News Currents

MIDDLE EAST

The men in charge of Algerian President Mohamed Boudiaf's security were arrested yesterday in connection with his assassination, an investigator said. A presidential guard already has been arrested as the suspected gunman. UNITED STATES

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette went to press yesterday for the first time since May, despite threats from striking delivery drivers to block trucks driven by nonunion replacements. ECONOMY AND BUSINESS

Sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.9 percent in June, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday. It was the third consecutive drop.... Japan's central bank yesterday cut its discount rate from 3.75 percent to 3.25 percent. Stock prices surged when the market opened, but the Nikkei stock average dropped 124.45 points to close at 15,373.34, as investors expressed disappointment at the rate cut's size. EUROPE

Britain's Financial Times and the Russian newspaper Izvestia agreed yesterday to publish a joint business supplement for Russia. ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Burma's military junta indicated yesterday that it plans to reopen universities next month after closing them late last year following student protests. Students at Rangoon University protested to demand democracy and the release of Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.... A former Japanese headmaster was given a suspended jail sentence yesterday in connection with the deaths of two students beaten by school staff.