News Currents

MIDDLE EAST

Beirut newspapers had announced in advance last week the expected movements of Hizbullah leader Abbas Musawi, killed by Israel Feb. 17, Reuters said.... Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan joined three other Muslim ex-Soviet republics Feb. 17 as new members of the Economic Cooperation Organization, founded by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey 27 years ago. EUROPE

A 14-year-old Irish girl who was raped has been banned by a Dublin judge from having an abortion in Britain because of the Irish Constitution's ban on abortion.... The hard-line leader of the largest Serb enclave in Croatia has removed an obstacle to deployment of 14,000 UN peacekeeping troops in his territory by lifting a threat to use force against them. And the European Community Feb. 18 welcomed the UN plan.... A Russian-German space crew will blast off from Kazakhstan next month, the first manned fl ight since the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States.... Ukraine said Feb. 17 it was taking control of a strategic air division of the former Soviet armed forces. LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Developing countries will need $125 billion a year in concessional financing to fund a switch to environmentally sound development, said Maurice Strong, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, set to convene in June.... US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney started a week's tour of Latin America Feb. 18, visiting Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to discuss both human rights and defense questions.