In brief

Press, 28 December 1989, Page 8

In brief

Summit The leaders of North Yemen and South Yemen have agreed to pardon all political prisoners in their countries but it was not clear if the measure would also affect the former South Yemeni President, Ali Nasser Mohammad. The secretary-general of the South Yemen Socialist Party, Ali Salem al-Baid, and President Ali Abdallah Saleh took the decision at the end of a three-day summit in Sanaa which was aimed at speeding up plans to unify their two countries.— NZPA—AFP. Pro-socialism Cuba’s National Assembly has passed a motion saying the island would sink rather than abandon socialism. The assembly also approved a resolution condemning the United States invasion of Panama.—NZPA-Reuter. Indian pledge India’s new Prime Minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, has said his Government would not do business with a Swedish weapons maker, Bofors, unless the company named Indians who took bribes on a 1987 SNZ2.2 billion arms deaI.—NZPA-Reuter. Rain toll 24 Persistent torrential rains in the north-east Brazilian state of Bahia since early this month have left 24 people dead and 100,000 other homeless, authorities said. Fourteen people died when part of a rain-soaked road gave way and five cars fell into a crater more than 10m deep, a Civil Defence spokesman said.— NZPA-AFP. Fatal explosion An explosion at a clandestine gunpowder factory in north-east-ern Brazil has killed four people and injured more than 100, a fire department official said. It destroyed nearby homes where most residents were still asleep, Sergeant Pedro Oliveira Fiho said from Feira de Santana.—NZPAAP.