News In Brief

Pentagon suppliers billed US millions for PR, report says

Defense contractors charged the government at least $140 million last year for ''public relations'' activities, including exhibits at the Paris Air Show, according to a report by the House Committee on Government Operations. A loophole in Pentagon procedures ''results in reimbursement to many defense contractors for ... expenditures that are not related to any defense contract,'' said Democratic Rep. Jack Brooks of Texas, committee chairman.