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CROATIA AND YUGOSLAVIA SIGN ACCORD Croatia and the rump state of Yugoslavia signed an agreement yesterday as a first step toward normalizing relations almost three years after Croatia broke away from the former Yugoslav federation. The accord, signed by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic and Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic in Geneva, calls for the two sides to set up representative offices in each other's capitals. Croatian officials said earlier that the agreement, negotiated on the sidelines of Bosnia peace talks in the Swiss city, did not amount to establishment of full diplomatic relations. But they said it was expected to be followed by the reopening of the Belgrade-Zagreb highway, restoration of telephone links, and reopening of an oil pipeline between Croatia and Serbia. Croatia and Slovenia withdrew from the former Yugoslavia in June 1991. The move was followed by a bitter war between Croatia and the Yugoslav army-backed Serb minority. Iran-contra findings

Iran-contra prosecutor Lawrence Walsh said Tuesday that former President Bush's diaries suggest there was a high-level effort in 1986 to coerce then-Secretary of State George Shultz into making his story about Iranian arms sales match with then-President Reagan's. Mr. Walsh's final report concluded that while Mr. Reagan broke no laws, he acquiesced in November 1986 as some of his senior aides concocted a false account to conceal his knowledge of a 1985 missile sale to Iran. Miami imposes curfew

County commissioners in Dade County, Fla., voted Tuesday to adopt a curfew aimed at reducing crime. It requires those under 17 to be off the streets after 11 p.m. weeknights and after midnight on weekends. The controversial measure, which is expected to be challenged in court, will punish repeat violators by recalling their driver's licenses or fining parents up to $500. Other cities, such as Atlanta and Tampa, Fla., have experimented with similar laws. US trade deficit shrinks

Tumbling oil prices in November helped narrow the US trade gap, which shrank by 6.7 percent to $10.17 billion, the Commerce Department said yesterday. But it did little to reduce the huge trade deficit built up over the year. For the first 11 months of 1993, the trade gap reached an annual rate of $118.7 billion, which if sustained would be the highest level in six years, the department said. Tougher Haitian sanctions

The US will join other countries in seeking tougher UN sanctions against Haiti, the State Department said yesterday. The US, France, Canada, and Venezuela had given Haiti's military leaders until last Saturday to take steps toward returning deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power. The Haitians ignored the demand. Existing sanctions against Haiti consist of arms, oil, and trade embargoes. German attack a hoax

An investigation involving a girl who cut a swastika in her cheek and claimed neo-Nazis attacked her has been dropped, a German prosecutor said Tuesday. The girl, who is confined to a wheelchair, claimed on Jan. 10 that she had been attacked by skinheads. The report horrified Germans and led politicians to demand quick action. Prosecutors now say the mark was self-inflicted.