EVENTS
ATTACKS PERIL ISRAEL-PLO PEACE PLAN Israel's prime minister sternly warned Palestinians yesterday that they cannot expect a widening of self-rule unless they curb attacks on Israelis by Islamic extremists. The Palestinian Authority responded to the stepped-up attacks by detaining leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, and announcing a campaign to confiscate weapons. Despite the tension, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on expanding self-rule resumed yesterday at the Erez crossing point between Israel and Gaza. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's warning came after he visited the Gaza Strip site of a series of attacks claimed by Islamic militants opposed to peace efforts. Rabin said Israel would continue negotiating with the Palestinians, but no agreements would be implemented until they could prove they would curb such attacks. Babbitt on fire prevention
US Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt spent the weekend fighting fires, then opened fire on the people who cause them. Babbitt, who renewed his firefighter's certification this spring, said Sunday that it's time to pay more attention to prevention and education. Babbitt helped battle a 1,300-acre fire near Reno, Nev. Overall, the National Interagency Fire Center said, firefighters were battling 26 major blazes that have burned across nearly 300,000 acres in California, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Nevada. Guatemala election
A rightist party headed by Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, a former military strongman who is a candidate for Guatemala's Congress, led in early returns for a new Congress being elected as part of an effort to reform the political system. Authorities estimated more than 70 percent of the 3.4 million eligible voters stayed home. Korean clash
About 7,500 Korean riot police clashed for a second day yesterday with thousands of students, who were rallying to demand that the US military leave South Korea. Twenty-four students were arrested. The clash followed fierce fighting Sunday in which police fired tear gas to prevent students from holding a pro-North Korea rally. Russians fire on Japanese
Russian coast guard boats opened fire yesterday on two Japanese boats, which they said were poaching fish in waters off the disputed South Kurile Islands. The clash was one of the most serious incidents in the 40-year dispute over the four islands, seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II.
Moscow has consistently complained about what it says is illegal fishing by Japanese boats in its waters.
