WORLD IN BRIEF : GENEVA : U.S. OKs Proposed Chemical Arms Ban

The United States accepted a proposed global accord to ban chemical weapons, giving a major boost to attempts to wind up 24 years of talks by December. Sweden and South Korea also announced acceptance, and others in the 39-nation Conference on Disarmament also appeared ready to approve the treaty, a senior U.S. negotiator said. Conference insiders often have been optimistic since talks began in 1968 that they were near agreement. But this is the first time they have a single compromise text. The pact was put together last month by Adolf Ritter von Wagner of Germany, chairman of the chemical weapons committee. Russia has yet to reach a decision, but U.S. negotiators are optimistic it will approve the agreement.