EVENTS

SERBIA OPPOSITION LEADER ARRESTED Serbia's main opposition chief was arrested yesterday after playing a leading role in a night of bloody street clashes in Belgrade in which one policeman was killed and 16 others wounded, in addition to several civilians. It was the largest anti-government protests in Belgrade in more than two years. Police arrested Vuk Draskovic, his wife and other Serbian Renewal Movement officials after a crowd tried to storm the parliament building late Tuesday. They were protesting the ouster of federal president Dobri ca Cosic, the beating of an opposition deputy by a hardline nationalist in parliament, and worsening economic conditions. UN mission to Zaire

United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali will send a fact-finding mission to Zaire, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

The government of President Mobutu Sese Seko on Friday denied knowledge of the decision. Belgium, Zaire's former colonial ruler, France, and the United States back the Tshisekedi government and have been seeking ways to force Mobutu to respect the democracy process. New home sales soar

Sales of new homes in the US soared 22.7 percent in April to the highest level in more than six years, the US government said yesterday. Sales more than doubled in the Northeast and posted double-digit gains elsewhere.

The Northeast and South had lost sales during a blizzard a month earlier. The departments of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development said sales of new single-family homes in April totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 751,000, up from a revised 612,000 a month earlier. The government initially estimated sales at 637,000 in March. Cambodian election

With 80 percent of ballots counted, the pro-West opposition took a strong lead yesterday in Cambodia's UN-organized election, but the government showed no signs it would gracefully transfer power. So far 3.87 million ballots had been counted from the election, which concluded last Friday. France, Germany on Bosnia

France and Germany stressed yesterday that they regarded the Vance-Owen peace plan as the only valid solution to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In a joint statement issued at a summit in the French town of Beaune, the two countries said they regarded last month's controversial Washington accord as only a first step toward enforcing the plan drafted by international mediators Lord Owen and Cyrus Vance. Indian violence

The army was called out in Bombay yesterday to calm tensions after a leader of India's main opposition Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was gunned down by an assassin on a Muslim holiday. A police spokesman said around 1,500 soldiers had been deployed in Muslim-dominated areas of the city.

Mourners marched in a funeral procession yesterday behind a truck carrying Sharma's body through the streets of his south Bombay constituency, accompanied by police. Streets of Muslim-dominated areas were deserted. A police spokesman said there were no reports of violence and a bicycle shop owner had been arrested in connection with the murder. Election in Paraguay

Congress formally declared Juan Carlos Wasmosy the winner on Tuesday of May 9 balloting, the first democratic elections in Paraguay's 182-year history. Mr. Wasmosy will be sworn in as president Aug. 15 for a five-year term. His Colorado Party got 39.9 percent of votes; liberal candidate Domingo Laino got 32.1 percent; and independent Guillermo Caballero Vargas received 23.1 percent. Nazi trial in France

A French appeals court ruled yesterday that Nazi collaborator Paul Touvier should stand trial for crimes against humanity committed during World War II, the first time a Frenchman will be tried on such charges. The court ordered that Mr. Touvier be tried for his role in the execution of seven Jewish hostages as revenge for the Resistance assassination of Vichy Propaganda Minister Philippe Henriot.