Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 16:10:35 EST Message-ID: \SE A;TOP OF THE NEWS;WORLD \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Peace talks' chances characterized as dim The chief Palestinian negotiator in Washington accused Israel yesterday of taking inflexible positions on an Arab-Israeli settlement and said the outlook for peace in the Middle East was dim. Despite the pessimistic account, the two sides discussed the disposition of territory on the West Bank and in Gaza as well as economic problems, and Israel said it was prepared to hold another round of peace talks here next month. The current round is scheduled to end tomorrow. The Bush administration, which is hosting the talks, suggested a resumption in early December. Itamar Rabinonich, who heads the Israeli delegation in talks with Syria, said there was only a slim chance Israel and Syria could reach any sort of agreement by tomorrow. But he said he had "a feeling" the two sides were making headway in their discussion of peace and security arrangements. S=NEW STORY Vandals desecrate Begin's grave JERUSALEM - Vandals poured black paint and scrawled a swastika on the hillside grave of the late Israeli leader Menachem Begin yesterday, police said. Mr. Begin was buried in the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives on March 9. The cemetery is in the part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed. Israel's seventh prime minister, Mr. Begin signed a historic peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and ordered the 1982 Lebanon invasion that became Israel's most divisive war. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said the desecration was being investigated. He said the stone slab was unbroken, and police hoped to have the grave cleaned by today. S=NEW STORY Shining Path bombs wound 10 around Lima LIMA, Peru - Leftist guerrillas exploded a series of bombs in Lima and a nearby port yesterday wounding at least 10 people and damaging a school, a police station, banks and a U.S. Embassy facility, police said. As the attacks occurred, Shining Path guerrillas circulated fliers and painted slogans in shantytowns of the capital calling for a general strike today and tomorrow to protest Sunday's elections for a constituent assembly. The elections are aimed at restoring a balance of powers in Peru after President Alberto Fujimori suspended constitutional rule in April. S=NEW STORY Report on roads worldwide released GENEVA - Roads in Latvia and Turkey are among the most dangerous in the world, although India has the highest accident death toll, according to statistics published yesterday. The report by the private International Road Federation shows that Hong Kong has the most crowded roads and Kuwaitis own the most cars per family. Mexico and Spain fare best in the construction category, with Mexico adding 1,200 miles to its superhighway system and Spain 600 miles between 1989-1990. Investment in roads in the United States and Canada, by contrast, has gone through a period of stagnation, the report says. S=NEW STORY Cheap drawings certified as van Goghs PARIS - Six landscape drawings bought for a song from a French antique dealer three years ago are by Vincent van Gogh, their Italian owner said yesterday. Franceso Plateroti, who purchased the six drawings for $80 in 1990, told reporters he never dreamed they were worth more than what he paid until he removed the frames and found van Gogh's signature. The signatures were authenticated by Giflles Giessner, an Appeals Court graphologist who worked in conjunction with the Paris police laboratory. A committee of European art experts, curators and historians also confirmed that the works were authentic, based on van Gogh's correspondence, his handwriting, and computerized analysis of the paper and drawing materials. S=NEW STORY Chinese industry grew rapidly in October BEIJING - China posted a record industrial growth in October, spurring local analysts to assert that the Chinese economy has now developed a pattern of high-speed growth, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Industrial output soared 22.4 percent in October over the same month in 1991, Xinhua said, quoting the latest monthly State Statistics Bureau figures. This is the largest year-on-year increase this year and raises the annualized growth rate for the January-October period to 19.7 percent, Xinhua said. Growth euphoria among state planning officials may be exacerbating the problem now that China looks likely to boast the fastest-growing economy in the world this year, foreign observers say. S=NEW STORY Major backs democracy in Hong Kong LONDON - Prime Minister John Major faced down a Chinese threat to pull out of agreements on the future of Hong Kong yesterday, telling a senior Chinese official that he supports plans to extend democracy in the colony. Britain also announced that former Foreign Secretary Lord Howe will lead a six-member delegation on human rights to China next month. One goal is to monitor the status of political prisoners, including students held after 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and workers. Mr. Major told Vice Prime Minister Zhu Rongji that he backed Hong Kong Gov. Chris Patten's plan to have more elected legislators in the colony before it is handed over to China in 1997, Mr. Major's Downing Street office said. S=NEW STORY Unnamed Collor aide accused of huge bribe BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil's attorney general said he was offered a $50 million bribe to drop the charges against suspended President Fernando Collor de Mello in a corruption scandal, a TV network reported yesterday. Attorney General Aristides Junqueira said an unnamed confidant of Mr. Collor offered the bribe "as a starter and then as much as I wanted to not bring criminal charges against Collor," said TV Globo, Brazil's largest network. The president was suspended Oct. 2 for six months, pending a Senate impeachment trial. He will be ousted permanently if the Senate convicts him of "lack of decorum," grounds for impeachment under Brazil's constitution. Mr. Junqueira charged Mr. Collor last Wednesday with corruption and forming a criminal gang. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. 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