San Francisco: Auto dealers predict decline in vehicle sales

This year’s U.S. vehicle sales likely will decline 1.8 percent and possibly even more if the nation goes to war with Iraq, but should remain strong by historical standards, the National Automobile Dealers Assn. predicted Sunday.

NADA chief economist Paul Taylor, speaking at the organization’s 86th annual convention, projected new car and light truck sales of 16.5 million in 2003, down from 16.8 million last year, the fourth-best tally on record.

If the United States goes to war with Iraq, Taylor says total volume likely will decline by an additional 200,000 vehicles as the conflict chills Americans’ spending.

New York City: Kasparov, computer tie in fourth chess matchup

Chess master Garry Kasparov and supercomputer Deep Junior tied Sunday in the fourth meeting in their championship series.

The computer played with white pieces and moved first, putting Kasparov on the defensive. Kasparov repelled the computer’s attacks until neither player could make progress and the draw was called.

The six-game Man vs. Machine match is tied at two apiece. The fifth game will be Wednesday.

California: Neighborhood evacuated after tanker explosion

A propane tanker truck explosion burned several cars, damaged two nearby buildings and sent a plume of flames and smoke shooting into the air, causing the evacuation of hundreds of people in Chico.

Authorities closed the surrounding streets and recommended that about 500 people evacuate their homes after one of the truck’s two propane tanks exploded, said Mike Carr, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry.

The cause of the blast was unknown, although the truck driver told the Chico Enterprise-Record that he saw liquid coming from the vehicle, so he started to run away. Seconds later, the explosion knocked him to the ground, the driver told the paper.

Ivory Coast: Opposition riot opens second week of protests

Ivory Coast paramilitary police fired guns and tear gas Sunday to disperse rock-throwing mobs angered by the killing of a well-known comedian and political figure.

The riots were the latest violence in Ivory Coast’s commercial hub, Abidjan, where loyalists of President Laurent Gbagbo have been protesting for the past two weeks against a power-sharing peace deal that Gbagbo’s government signed with rebels to end a four-month civil war.

Sunday’s rioters, however, were hundreds of supporters of the government opposition, who suspected Gbagbo’s party of being responsible for the shooting death of TV host Ash Karamoko Kamara.

Kamara’s family found his bullet-ridden body Sunday morning.

Kamara was the star of one of Ivory Coast’s most popular TV series, the Friday night spoof “Who Does That?” In his private life, he was actively involved in the Rally of the Republicans opposition party.