EVENTS

PROGRESS MADE IN US-JAPAN TRADE GAP At the Group of Seven summit in Tokyo, President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said progress was being made in last-minute talks aimed at forging a framework agreement that the United States believes will help reduce America's $50 billion trade deficit with Japan. In addition to discussing trade, leaders from the US, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, and Germany were expected to devote their three days of talks to exploring other ways to bolster global growth. Japan and Germany, t he world's two other economic superpowers, were expected to be pressured to do more to stimulate domestic demand. At the summit, Mr. Clinton also stressed that the US would maintain its military presence in Asia and would honor security commitments if North Korea builds nuclear weapons. Georgian martial law

Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze declared martial law July 6 in the breakaway Black Sea province of Abkhazia, Georgian radio said. The move followed five days of intense clashes between Georgian forces and Abkhaz independence rebels around the regional capital of Sukhumi.

The order said the period of martial law would come into force later July 7 for an initial period of two months. The move by Mr. Shevardnadze, who is commander-in-chief of the Georgian armed forces as well as head of state, has to be confirmed by parliament. Shevardnadze narrowly escaped death in Abkhazia July 4 when a shell exploded close to his car. France halts India nukes

France will no longer sell India fuel for a nuclear power plant because New Delhi refuses to let its nuclear installations be inspected by international agencies, French officials said July 6. France has been supplying India with uranium for 10 years, but the contract will not be renewed when it expires Oct. 23, a French diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

India rejects international inspection, saying it would take away New Delhi's option to build a nuclear weapon. India says it needs to keep that option because of a threat from Pakistan, an archenemy that also is reportedly developing nuclear weapons. Germans admit killing

A suspected Red Army Faction guerrilla killed in a police ambush June 27 was shot in the head at point-blank range, Germany's federal criminal office said July 6, quoting official reports. The office added, however, that an independent report's findings indicated "the shot which killed Grams did not come from a police weapon."

Wolfgang Grams fired several shots with his own weapon during the gunbattle at a remote northeast German train station and may have been responsible for the death of a policeman who died in the shootout.

Two witnesses have told news media they saw a policeman in the elite GSG-9 unit immobilize Grams by kneeling on him, and then shoot him point-blank. US abortion protests

As Operation Rescue plans its July 9-18 "Cities of Refuge" demonstration aimed at closing abortion clinics, target cities are making plans of their own.

Two Cleveland suburbs in early July banned picketing in residents' driveways, obstructing traffic, and disturbing the peace at a residence. Abortion opponents often demonstrate outside the homes of doctors, nurses, and other clinic staff members. The Philadelphia and San Jose, Calif., city councils have made it illegal to prevent patients from entering abortion clinics. Taking a cue from Baton Rouge, La., police in St. Paul, Minn., have erected an 8-foot-high, chain-link fence around the Planned Parentho od clinic. Officers guard the gates. UN population report

The unprecedented growth in migration "could become the human crisis of our age," the United Nations Population Fund said July 6. People are moving from rural areas to cities on a scale unknown in history, and more than 100 million migrants have left their home countries in search of a better life, the fund's annual State of World Population report said.

An estimated 37 million people have fled violence, drought, environmental destruction, and other disasters, the report said.