EVENTS
MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALKS TO RESUME
Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced yesterday that the Arab-Israeli peace talks will resume next Tuesday in Washington. The move comes after Palestinians and other Arab participants in the talks, meeting in Damascus, announced their willingness to resume negotiations. Mr. Christopher called the decision to resume the talks after four months `a courageous one' for the Palestinians to take. The talks had been suspended since Israel's Dec. 17 deportation of 400 Muslim fundamentalist extremists t o south Lebanon. Court backs Yeltsin
Russia's Constitutional Court yesterday boosted President Boris Yeltsin's chance of winning a referendum on his leadership by ruling that he needs only a majority of ballots cast. The court overturned a stipulation by Russia's Congress that Mr. Yeltsin win a majority of eligible voters not just those who turn out to vote. Owen visits Belgrade
International mediator Lord Owen received a hostile reception yesterday in Belgrade. He was there in a last-ditch attempt to convince Serbs to accept the UN peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina. He met with Yugoslav head of state Dobrica Cosic and was to meet President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, considered the key figure in convincing Serb insurgents in Bosnia to sign the plan. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic refused to meet Mr. Owen, saying he had "nothing to discuss with a man who wants to shoot a t us." Rioting in Gaza Strip
Israeli troops shot and injured more than 20 Palestinians yesterday during an attempt to quell stone-throwing protesters in Gaza Strip refugee camps. The rioting was ordered by the Muslim fundamentalist group Hamas in response to Israel's four-week-old closure of the Gaza Strip and to the fatal shootings of two fugitives this week. GOP wins on jobs bill
Resolute Republicans beat back another Democratic attempt to end the filibuster blocking President Clinton's jobs bill yesterday, forcing the president to decide whether to abandon the package altogether. Senators voted 56-43 to end the GOP delaying tactics, falling four votes short of the 60 needed to end the filibuster that has blocked the measure since last month. Republicans are outnumbered 57-43 in the chamber, but they have now dealt the president a major defeat. High court ruling
The Supreme Court yesterday refused by one vote to impose a severe new restriction on federal judges' power to reverse state court criminal convictions. The justices, splitting 5-4 in a Michigan murder case, said defendants who receive a "fair and full" chance to mount Miranda challenges to their state convictions can, after failing, still turn to federal judges for help. Ohio prison standoff
Niki Schwartz, a lawyer advising inmates in Ohio's bloody prison uprising, said an end to the crisis appeared at hand after inmates and state officials negotiated face-to-face for the first time on Tuesday. Mr. Schwartz said the inmates assured authorities that their five hostages all of them guards were alive and well. US to join eco-treaty
President Clinton is committing the United States to join an international treaty on plants and animals, but is holding back on specific targets to combat global warming, administration officials say. The president was scheduled to unveil his proposal yesterday as he marked Earth Day a day early. `Home Alone' saga
The real-life "Home Alone" case in Geneva, Ill., has taken a new twist. A judge has ruled that David and Sharon Schoo the couple accused of leaving their two young daughters home alone while they vacationed will get to visit the girls, but must prove they are reformed parents before regaining custody. The Schoos pleaded guilty Monday of contributing to the neglect of a child.
