World: IN BRIEF : BANGLADESH : President Resigns as Strike Begins

Bangladesh President Hussain Mohammed Ershad, who seized power in a 1982 coup, resigned as 100,000 protesters marched through Dhaka at the start of a general strike called to force him to quit. Ershad announced that he intends to step down immediately. He called a special session of Parliament for Saturday to name a vice president who would head a caretaker government until elections, although diplomats and political observers questioned whether he would actually relinquish power. Ershad resigned after all major opposition parties rejected a peace plan he outlined Monday. In the past week, more than 70 people have been killed and 500 wounded in clashes between security forces and demonstrators opposed to his rule.