News Currents
ASIA AND THE PACIFICThe US-Philippines base treaty has, in effect, been "defeated," said Senate President Jovito Salonga yesterday after the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Philippine Senate recommended the eviction of United States forces. (See story, Page 4) ... A Burmese general warned that the military may ban private trading and start production by the military to counter what he called an economic offensive by political opponents of the ruling junta. MIDDLE EAST More than 20 senior officials of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International are being held by Abu Dhabi authorities for questioning, banking sources in the emirate said.
UNITED STATES Aerospace officials say the Federal Aviation Administration will request that all aircraftmakers study their thrust reversers, which redirect a jet engine's exhaust to give extra braking power on the ground, now that Thai officials have reported a thrust reverser caused a Boeing 767 to crash May 26 in Thailand, killing 223 people.... White House chief of staff John Sununu said Sunday on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" that the administration would like to see the Federal Reserve Board ease up faster on the mon ey supply to spur growth.
AFRICA At least 57 people have been killed in South African township violence over the past several days, just before Saturday's scheduled signing of a peace pact by black and white leaders. The government, the African National Congress, and the Zulu-based Inkatha party have agreed on the plan. The black newspaper Sowetan speculated the perpetrators could be hard-line whites or extreme radicals from any of the black liberation movements.... Although President Bush lifted economic sanctions against South Africa two months ago, US firms, restrained by local laws and Pretoria's inability to control violence, are not rushing to reinvest there, reports the Investor Responsibility Research Center in Washington, D.C. (See story, Page 6) ... The Nonaligned Movement, which just met in Ghana, has called for expansion of the UN Security Council to put more power in third-world hands and endorsed political pluralism for the first time since the movement was founded three decades ago. Diplomats say nations such as Egypt and I ndonesia are gaining ascendancy in the movement.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN US Secretary of State James Baker III was in Mexico City yesterday for talks with top Mexican officials on trade and other matters. The Mexico City newspaper The News said the US would urge Mexico to cut back its economic ties with Cuba. US-Mexico trade is expected to reach some $60 billion this year, outstripping past trade records.
