Ramdan

The smoke may be clearing in Baghdad, but the halt of bombing Saturday failed to lift the cloud over gatherings of Muslims in Orange County and elsewhere as they observed the start of the holy month of Ramadan. "At the beginning of Ramadan, people are usually very joyful and happy, but this time, it's very somber and solemn because of what's happening in Iraq," said Hussam Ayloush of Anaheim, who participated in prayers for Ramadan at the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove.

The smoke may be clearing in Baghdad, but the halt of bombing Saturday failed to lift the cloud over gatherings of Muslims in Orange County and elsewhere as they observed the start of the holy month of Ramadan. "At the beginning of Ramadan, people are usually very joyful and happy, but this time, it's very somber and solemn because of what's happening in Iraq," said Hussam Ayloush of Anaheim, who participated in prayers for Ramadan at the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove.

The Gaza Strip's only electric power plant shut down Sunday evening after Israel halted the shipment of diesel that fuels it, plunging most of this city into darkness and threatening such vital services as hospitals, bakeries, water supply and sewage. Many of Gaza City's 400,000 inhabitants rushed to stock up on candles, batteries and bread, trudging up and down stairs as elevators ground to a halt, and then shivered through a night of temperatures in the low 50s.

After 12 years as a guerrilla fighter, Cherif Hassana put his turban on the end of his rifle and surrendered to Moroccan soldiers. Bachir Hammed slipped away from a guerrilla-sponsored soccer team during an overseas tour. With the declining fortunes of the Marxist-led Polisario independence movement in the Western Sahara, more and more guerrillas are deserting the movement and drifting back across the desert to join the Moroccan side.

For months, Lazhari had been locked in his home in Algeria, faxing articles to his newspaper, enduring death threats from Islamic militants and battling the muzzle of government censors. But as more of his colleagues and neighbors were killed, he couldn't stop wondering: Would his be a bullet to the head or a knife across the throat? He hoped for a bullet.