EVENTS
INVESTMENT SPENDING EXPECTED TO RISE American businesses plan to increase investment spending on new buildings and equipment by 6.4 percent this year. Businesses surveyed by the Commerce Department in April and May said they would spend $581 billion in 1993 on constructing and modernizing buildings, installing new computers, and upgrading and replacing other equipment and machinery. If realized, the increase would be the strongest since an 11.4 percent rise in 1989. However, the latest survey represents a modest reduction from the 6.6 percent rise planned when the department surveyed businesses in the first quarter. Jobless claims
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 2,000 last week, the Labor Department said yesterday. New applications for unemployment insurance totaled 345,000, down from a revised 347,000 the previous week. Claims first were thought to have totaled 344,000 during the week ending May 29. They totaled 338,000 during the week ending May 22. Iran denial
A leading parliament member, Saeed Rajaie-Khorasani, yesterday denied United States allegations that Iran was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Rajaie-Khorasani said Secretary of State Warren Christopher was wrong in alleging that Iran is engaged in acquiring nuclear or chemical weapons. Mr. Christopher urged America's European allies Wednesday to deny Iran technology that could be used for military purposes. Mongolian elections
Incumbent Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat overwhelmingly won a new term in Mongolia's first multiparty presidential elections after being dumped by the ruling former communists. Mr. Ochirbat ran as the joint candidate of two opposition parties that favor continued economic and political reform. A newspaper editor was the candidate of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Ochirbat received 57.8 percent of the ballots cast Sunday to 38.7 percent for Lodongiyn Tudev. Japanese politics
Another attempt to clean up Japan's political system appears headed for defeat. Factions within the governing Liberal Democratic Party failed to agree on a compromise plan yesterday at a heated party policy meeting, with just 10 days left until the current session of Parliament ends. All mainstream parties agree that the political system, in which two to six lower-house legislators are elected from each district, invites corruption. Mexico arrest
A major drug trafficker sought in the slaying of a Roman Catholic cardinal has been arrested near the Guatemalan border, Mexican officials reported yesterday. The Notimex agency said Juan Guzman, known as "El Chapo," and seven associates were arrested in Tapachula by the Army and federal judicial police. Outrage over the May 24 killing of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and six others has led to a nationwide search for the killers and the arrest of more than a dozen suspects, including several senior policemen accused of links to the traffickers. Kuwaiti border trench
Kuwait yesterday began digging a 130-mile trench along its border with Iraq to help protect the tiny emirate from its hostile neighbor. The ditch runs along the border as demarcated by the United Nations in November. The line has been rejected by Iraq. The project has been named the Fourth Wall after three historical concrete barriers built around Kuwait City to guard it from robbers and invading tribesmen. Funds for the barrier have been raised from donations by citizens. Andreotti request
Former Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti asked the Senate yesterday to lift his parliamentary immunity to allow prosecutors to pursue allegations that he was behind the 1979 murder of a journalist. Mr. Andreotti denied the allegations, calling the case an attempted lynching and suggesting he was the victim of the Cosa Nostra and the American Mafia. The premier is already under investigation for alleged corruption and association with Mafia bosses.
