News stories by IPS Correspondents, page 41

CARACAS, Dic 17 (IPS) - Venzuelan imports will reach 16.467 billion dollars while imports will be under eight billion for 1994, Foreign Trade Minister Alberto Poletto said on Friday.

SANTIAGO, Dic 17 (IPS) - Police used a water cannon on Friday to disperse demonstrators protesting the partial closing of the Chilean Communist Party daily 'El Siglo.'

NEW DELHI, Dic 17 (IPS) - ACTIVISTS OPPOSING THE MASSIVE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT ACROSS THE NARMADA RIVER IN WESTERN INDIA HAVE CALLED OFF A NEARLY MONTH-LONG FAST FOLLOWING A RECENT RULING OF INDIA'S APEX COURT AND INVESTIGATIONS BY A LAWMAKERS PANEL.

HAVANA, Dic 17 (IPS) - Cuban President Fidel Castro admitted that his country's sugar industry is in need of foreign financing in order to recover and bring production up to usual levels.

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Dic 17 (IPS) - Information broadcast to Italians living abroad should be done in several languages, the Congress on Information for Italian Communities in Latin America concluded on Saturday.

ROME, Dic 17 (IPS) - The Italian Popular Party (PPI) and the Northern League (LN) will present a joint censorship motion on Monday against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government in parliament, it was announced Saturday.

VIENNA, Dic 17 (IPS) - Austrian environmental and citizens groups are stepping up their bid to prevent the Mochovce nuclear plant in Slovakia from becoming operational.

PARIS, Dic 17 (IPS) - A ship loaded with lethal nuclear waste is being prepared for a secret voyage from France to Japan in February 1995, despite the unresolved safety issues surrounding such shipments -- and should be held in port, says a U.S. expert.

HARARE, Dic 17 (IPS) - RAPID POPULATION GROWTH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA IS FAST DEPLETING NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE REGION, WARNS A RECENT ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY.

DEHRADUN, INDIA, Dic 17 (IPS) - TRACKING A PETREL IS NOT A ROUTINE BIRD SPOTTING CHORE IN THE FROZEN WASTES OF ANTARCTICA WHERE BLINDING BLIZZARDS AND THE ABSENCE OF LANDMARKS CAN CONFOUND THE MOST DETERMINED WILDLIFE WATCHER.