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UN SEEKS CONTROL OF KIGALI AIRPORT Rwanda's warring sides met in delicate negotiations yesterday to give UN troops full control of Kigali's airport, the lifeline for the embattled capital and the staging point for 5,500 new peacekeepers. UN officials want rebel and government troops to withdraw all weapons at least 1-1/4 miles from the airport. Cooperation from both sides is a key element in the UN's plans to reinforce its peacekeeping force with the new troops and to set up safe areas for civilians in the city and in the countryside. US interest rates rise

The cost of borrowing just got higher for prospective home buyers, credit card holders, and companies investing in new equipment. The Federal Reserve raised two key interest rates Tuesday to head off inflation by slowing the economy. Many banks responded by raising their prime rates on business and consumer loans to 7.25 percent, from 6.75 percent. Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

Shelling and fighting resumed yesterday around Nagorno-Karabakh after the breakdown of peace talks in Moscow, the latest of many attempts to halt the worst ethnic conflict in the former Soviet Union. Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Mamedrafi Mamedov, left Moscow after failing to reach agreement on cease-fire details. Damaged freeway reopens

A section of the Golden State Freeway, California's major north-south highway, is open again, four months after being shattered by the 6.7-magnitude Los Angeles earthquake Jan. 17. The first vehicles rolled onto southbound lanes of Interstate 5's Gavin Canyon Bridge, 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, on Tuesday. Northbound lanes were expected to reopen yesterday. Dominican Republic vote

Soldiers patrolled the streets of Santo Domingo yesterday to prevent disturbances as President Joaquin Balaguer crept toward victory in fraud-marred elections in the Dominican Republic. Opposition parties alleged the Balaguer-run election board prevented as many as 200,000 eligible voters from casting ballots and placed thousands of phony entries for Mr. Balaguer in the computer vote count. International election monitors and diplomats confirmed some fraud, and leading challenger Jose Francisco Pena Gomez demanded a recount. Turtle stops traffic

Police in Myrtle Beach, S.C., said that Patty Benton broke the law by braking for a turtle. Now a national wildlife group is offering Ms. Benton a break. Defenders of Wildlife has offered to pay the $60 traffic ticket Benton got for stopping on a highway to help the turtle, which, by the way, made it safely to the other side of the road.