News In Brief

Secretary of State George Shultz met Hungarian leader Janos Kadar yesterday for talks that were believed to have focused on economic issues and Hungary's internal liberalization. Mr. Shultz's visit, the second stop on a three-nation East European tour, followed talks with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu. Shultz voiced American concern over human rights violations in Romania, saying they threatened to upset trade with the United States.

Israel tries to quiet concern over Syrian missile basing

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, apparently seeking to prevent a new missile crisis with Syria, said yesterday that Israel had no need to take military action as the result of increased tensions between the two countries. The head of Israel's Army disclosed Sunday that Syria had deployed Soviet-made antiaircraft missiles on its border with Lebanon and had briefly moved mobile missiles into Lebanon.

Pentagon gets OK to build chemical arms; loses ASAT

The Pentagon has won approval to build new chemical weapons for the first time since 1969, a green light granted as part of a compromise with Congress which halted tests of the US satellite-killer missile. The agreement cleared the way for Congress to approve the Pentagon's budget as part of a huge catchall appropriations bill providing money for a variety of government agencies.

In deciding to halt the antisatellite (ASAT) program, the conferees turned down an appeal from President Reagan, who said more tests were needed to convince the Soviets to bargain for a ban on the weapons.

Reagan, Canadian town honor Airborne victims

President Reagan paid tribute yesterday to the 248 US soldiers killed in a plane crash in Gander, Newfoundland, last week, and in Gander 600 people attended a Sunday interfaith service which was videotaped and sent to Fort Campbell. In Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, American troops involved in the Sinai peacekeeping mission held a memorial service in honor of their fellow servicemen.

Also, officials in Gander prepared to return the bodies to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The remains will be examined by specialists at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

And investigators recovered parts of the shredded and burned-out plane, including engines and cockpit instruments, for shipment to Ottawa, where they also will be analyzed.

Union Carbide fending off takeover attempt by GAF

Union Carbide Corporation has rejected a $4.3 billion takeover attempt by GAF Corporation and announced a series of defensive moves to quash the bid, including buying back some of its own shares. Union Carbide chairman Warren M. Anderson said the company's directors decided unanimously that the $68 a share offered by the company was ``grossly inadequate.''

President of Iraq in USSR, apparently after more arms

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein conferred with Soviet President Andrei Gromyko yesterday at the start of a visit that diplomats said was apparently aimed at obtaining further Soviet arms supplies for his country.

New Zealand might release ship bombers to French jail

Prime Minister David Lange said yesterday he may consider handing over to France two French agents who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, if he has guarantees from the French government that they will remain in prison. But Mr. Lange added that there was no possiblity of negotiation for early release of the agents, who were given concurrent 10- and seven-year sentences.

Top guerrilla suspect is arrested in Belgium

Leftwing extremist leader Pierre Carette, believed responsible for planning bomb attacks on US and NATO targets, was arrested with three others yesterday, the justice ministry said. Carette is suspected of leading the extreme leftist Fighting Communist Cells, which have carried out 27 bomb attacks in the last 14 months on NATO, US and Belgian government targets.

After visit, US businessmen optimistic about Soviet trade

American business leaders returned from a postsummit trade mission to the Soviet Union with hopes of big deals, but trade experts cautioned that Moscow may be trying to generate competition with tantalizing hints of deals that will never be closed. A US analyst said yesterday that falling world oil prices and shaky Soviet petroleum production would pinch the Kremlin for the hard currency it needs to increase drastically its purchases from the West.

High court allows speedup in trial for a 2nd indictment

In decisions yesterday the US Supreme Court: Said a criminal suspect who is indicted for a second time on the same federal charge may be forced to go to trial in less than 30 days.

Allowed a state to force some church-affiliated schools to close for failing to meet academic requirements.

Refused to give motorists suspected of drunken driving the right to talk to a lawyer before deciding whether to take a breath test.

US Steel plans joint venture in California with Koreans

United States Steel Corporation announced yesterday it will form a joint venture with the Pohang Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of South Korea to own, operate, and modernize US Steel's plant in Pittsburg, Calif.

Big voter turnout reported in troubled Indian state

Voters turned out in record numbers for elections in the northeastern state of Assam yesterday, called to restore peace in an area that has been racked by six years of sectarian violence. The high turnout, estimated at 70 percent of the 10 million electorate, was likely to go against Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's ruling Congress (I) Party, according to political analysts. Meanwhile, more than 1 million eligible voters also went to the polls in nine other Indian states and the federally administered territory of Delhi in by-elections to fill seven vacancies in the Indian Parliament and nine in state assemblies.