Prisoners Northern Ireland

Leon Uris, a high school dropout who found huge commercial success as the author of panoramic novels that made history his main character, died Saturday of congestive heart failure at his home on New York's Shelter Island. He was 78. His first blockbuster and best-known work was the 1958 novel "Exodus," which told the story of the birth of the modern nation of Israel. It was translated into more than two dozen languages and was made into a 1960 movie starring Paul Newman.

In a major development that could signal an end to one of the world's oldest conflicts, the Irish Republican Army announced Wednesday a "complete cessation" of violence in its struggle to end British control over Northern Ireland. "In order to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success, the leadership of (the IRA has) decided that as of midnight Wednesday, Aug.