news digest

Bulgaria's government said on Monday it was lowering its target for gross domestic product growth in 1999 to 3.7 from 4.5 percent due to global economic turmoil.
Slovak markets have already discounted prices in the expectation that the four opposition parties will sign a coalition government agreement on Tuesday, local analysts told Reuters on Monday.
Peru and Ecuador signed a landmark peace agreement on Monday to solve a long-running border dispute in the Andean jungle that boiled over into war as recently as 1995.
Poland's parliament, which will start to debate the 1999 budget draft early next month, is unlikely to introduce any major changes to the bill, the ruling coalition's officials said on Monday.
South Africa's ruling African National Congress is to be accused of human rights violations by the Truth Commission it set up to heal the wounds of the apartheid era, state-owned radio said on Monday.
Malaysia is drawing up a new defense policy that will include a review of military exercises with other nations, Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Monday.
British retailer Kingfisher announced plans on Monday to invest 750 million pounds ($1.26 billion) in order to speed up store openings at its B&Q do-it-yourself (DIY) division in a move that will create 20,000 jobs over the next five years.
Russia's talks with the International Monetary Fund are moving forward with difficulty, but an IMF mission will be the first readers of an eagerly awaited economic plan, the Minister of Finance said on Monday.
Congolese security forces have seized 30 supporters of former President Pascal Lissouba as they were planning to attack the airport at the Congo's oil city of Pointe Noire, police sources said on Monday.