EVENTS
HANOI DENOUNCES P.O.W. DOCUMENT
Vietnamese officials April 13 denounced as a "fabrication" a document that alleges North Vietnam held 837 more American prisoners of war in 1972 than it acknowledged. The formerly secret document found recently in Soviet Communist Party archives in Moscow - if authentic - indicates North Vietnam held 1,205 American POWs that year. United States State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said April 12 that retired Gen. John Vessey, who has been working with the Vietnamese on the POW issue since 1987, will
raise the issue when he visits Hanoi next weekend. The controversy comes at a time when Vietnam desperately wants Washington to lift the trade embargo imposed after the Communists triumphed in 1975. Hong Kong talks
China and Britain announced a breakthrough April 13 in their bitter diplomatic standoff over Hong Kong's political future, saying they would hold long-awaited negotiations later this month. Hong Kong Gov. Chris Patten, whose proposals to bring more democracy to the territory triggered the diplomatic crisis, called the talks a "victory for common sense." The talks, beginning April 22, signal renewed cooperation between the two countries in working for a smooth transition for Hong Kong. The colony is due t o be handed back to China by Britain in 1997. Israelis killed
A remote-controlled roadside bomb killed three Israeli soldiers and injured two in southern Lebanon April 12, security sources said. A Shiite Muslim group's military wing claimed responsibility. The attack on the Israeli patrol occurred just a week before Arab and Israeli negotiators are due to resume negotiations in Washington, although Arab delegations have not yet announced whether they will attend. Japan battles recession
Under rising pressure to jolt its economy out of the doldrums and trim its trade surplus, Japan announced April 13 a $117 billion economic stimulus package, its biggest ever. The package includes huge outlays for public works projects and construction of "social infrastructure," such as medical and educational facilities and equipment. Prisoners hold hostages
Authorities negotiated by phone April 13 with convicts holding eight prison guards hostage in Lucasville, Ohio, after an uprising in which inmates beat six fellow prisoners to death with guards' batons. The guards were taken hostage April 11 as they rushed in to break up a fight that authorities believe was a trick. The inmates presented 19 demands, mostly dealing with prison rules, officials said. Teen LSD use rises
While antidrug campaigns in the US focus on cocaine, LSD use among high school seniors is at its highest level in seven years, and more teenagers are sniffing glue and other volatile substances, says a study released April 13. The most widely used drugs among eighth-graders are inhalants - products such as glue and air fresheners, said Lloyd Johnston, chief researcher for the study by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The number of eighth-graders using drugs of all types is risi ng. Waco compound fenced in
Law officers finished stringing razor wire around the fortified Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, April 12 and were said to be watching a dam in case of a sabotage attempt by followers of cult leader David Koresh. The razor wire was placed around the compound to keep people from going in or out without authorization. Two people have sneaked past authorities and into the compound since the standoff began, following a shootout 45 days earlier with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents in w hich four agents were slain and six cultists reportedly killed.