51.   President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected a plea for clemency yesterday.

52.   President Jacques Chirac rejected a plea for a medical pardon last March.

53.   A Japanese court on Friday rejected a plea by the mother of a U.S. serviceman accused of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl to have the trial moved off the island.

54.   A judge on Friday rejected a plea from the mother of a British Taliban suspect who hoped to force the British government to intervene with his U.S. captors.

55.   A judge rejected pleas for leniency Monday and ordered the maximum sentence, saying prison will save the life of the Grammy-winning singer and keyboardist.

56.   A Kashmiri rebel group today rejected a plea by fellow separatists to free four Western hostages.

57.   A Dhaka court on Sunday rejected a plea to stop the blasphemy trial of feminist author Taslima Nasrin.

58.   An Indian and two Thais sentenced to death for drug smuggling will appeal for a retrial after President Suharto rejected clemency pleas, their lawyer said Monday.

59.   British Prime Minister John Major rejected a plea from German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to prevent Shell U.K. Ltd. from sinking the platform.