January 27, 1993

Britain dropped its benchmark lending rate today to its lowest level since 1977, causing the pound to fall against the German mark and the dollar and sending stocks up sharply in London. The Bank of England said it had dropped its base rate by one percentage point, to 6 percent. It was the fourth rate reduction since September, when Britain abandoned its policy of maintaining the pound's value against other European currencies by keeping interest rates high.

The BankAmerica Corporation appears to be finally digesting last year's acquisition of the Security Pacific Corporation, which had far more troubled assets than was expected. BankAmerica, the nation's second- largest banking company, said yesterday that it earned $473 million for the fourth quarter and $1.492 billion for the year, which was in line with analysts' expectations. In 1991, the bank earned $285 million in the fourth quarter and $1.124 billion for the year, but the results are not directly comparable because of the merger, which took effect in April 1992.

ROASTING wafts through the senses. In culinary terms it is freighted with mouthwatering aroma, comforting warmth, a crisping sizzle and anticipated succulence. And lately it is more appreciated than ever. Dry-heat cooking in an oven has traditionally been associated with meat, poultry and game. Indeed, large cuts of meat and whole poultry are often called roasts. But increasingly, chefs are roasting other foods like fish, vegetables and fruit, finding that the technique seals in and intensifies flavors, imparts an attractive burnish and often uses less fat than some other cooking methods.

Raised in the privacy of a two-hour White House meeting and in public debate, the military's objections to homosexuals' serving openly in the armed services are many. They range from visceral fears of disrupting a tight-knit culture and destroying decades-old tradition to practical questions of living in cramped quarters on a six-month sea tour. The emotional debate was crystallized on Monday in the White House session between President Clinton and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Those six top officers, whose views were formed over decades in military services that flatly banned homosexuality, are fiercely resistant to lifting the ban.

Squeezed by fewer orders for military aircraft and commercial jet airliners, three major aerospace companies announced cutbacks yesterday that will result in layoffs of thousands of workers in coming months, with Connecticut and Washington State losing most of the jobs. Pratt & Whitney, the jet engine manufacturer with headquarters in Hartford, said that 6,700 jobs at its Connecticut plants would be eliminated during the next 24 months, including 1,800 this week.