EVENTS

EUROPEAN UNION LOOKS EASTWARD Foreign ministers from 22 nations held a first joint meeting in Luxembourg yesterday to pave the way for eastward expansion of the European Union by the end of the century. The 12 current members and four nations slated to join the EU next year opened talks with foreign ministers from six former communist nations to discuss admission requirements and aid.`` We have achieved a new quality in our relations,'' German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel told the six East European nations, stressing that expansion into Eastern Europe was one of the top issues in the coming years. The Eastern European foreign ministers are expected to press for membership negotiations to open as soon as two years from now. US, China talk arms

China and the United States edged closer on arms-control issues after their first talks in six years, a top US official said yesterday. John Holum, director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, met Liu Huaqiu, China's deputy foreign minister, to try for an agreement on a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty.

White House gunfire

Francisco Duran of Colorado Springs, Colo., who sprayed the White House with bullets Sunday, was to be arraigned yesterday in Washington. White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta said a Secret Service proposal to close Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House would be considered. But he added: ``It's not only Pennsylvania Avenue that is threatened by these types of weapons. It's probably every street in the country.''

US delegation in Burma

The first high-level US delegation since the Burmese Army took power six years ago arrived yesterday on a visit that has fueled speculation the United States wants to upgrade relations with the ruling junta. During the three-day visit, the delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Thomas Hubbard, will discuss human rights, democracy, and the fight against narcotics.

Fires in Detroit

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer rushed from fire to fire Sunday night trying to figure out why the city's two-year trend of stemming Devil's Night arsons was going up in smoke. Scores of fires were lit across the city and one child was killed. Many residents claimed that a smaller than usual number of volunteer patrols contributed to the resurgence of the dangerous Halloween Eve tradition. In Camden, N.J., which also has a history of Oct. 30 arsons, volunteers and police patrols were credited with keeping arsons down.