January 21, 1996
Web posted at: 5:00 p.m. EST (2200 GMT)
(CNN) -- The crescent moon heralding the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan was sighted in many Arab countries Saturday. With the sound of the cannon at dawn Sunday, devout Muslims began to abstain from food, water, smoking and sex until dusk, when the cannon will again boom in each country. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt reported sightings of the moon. In Morocco and Oman the crescent could not be seen so the first day of Ramadan will be Monday.
Ramadan will last 29 or 30 days, depending on the next lunar crescent sighting. It ends with Eid al-Fitr, a three-day feast marking. In Persian Gulf and Arab Muslim countries, working hours are shortened and activity comes to a standstill at the time of the dusk meal. Nights turn hectic, with heavy traffic and shops that stay open after midnight.
The month of Ramadan commemorates the days when the Angel Gabriel imparted the wisdom of the Koran, Islam's holy book, to the Prophet Mohammed. According to Sharia, or Islamic law, all adult Muslims must fast during the holy month. Only the sick, pregnant and nursing women, and travelers are exempt.
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (CNN) -- Search operations for more than 100 passengers missing after a ferry sank off the northern tip of Sumatra were halted for the night Sunday but were to resume on Monday. The bodies of two victims -- from Germany and Ireland -- were recovered Sunday. Officials reported that more than 50 people had been confirmed dead in Friday night's disaster. At least 47 people survived, with some of them saying they spent up to 18 nerve-racking hours in choppy seas. Some survivors reported people clinging to dead bodies to keep afloat.
The ferry -- which also carried cement, building materials and vehicles -- sank after hitting rocks in rough weather. Indonesia's Transportation Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto, who traveled to the scene of the ferry disaster Sunday, denied accusations that the boat was overloaded. Overloading is common on Indonesian ferries. Much of the population of around 190 million people relies on sea transport to get between the hundreds of islands in the archipelago.
Indonesian authorities believed many bodies were still trapped inside the ferry, which sank to a depth of over 300 feet (90 meters), but they did not discount still finding survivors.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide married his legal adviser on Saturday. Aristide, 42, exchanged vows with Mildred Trouillot, 33, a New York-born Haitian attorney, before at least 500 people.
The modest ceremony took place in the garden of Aristide's white mansion. The couple made a point of reaffirming their commitment to champion the cause of Haiti's poor -- many of whom fear that Aristide, their beloved leader, will abandon them now that he is married. As if to assuage the people's disappointment, the couple opted for a simple ceremony -- no bridal gown, no bouquet, no wedding cake.
Aristide won the 1990 elections in a landslide, only to be ousted nine months later by the military, whose reign of terror was ended by a U.S.-led military intervention in 1994. Trouillot came to know Aristide after she was hired as legal adviser to his government-in-exile in Washington in 1993. She will be Haiti's first lady only until February 7, when her husband hands power to President-elect Rene Preval. The wedding guest list included U.S. National Security Adviser Anthony Lake; U.S. Gen. Joseph Kinzer, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti; and U.S. Gen. John Sheehan, head of the Atlantic Command. Aristide thanked his guests for coming on such short notice -- he announced his wedding date on Thursday.
HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson, D-New Mexico, told CNN his meeting Friday with Cuban President Fidel Castro was "positive" and that Castro had expressed a willingness to slash the $600 fee for Cubans migrating to the United States by half.
The existing migration fees have meant it costs up to $900, including airfare, to emigrate to the United States, a small fortune for a Cuban.
The issue has been a sticking point between Cuba and the United States in talks to review implementation of emigration accords reached in 1994 and 1995. The accords, which included an undertaking by the United States to admit some 20,000 legal Cuban emigrants a year, were aimed at halting Cuban boat people following the August 1994 rafter crisis.
Richardson emphasized that his four-day trip to Cuba was on behalf of Congress, and that he was not representing the White House.
A close friend of President Clinton, Richardson has acted as a presidential emissary on other international visits, including the successful effort to free an American Army helicopter pilot who was shot down in North Korea.
PARIS (CNN) -- Finance ministers from the Group of Seven wrapped up a one-day meeting in Paris after intense discussions on finding ways to reverse the slowdown in the global economy, particularly in Western Europe.
Delegates to the G-7, a group comprising seven of the world's richest nations, predicted that a rising dollar and falling interest rates would help perk up the economy.
Ministers indicated they discussed policies that could rejuvenate economies in the United States and Europe and enable Japan to rebound from an unusually long recession.
At the meeting, representatives also expressed some concern about the political uncertainty in Russia, particularly after last month's parliamentary elections saw communists make significant gains.
The G-7 consists of the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and Germany.
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