunday when contractors submitted bids.
PAILIN, Cambodia - Comrades of two former Khmer Rouge leaders blamed for Cambodia‘s "killing fields" signalled on Monday they would resist any attempt to abduct the pair from their remote haven.
MANILA - Condemned Philippine prisoner Leo Echegaray was being given his last meal before death by lethal injection on Monday when he was told that the Supreme Court had ordered a stay of execution.
LAHORE, Pakistan - A special Pakistani anti-terrorist unit is investigating an apparent assassination attempt on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in which three people died.
LAGOS - Nigeria‘s military government on Sunday deployed more troops in the oil-producing Niger River Delta where youth protests are threatening the nation‘s revenue base in the count-down to democratic elections later this year.
GOMA, Congo - Rebel leaders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are due to meet senior Rwandan officials on Monday for talks aimed at resolving a growing political rift within their ranks.
OUAGADOUGOU - Police fired teargas in Burkina Faso‘s capital Ouagadougou on Sunday to disperse a crowd of opposition demonstrators who had gathered to march in protest at the mysterious death of a radical journalist.
WASHINGTON - Members of the U.S. Senate disagreed sharply on Sunday on a plan to expedite the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, as several Republicans urged a full-scale proceeding with witnesses.
