Plane dove 17,000 ft, climbed before crashing
EgyptAir Flight 990 plunged 17,000 feet and then climbed again, before apparently breaking up in its final dive into the Atlantic, federal investigators have said.

Russia rejects pleas to end Chechen war
Russia's defence minister turned a deaf ear to world calls for an end to the Chechen war by declaring he had won the President's go-ahead for an operation to take the rebel republic's capital Grozny.

Another US shootout -- 2 killed, 2 wounded
A gunman wearing a camouflage jacket and sunglasses opened fire in a shipyard office here on Wednesday, killing two and wounding two others in the second such deadly shooting in the United States in two days.

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  Nickel peaks 31-month high in global markets
  Taiwan Semicon turns foundry niche into empire
  S Korea unveils pakcage to soothe markets rattled by Daewoo's woes
  Merck to lose top drug-maker title
  Daihatsu unveils Naked minicar
  Japanese zinc major Mitsui's output up 4%
  Bank of England raises UK rates to 5.5 pct
  Warner-Lambert, AHP merge to form drug giant
  DaimlerChrysler set to phase out Plymouth brand by 2001
  Japan vitamin firms face $170m payout
  Nippon Life, Mitsubishi Trust mull tieup
  Tensions flare as Bank of Scotland lifts NatWest bid to fend off rivals
  Fed unlikely to raise rates before year-end
  London launches techMARK to take on Nasdaq
  Yen to hold steady, says economists
  Taiwan firms eye HK's GEM to fund mainland units