MIDEAST UPDATE

The Federal Trade Commission warned consumers to be on the alert for battalions of con artists who may be out to turn Operation Desert Storm into Operation Desert Scam.

The Pentagon is seeking $80 million for short-term improvements to the Raytheon Corp.-made Patriot missile system used to shoot down Iraqi-fired Scud missiles in the Middle East.

Atlanta-based BellSouth has extended the period for military pay differential up to 12 months for the duration of the Persian Gulf war for its employees that have been mobilized.

Topps, the leading maker of baseball cards, has sent special edition “Operation Desert Shield” baseball cards on the 1991 season to the Defense Department for shipment to U. S. troops in the Persian Gulf. The cards, which will not be distributed in the United States, were shipped to the Gulf nearly two months before the Pentagon changed the name to “Operation Desert Storm,” when allied forces opened their attack on Iraq.

Saddam Hussein’s call for terrorist attacks on Americans and citizens of allied nations fighting Iraq will slash the dwindling international passenger travel through Anchorage, the director of the Alaska International Airport System said. Gina Marie Lindsay told the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce that 20% of the trans-polar passenger flights that refuel in Alaska’s largest city will be canceled this month because tourists from around the world are afraid to fly internationally.