Around the world
SOMALIA: The United States began withdrawing most of its diplomats from Mogadishu on Sunday as clan fighting rocked the Somali capital for a third straight day. The United Nations said casualties were heavy, but had no specific figures. A U.N. official estimated Saturday that 30 people died in the first two days of clashes. Many of the victims were thought to be civilians caught in cross fire.RWANDA: Rwanda's prime minister talked tough on Sunday, saying his besieged government forces were growing stronger despite an arms embargo. He vowed to keep up the fight against Tutsi-led rebels. The declaration by Jean Kambannada indicated the bloodletting may be far from over.
VICTORY: The Afghan president's army scored a major victory Sunday when it drove one of its main Islamic rivals out of Kabul after two days of fierce fighting on the southern and eastern fringes of the capital. The triumph by President Burhanuddin Rabbani's forces over warlord Rashid Dostum could herald an important breakthrough in Afghanistan's civil war, which has been a bloody stalemate for months.
AUTHOR: More than 4,000 Muslim fundamentalists smashed car windshields and headlights as they marched to Parliament on Sunday in Bangladesh to demand the death of a feminist novelist accused of blaspheming the Koran. Nearly 1,500 policemen in riot gear stopped the procession from approaching the Parliament building, but allowed several religious leaders to enter and submit their demands. Fundamentalists want Taslima Nasrin to be hanged.
OIL SLICKS: Stormy seas managed Sunday to do what environmentalists and their equipment could not: break up oil slicks headed toward shores of Cape Town, South Africa. The oil leaking from a sunken Spanish tanker has already harmed thousands of penguins and polluted miles of South Africa's celebrated beaches.
Across the nation
QUAKE: A moderate earthquake shook sleepers awake, rattled supermarket shelves and broke windows early Sunday in the east San Francisco Bay area. No injuries were reported, although the quake was felt as far north as the Napa Valley and as far south as San Jose.
CHANGES: The most significant personnel changes at General Motors Corp. since outside directors deposed top managers and installed Jack Smith as president in 1992 are expected today when GM's board meets in New York. G. Richard Wagoner Jr., the 41-year-old chief financial officer and head of worldwide purchasing, is likely to be elevated to the No. 2 job in the world's largest industrial corporation.
DAVIDIANS: Surviving Branch Davidians say they don't intend to build a religious retreat in Colorado to replace their Waco, Texas, complex destroyed by fire after a standoff with federal authorities. Sheila Martin, one of several Davidians living in Waco since the April 19, 1993, fire, said few Davidians are likely to join sect member Wally Kennett in the log cabin he has rented in a virtually deserted old mining town in southwest Colorado.