EVENTS

U.S. PREPARES FOR MORE CUBAN REFUGEES The United States is preparing to house thousands of Cubans - perhaps up to 65,000 - at Guantanamo naval base for an indefinite period, says US Defense Secretary William Perry. Meanwhile, in Havana, Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz charged that US immigration policy and its economic embargo created the mass exodus from the island. [See related stories, Pages 1 and 7.] But Attorney General Janet Reno scoffed at Castro's comments yesterday, telling the NBC television network that Castro was encouraging the flow of refugees to help himself. Since the US halted automatic asylum for Cubans on Friday, nearly 10,000 people have been picked up from rickety boats and rafts and are on their way to Guantanamo or are already there. The base already houses 14,000 Haitians who fled their country. Serbian deal reported

The international community is prepared to offer Serbia a partial end to UN sanctions if Belgrade allows monitors on its border with Bosnia, the Yugoslav news agency said yesterday. The Tanjug report said Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev would offer the deal Sunday during a meeting with President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, the dominant state in Yugoslavia.

There was no independent confirmation of the report, which Tanjug said came from unidentified Western sources. Lesotho settlement sought

Lesotho's larger neighbors applied pressure yesterday on its king and prime minister to settle a constitutional crisis that has divided the tiny mountain kingdom since last week.

At a four-nation summit in Pretoria, Lesotho King Letsie III was brought face-to-face with the democratically elected prime minister, whom he ousted Aug. 17. Lesotho, a former British colony, is completely surrounded by South Africa. Dissident reported beaten

A Chinese dissident imprisoned for drafting a ``Peace Charter'' and opposing Beijing's Olympic bid has been savagely beaten by his guards, according to a petition to parliament from his wife. In her appeal to the National People's Congress, Li Jinfang, wife of Qin Yongmin, asked it to intervene. Japan backs Viet reforms

Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama pledged support for Vietnam's economic reforms yesterday as he became the first Japanese leader to visit Vietnam since the Vietnam War. Vietnamese leaders, who are hoping that Japanese investment will fuel an economic boom, gave Mr. Murayama a warm reception in Hanoi. NAACP, Chavis to talk

The NAACP and its fired executive director, Benjamin Chavis Jr., said Wednesday that they would discuss an amicable settlement after Judge Herbert Dixon of District of Columbia Superior Court declined Mr. Chavis's request for a temporary restraining order.