EVENTS

US REVISES ITS HAITI REFUGEE POLICY President Clinton, in Riga, Latvia, on a visit to Europe, described his new refugee policy for Haitian boat people as ``appropriate'' and added, ``I also think the sanctions are having an impact'' on the military dictatorship. The administration changed its Haiti policy Tuesday and said the tidal wave of Haitian refugees trying to reach the United States will be redirected to Panama and other countries under a plan that offers financial aid to Caribbean nations in return for easing the crush of asylum seekers. Under the new Clinton policy, Haitians who flee their country will not be allowed into the US. They will be either returned home or taken to safe havens in Panama, Antigua, or Dominica. But the new arrangement for refugees is drawing fire from backers of exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They are threatening to challenge it in court. Rwanda refugee tide

Refugees streaming into southwestern Rwanda are finding French soldiers to protect them, but little of the aid they need to survive. An estimated 400,000 ethnic Hutus have fled to southern Rwanda to escape advances by the mostly Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, which has taken control of the capital and about two-thirds of the central African nation. More refugees are expected now that French troops who intervened two weeks ago to protect civilians have declared a security zone in the southwestern corner of Rwanda. S. Africa's Keys resigns

President Nelson Mandela assured the business community and investors yesterday that the tight fiscal policies of resigning Finance Minister Derek Keys would continue. Mr. Keys, a crucial figure in Mr. Mandela's unity government, cited personal reasons for his announcement that he would step down in October. Share prices dropped on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange the morning after Keys's statement and Mandela's appointment of another white businessman, Chris Liebenberg, to succeed him. Wildfires and a flood

Fires were still burning yesterday in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, Idaho, and Wyoming. Smaller fires in Montana and Washington were controlled or contained Tuesday. Meanwhile, rain continued to fall in Georgia after the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto washed out roads and bridges and broke dams, forcing hundreds to flee their homes. In Spain, an army of firefighters, soldiers, and volunteers battled to control wildfires that have ripped through 250,000 acres in that country.