Short Reports

Japan plans to waive its loans to 41 impoverished countries as part of efforts among developed nations to alleviate the third world debt burden, a Finance Ministry official said Wednesday.

Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa intends to inform his Group of Seven counterparts of the plan when he meets with them on Monday, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fashion editor Liz Tilberis, who used her public platform at Harper’s Bazaar to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, died of the disease Wednesday at 51.

The federal government recorded a significantly higher budget deficit in March, reflecting increased tax refunds and military spending. The deficit last month, $22.4 billion, was 62 percent more than the $13.8 billion recorded a year earlier, the Treasury Department said.

Steven R. Rogel 56, company president and chief executive of The Weyerhaeuser Co. since 1995, succeeds George Weyerhaeuser as chairman, the company said. Weyerhaeuser, 72, a great-grandson of the company founder, plans to remain on the board another year, company officials said. He retired as chairman Tuesday after 50 years of involvement with the wood products giant.

The nation’s home ownership rate rose to a near-record during the first three months of the year. Nationally, 69.6 million families, or 66.7 percent, owned the houses or apartments where they lived, the Census Bureau said. The highest quarterly rate on record, 66.8 percent, came last July-September.