EVENTS
CLINTON WILL OFFER YELTSIN AID
Russian President Boris Yeltsin can look forward to a big helping hand when he meets with President Clinton at a summit next month in Canada. That was the message from Mr. Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher after the site, Vancouver, was announced Friday and the summit was expanded from one to two days, April 3-4.
"I don't want to make any sweeping commitments," Clinton said at a brief news conference, "but I'm going there to this meeting with the intention of trying to more aggressively engage the United States in the economic and political revitalization of Russia." US economy strengthens
Lifting some clouds that had appeared over the economy this week, the government Friday reported a surge of 365,000 new jobs last month and a drop in unemployment from 7.1 percent to 7 percent, its lowest level in more than a year. The number of new jobs was about three times as many as economists had expected and the biggest one-month increase in about four years.
In related news, interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages declined to a 20-year low of 7.44 percent last week, the Federal Home Loan Bank Corporation reported. One analyst predicted a drop of another half-a percentage-point by year's end. Supreme Court retirement
Conservative Justice Byron White is considering retiring from the Supreme Court, according to a report in the Washington Post. Citing unnamed sources, it states he may leave around July 1. Justice White is known as an opponent of abortion rights and affirmative action. Afghan accord
Afghanistan's rebel and government leaders agreed yesterday to a power-sharing plan to end the fighting in their homeland. Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani and his archrival, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Muslim fundamentalist, will share power and appoint a Cabinet, a presidential spokesman said. A cease-fire is to take effect immediately. But before the pact was signed, fighting erupted in the capital. Angola fighting
Rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola said yesterday they have overrun Angola's second-largest city, Huambo, after a two-month battle. In a radio broadcast, a rebel leader said forces had overrun the last two Angolan Army garrisons and captured 5,000 soldiers. The government would neither confirm nor deny the report, but said it would request foreign assistance. Redskins coach retires
Joe Gibbs, who guided the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl titles in 12 seasons as the club's head coach, announced his retirement Friday. He said he was resigning for health reasons and to spend more time with his family. British strikes
British coal miners, faced with the closure of half the nation's mines, voted for 24-hour nationwide strikes, union officials said Saturday. It was the first national strike vote by miners since a walkout in 1984-85 ended in a defeat of the National Union of Mineworkers.
