Zurich

After a 12-year legal battle, the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the country's supreme court, cleared the way for a transfer of the bank accounts of Ferdinand Marcos to the Philippine government. Since the dictator's ouster in 1986, successive governments in Manila have sought the estimated $500 million, contending that the funds had been stolen from the Philippine people. Marcos' widow, Imelda, fought a bitter battle for what she argued were private funds. The Federal Tribunal stipulated that the money be deposited with the Philippine National Bank until claims to it are settled.

Bucharest

Romania's parliament confirmed Radu Vasile of the Christian Democratic National Peasants Party as the country's new Prime Minister following his pledge to accelerate economic reforms. Vasile's coalition cabinet is similar to that of his predecessor, Victor Ciorbea, who resigned after months of political bickering. As well as making a commitment to work with the International Monetary Fund in improving the economy, Vasile called for stronger ties with the U.S., NATO and Russia.

Riga

The European Union urged Latvia to enact a plan to speed up integration of the country's Russian minority, which comprises more than a quarter of the population. Russia has threatened to apply economic sanctions against Latvia over its refusal to grant citizenship to its 700,000 Russian speakers. Under pressure from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Latvian authorities agreed to make it easier for Russian-speakers to become Latvian citizens--and to resolve the current crisis.

Baghdad

Iraq warned that a "new crisis" could erupt if the United Nations trade embargo imposed after President Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait is not lifted soon. Saddam's government maintains that it has complied with U.N. demands that Iraq destroy its chemical, biological and nuclear arsenals. In a new report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iraq has met all requirements for dismantling its nuclear capabilities. The latest U.N. Special Commission report on weapons inspections, however, said U.N. experts have made "virtually no progress" in verifying whether Iraq has destroyed its banned weapons.

George

Former President P.W. Botha lambasted his own lawyers who--despite his objections--secured a postponement of his contempt of court trial for refusing to testify before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Botha, who has labeled the commission "a circus" and a witchhunt, ignored a subpoena to answer questions on his role as head of the State Security Council in the 1980s, which allegedly endorsed the torture and killing of anti-apartheid activists. The delay until June 1 could mean the panel--which met in the town of George, near Botha's home--will run out of time to pursue its case against him. After two years of inquiry into human rights abuses, it faces a July deadline for its report.

Kinshasa

U.N. investigators flew out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, after the final collapse of an inquiry into massacres of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees. President Laurent Kabila's regime has consistently frustrated efforts to investigate the slaughter, which has been attributed to Rwandan Tutsis who fought with Kabila's forces.

Lahore

"Ghost schools"--state-funded educational institutions that exist on paper, but teach no students and employ no teachers--are under investigation by the Pakistani government. Thousands of soldiers were dispatched recently to Punjab province to question local officials, teachers and others in an attempt to root out widespread corruption that authorities say costs the province millions of dollars yearly. About one-seventh of Punjab's more than 50,000 primary schools are thought to exist only on paper. Pakistan's 35% literacy rate is one of the lowest in the world.

Beijing

The first direct talks between North and South Korea since 1994 ended after a week, with nothing agreed and no new discussions scheduled. Famine-stricken North Korea had sought fertilizer from the South--which the Seoul government was willing to give in exchange for a timetable for reuniting families separated by the partition of Korea in 1945.

Hong Kong

Only months after destroying 1.4 million chickens because a "bird flu" virus killed six people, Hong Kong has lost 1,500 tons of fish to "red tide." Toxins released by fast-breeding, oxygen-absorbing algae have wiped out nearly half of the fish harvest in Hong Kong waters since mid-March. Environmentalists say the rotting fish threaten other marine life and further damage water quality in Hong Kong and southern China. They and scientists have been debating the source of the problem, which some have attributed to water pollution originating in Shenzhen, China.

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia stepped up its campaign to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal workers, while the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees sought to determine whether those already deported to Indonesia have been persecuted. About 30 Indonesians due to be sent home forced their way into several embassies on April 10. Those at the French, Swiss and Bruneian missions were removed by police, but eight remain at the U.S. embassy. Fourteen others--Acehnese from the northern tip of Sumatra, where a separatist movement has been active since the 1970s--have been at the UNHCR. offices since March, awaiting processing of their asylum claims.

Fremantle

Police and protesters clashed at Western Australian docks as anger over the Patrick stevedoring company's dismissals of 1,400 Maritime Union of Australia members intensified. Thousands of union members remained at other picket lines around the country. Industry officials say the dispute--part of a long-running clash over efficiency on the docks--endangers tens of millions of trade dollars.

Sao Paulo

Nine foreigners imprisoned for the 1989 kidnapping of a Brazilian supermarket magnate began a hunger strike to demand their expulsion from Brazil--a move that would, in effect, set them free. President Fernando Henrique Cordoso opted to transfer the two Canadians among the nine to their homeland to serve the remainder of their 26- to 28-year sentences. The two say they do not wish to take advantage of a prisoner-transfer treaty between Brazil and Canada. Five Chileans and two Argentines among those convicted in the abduction of Abilio Diniz also seek expulsion.

Mexico City

Mexico has expelled 15 more foreigners whom it accuses of meddling in internal politics in the southern state of Chiapas, where a high-profile crackdown on Zapatista guerrillas and their supporters has been under way. Mexican law prohibits foreigners from taking part in domestic political activities. Officials say 12 of the foreigners were actively participating in one of 38 "autonomous" town councils set up by Zapatista sympathizers. The group--three Americans, two Canadians, four Spaniards, two Belgians and a German--say they were only observers. Three Norwegians later detained at a roadblock also were expelled.

Washington

U.S. government officials and private analysts say Pakistan's test of a new missile--one that can deliver a nuclear warhead deep within India's borders--was based on North Korean technology. Officials told the New York Times that the U.S. knew before the April 6 test of the Ghauri missile that North Korea had smuggled the technology into Pakistan and that attempts were made to dissuade Islamabad from carrying out the test launch.

Jarratt

Rebuffing requests from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the International Court of Justice, Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia allowed the execution of a Paraguayan man for the 1992 murder of a Virginia woman. Albright asked Gilmore to delay the execution after the international court in the Hague determined that Virginia authorities had failed to notify Paraguayan officials of Angel Francisco Breard's arrest. Such notification is required by the Vienna Convention.

Magdalen Islands

New film of Canada's annual seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence showed hunters repeatedly ignoring guidelines intended to make the killing more humane. Footage shot by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a U.K.-based animal rights group, is being reviewed by federal authorities. Guidelines adopted by the industry require hunters to kill their quarry as quickly as possible to prevent unnecessary suffering. Canada now allows the culling of 275,000 seals per year.