Milestones Jun. 22, 1998

STEPPING ASIDE. YVES SAINT LAURENT, 61, neurasthenic and increasingly reclusive French fashion legend whose creations have modernized and adorned society figures for close to 40 years; from his ready-to-wear line; in Paris. Duties for the Rive Gauche line will fall to Alber Elbaz, though Saint Laurent will continue designing the haute couture.

DIED. GENERAL SANI ABACHA, 54, Nigerian dictator who wrested power in a 1993 coup and maintained his grip on Africa's most populous and oil-rich nation by canceling free elections and silencing critics through imprisonment or execution; from an apparent heart attack; in Abuja, Nigeria. Perhaps Abacha's most notorious act...