World IN BRIEF : PHILIPPINES : U.S. May Abandon Clark Air Base

The United States may abandon Clark Air Base in the Philippines because a study indicates it could cost up to $800 million to repair damages there from the Mt. Pinatubo volcano, U.S. defense officials said. But they stressed that no final decision has been made and that talks on future U.S. use of Clark and Subic Bay Naval Base will resume in Manila next week. The volcano has deluged the largest U.S. military bases in Asia with ash and sand and forced more than 20,000 U.S. service personnel and their dependents to evacuate.