News Currents

UNITED STATES

The US Supreme Court Tuesday unanimously upheld the 50-year-old method of determining the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. The ruling means that beginning next January, Montana will have only one House seat for the first time since 1910.... Former President Jimmy Carter made a return visit to the White House yesterday and endorsed fellow southerner Bill Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. EUROPE

Following endorsement by the International Monetary Fund of Russia's economic reform plan, the Group of Seven major industrial nations plans an extensive financial aid package for Russia to cover an expected gap of $18 billion in its 1992 balance of payments.... Former Soviet republics yesterday said they would keep their nuclear weapons safe, and they ratified a landmark treaty cutting conventional forces in Europe within three months. Defense ministers from more than 30 nations, meeting for the first t ime at NATO's Brussels headquarters, also agreed to cooperate in strategy and military training.... Negotiators for the European Community and the US have put together an accord on ending a five-year dispute over government subsidies for the commercial aircraft industry. MIDDLE EAST

Israeli security authorities routinely torture Palestinian political prisoners during interrogation, according to a report by the Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.... Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials arrived in Beirut yesterday for talks on their future participation in the US-sponsored Middle East peace process.