News Currents

UNITED STATES

General Motors Corporation reported a third-quarter loss of $752.9 million yesterday. GM lost $1.06 billion in last year's third quarter.... The government reported Wednesday a second straight annual deficit. The $290.2 billion imbalance for fiscal year 1992 marked a 7.7 percent increase over the record of $269.5 billion set in 1991.... The government and the Natural Resources Defense Council agreed yesterday to postpone an auto emissions rule until election day because the NRDC thought that an early ann ouncement might make it less likely the Environmental Protection Agency would implement a tough rule. EUROPE AND ASIA

London police yesterday found about 70 pounds of bomb-making equipment in the city's East End, and several people were arrested. Reports linked the discovery to the Irish Republican Army's London bombing campaign.... Bulgarian political parties met yesterday to resolve a cabinet crisis after the Wednesday resignation of the government.... In Asia, Japan offered Russia $100 million yesterday at a meeting on aid to former Soviet republics. The US said Wednesday that a $100 million corn purchase would also be donated. AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

UN special envoy to Somalia Mohammed Sahnoun quit yesterday after having criticized UN policy. Brig. Gen. Imtiaz Shaheen, Pakistani commander of UN peacekeeping troops in Somalia, will temporarily replace him.... In the Middle East, an Israeli government commission yesterday suggested that a structural flaw caused the El Al jet crash in Amsterdam Oct. 4, echoing findings in the US and the Netherlands.