Britain to quit UNESCO

LONDON - Britain announced it was following the lead of the United States and withdrawing from UNESCO because of the agency's "inefficient management" and hostility toward the West. The United States pulled out of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a year ago, citing the same reasons.

Karpov seeks rematch

MOSCOW - Former World Chess champion Anatoly Karpov has asked the International Chess Federation for a rematch with Garri Kasparov, who took the title away from Karpov in Moscow on Nov. 9, Tass press agency said.

Soviet gets OK to leave

MOSCOW - Irina McClellan, 43, a Soviet who has been trying to join her husband in the United States for 11 years, said Soviet authorities told her she will be allowed to leave. However, she said she was told to start her application process all over again and she has no idea how long it will take.

OPEC holds informal talks

GENEVA - Oil ministers from the OPEC countries held informal discussions as preparations continued for Saturday's formal gathering of the 13-nation cartel. Disputes over prices, individual quotas and the overall daily production limit have all been cited as major topics on the agenda of what will be the fifth session of the Organization of Petroleum Countries leaders this year.

Indian dies after gas leak

NEW DELHI, India - One man died and at least 60 people remained hospitalized from breathing noxious gas that leaked from a fertilizer plant in the capital, doctors said. The accident occurred Wednesday, a day after the anniversary of the gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal on Dec. 3 , 1984, that killed more than 2,000 people.

Exchange pact signed

MOSCOW - American and Soviet scholars signed an exchange agreement that they said would significantly expand academic cooperation. Among other things, it includes the first Soviet-American research project in Judaic studies, an exhibition on North Pacific peoples, and cooperative research on communications technology and its impact on society.