31.   When a male child is born in a Pashtun village, gunfire is the first sound he hears.

32.   Whether the gunfire was training or front-line nervousness, the light triggers and visible military presence has had another effect.

33.   Outside the hospital in Budyonnovsk, there was sporadic gunfire Sunday morning.

34.   Police and residents also said there was gunfire.

35.   Rankin then vanished into scrubland after reaching the opposite bank, probably without suspecting the gunfire was for his own protection.

36.   At his seaside headquarters, distant gunfire could be be heard in late afternoon.

37.   At his seaside headquarters, distant gunfire could be still be heard in late afternoon.

38.   But, unlike the previous two days, there was no gunfire in Maseru early Thursday, a sign that the chaotic situation may be settling down.

39.   Cross-border gunfire is almost routine in Kashmir, he said.

40.   Details were sketchy, but there was no indication the gunfire was hostile, officials said.