China-Soviet ties strained

PEKING - China ruled out closer ties with the Soviet Union until Moscow stops trying to "dodge discussion" of the major issues separating the two communist giants. Vice Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said in an interview published by the official Peking Review magazine that strained political relations between Peking and Moscow have not improved in recent years, despite increased exchanges in other fields.

Rajneesh on way to Nepal

NEW DELHI, India - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the controversial guru who was deported from the United States in November, left India for his commune in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. The 54-year-old guru said at New Delhi Airport he had no plans to settle in Nepal and would return to India to "look into some places where I am considering to set up a permanent commune."

Pilot feared dead in crash

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - A U.S. fighter aircraft crashed in the North Atlantic during a routine mission from Iceland, a spokesman for the U.S. base at Keflavik said. The pilot was presumed dead. The F-15C fighter crashed into the ocean while taking part in a routine exercise with two other planes 85 nautical miles southwest of Reykjanes, a peninsula near the base. The identity of the pilot was not immediately released.

Anti-Carbide rally held

NEW DELHI, India - More than 1,000 protesters shouted slogans near Parliament, de property in India and additional help for victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. More than 2,000 people died and an estimated 300,000 were affected when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal on Dec. 3 , 1984, in the world's deadliest industrial accident.

17 missing as ferry sinks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A ferry with 30 people aboard capsized in the South China Sea, and one person was killed and 17 others were missing, the national news agency Bernama reported. Twelve survivors swam to shore after the boat capsized off Sarawak state on Borneo island.

N. Korean soldier defects

SEOUL, South Korea - A North Korean soldier standing guard on the demilitarized zone defected to South Korea, the Defense Ministry said. Sgt. Im Chong Chol, 23, who was assigned to a guard post, crossed the border carrying his automatic rifle and ammunition, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Lee Hung-shik said.

Soviets to build new jet

MOSCOW - The Soviet Union expects to begin producing a new fuel-efficient, medium-range airliner within five years, the government newspaper Izvestia said. The plane, called TU-204, represents a "new generation" of passenger airplanes with computerized navigation systems, lightweight materials and fuel-efficient engines, the newspaper said.