Supplies run low amid protests

The Nepalese capital ran low on fresh food and fuel Sunday because of a general strike that shut down the city, and thousands of angry pro-democracy demonstrators clashed with police firing rubber bullets.

The emboldened opposition urged Nepalis to stop paying taxes to the government of King Gyanendra, who responded by further banning protests on the capital’s outskirts.

Sunday’s pro-democracy rallies across the Himalayan kingdom attracted tens of thousands of people and were the biggest since opponents of Gyanendra’s royal dictatorship began their campaign of protests and a nationwide strike that has cut off Nepal’s cities for 11 days.

The rallies included small protests in Katmandu’s tourist hub and commercial heart – the first in the capital’s center, where rallies are banned.

Still, Gyanendra appeared unready to relinquish power, and his government extended the ban on demonstrations to the outskirts of Katmandu and the suburb of Lalitpur, where many rallies have been held.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt

Violence continues between sects

Police fired live ammunition into the air and lobbed tear gas into rioting crowds of Christians and Muslims on Sunday in a third day of sectarian violence in Egypt’s second-largest city.

One Muslim man reportedly died Sunday of his wounds. Police said 40 people had been wounded in clashes and 80 had been arrested over the weekend.

The riots were touched off Friday by knife attacks at three Coptic Christian churches, which killed one man and wounded up to 16 other people. A mentally ill man is being held in the stabbings.

Some 2,000 police fought back Sunday against 200 Coptic Christians who fled into St. Maximus Church in Alexandria, after the mob began hurling stones and bottles. Other demonstrators tossed Molotov cocktails from the balconies of nearby buildings.

Security forces also used tear gas Saturday to quash violence that erupted among several hundred Coptic Christians and Muslims at a funeral procession for a 78-year-old man killed Friday outside the Saints Church in the Sidi Bishr district.

CINCINNATI

Activist shot near City Hall dies

A black activist shot on a sidewalk outside City Hall after speaking to the City Council has died, his family said.

Michael Bailey died Saturday at University Hospital, three days after he was shot in the leg, arm and chest, relatives said in a news conference.

“Not only has Cincinnati lost a great leader, I have lost my best friend,” said Ted Bailey, his brother. “My brother did fight a very, very valiant fight. He died with dignity.”

Police did not respond to calls Saturday and Sunday seeking comment on whether an assault charge against the man accused of the shooting would be upgraded.

Howard Beatty, 52, surrendered to police and was charged with felonious assault a few hours after the shooting.

Police have said Bailey, a Cincinnati Metro bus driver who went by the name Gen. Kabaka Oba, had a restraining order to keep Beatty at least 500 feet away, but the reason for the restraining order was not known.

Compiled from wire reports