The European Union’s ban on hormone-treated beef is illegal, this according to a panel of the World Trade Organization, potentially giving the American cattle industry a big victory, but also turning over new ground on issues of national sovereignty. In a preliminary report, which has not yet been released to the public, the organization says that Europe’s import ban on beef produced with growth-enhancing hormones is illegal because it has no scientific justification, this according to American officials who have seen it in a report in The New York Times.

President Clinton has rebuffed pleas from Central American leaders seeking amnesty for immigrants who fled their region during the civil wars of the 1980s. But he tried to assuage their concerns by vowing humane enforcement of a tough new U.S. immigration law. During a summit meeting with fellow heads of state in San José, Costa Rica, the presidents of El Salvador and Nicaragua pressed Clinton to come to the aid of hundreds of thousands of people who sought refuge in the United States a decade ago and face the prospect of expulsion now that peace and stability have arrived, at least that according to the heads of state of these countries. The new law, which took effect April 1, could affect some 300,000 Central Americans in the United States, including more than 30,000 in the nation’s capital alone.

This news from Arkansas: Noxious fumes continue to drift out of a chemical plant early today, hours after heat from a smoldering bag of pesticide triggered an explosion that killed three firefighters. The plant’s owner said the pesticides and the chemical-filled warehouse were not supposed to be explosive. The blast blew out the cinderblock wall that crushed the firemen who had been sent to the plant to assess the danger of the smoking bag.

From Akron, Ohio, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company workers began returning to work immediately after the union overwhelmingly approved a six-year contract with North America’s largest tire maker. Rank-and-file members of the United Steelworkers of America endorsed the agreement by a four-to-one margin yesterday at 10:30 last night, ending a seven-state walkout by 12,000 workers over job security and pay.

This news from Hanoi: The United States’ first ambassador to postwar Vietnam arrived in Hanoi today, proclaiming a new era of relations between the former foes and a chance to bury their history of conflict and suspicion. Ambassador Doug Peterson, whose posting was delayed by domestic politics and legal wrangling, arrived 22 years after the victory over U.S.-backed forces of former South Vietnam.

This news from Lubumbashi, Zaire: Zairian rebels rejected today as absolute nonsense transition steps proposed by a summit of Central African leaders yesterday, and vowed to topple dictator Mobutu Sese Seko unless he resigned. The rebels also said a second meeting on May 14 between Kabila and Mobutu would be aboard a South African Navy ship, the scene of their first meeting last Sunday.

Some 25 fund managers, investors and mining experts arrived in rebel-held Zaire today for talks with rebel leader Laurent Kabila. Earl Young, spokesperson for U.S.-based America Mineral Fields Inc., organizers of the visit, said the team included representatives of SB Warburg, C.M. Oliver of Canada, value investors and leading banks from Europe and the United States. Kabila’s alliance last month awarded the Kolwezi copper-cobalt tailings project to America Mineral Fields in a $1 billion deal, which also included building a 200,000-ton-a-year zinc smelter in Kipushi near the Zambian border.