News Currents

EUROPEReports of a bloody attack on a Lithuanian border post yesterday cast a shadow over the superpower summit. Seven Lithuanian guards were killed and one seriously wounded. The Lithuanian Interior Ministry said it did not know who was responsible. Moscow regards the posts as illegal but has denied ordering attacks, although Soviet "black beret" OMON troops have made similar attacks in the past (story, Page 1).... Senior European Community diplomats left for Belgrade yesterday, ignoring warnings by Yugoslav President Stipe Mesic that Serbia would try to abort an EC bid to broker a cease-fire in Croatia. The team is headed by Dutch ambassador to France Henri Wynaendts. Mesic, a Croat, stormed out of a meeting of the Yugoslav collective presidency Tuesday, accusing Serbia of planning to block EC mediation and an increase in the number of EC observers promised by the Community if a cease-fire is agreed upon.

UNITED STATES The index of leading indicators, the government's main economic-forecasting gauge, rose 0.5 percent in June, the fifth consecutive monthly increase, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The rise comes amid signs that job opportunities may be brightening.... The House Ways and Means Committee approved a proposal extending unemployment payments for Americans whose benefits have expired. Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell of Maine said Congress will complete action on the legislation and send it to President Bush before departing for its traditional August recess next Monday. Bush may veto the measure....The Senate confirmed the nominations of US ambassadors to two key countries - Robert Strauss to the Soviet Union and Robert Kimmitt to Germany.... Trans World Airlines Inc. announced Tuesday it will file for bankruptcy protection as part of preliminary agreements with debtholders to cut its debt by $1 billion and generate $400 million.... A US House panel approved two telephone privacy proposals - on e placing greater limits on computer telemarketing, the other allowing callers to prevent disclosure of their phone numbers by caller I.D. systems.

JUSTICE Virgilio Paz Romero, one of eight suspects in the 1976 car-bomb slaying of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to murder, US Attorney Jay Stephens said.... President Bush is prepared to make his first claim of "executive privilege" by refusing to comply with a subpoena from a House subcommittee. At issue is a secret 1989 Justice Department opinion claiming that the FBI has the right to seize fugitives overseas without permission from foreign gover nments. The subpoena names Attorney General Dick Thornburgh. Rep. Jack Brooks (D) of Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the opinion is needed to explore the legal implications of overseas arrests.