WORLD
RABIN ASSASSINATED
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot and killed as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv. His alleged attacker, a 25-year-old Jewish law student named Yigal Amir, was arrested on the spot. He reportedly said he acted alone, although he has been linked to a tiny extremist group called Eyal, which fiercely rejects Rabin's participation in peace negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization. "I am very sad and very shocked," said P.L.O. leader Yasser Arafat. President Clinton, who called Rabin "a martyr for his nation's peace," will attend Monday's funeral. The Israeli Cabinet immediately named Foreign Minister Shimon Peres acting Prime Minister. A government spokesman vowed "to press ahead with the peace process.''
CANADA, BY A HAIR
After a boisterous campaign that stirred passions in Canadians from all provinces, Quebec chose to remain part of Canada, voting 50.6% against secession and 49.4% for it in a special plebiscite. The razor-thin margin consisted of just 52,448 votes out of almost 5 million cast; the 93.4% turnout was a record. One day later, Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois, announced that he would resign before year's end. But charismatic Quebec politician Lucien Bouchard insisted that the cause of secession is not dead: "The next time will be the right one. And the next time may come sooner than people think."
YELTSIN REAPPEARS BRIEFLY
Triggering worldwide anxiety about Russian President Boris Yeltsin's health, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin took on more of the day-to-day governance of the country. Although Chernomyrdin said Yeltsin will still make all major decisions, the ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Security have been reporting to Chernomyrdin. At week's end, Yeltsin appeared for less than a minute on Russian television, looking wan and puffy and slurring his speech. He is scheduled to remain in the hospital until the end of the month.
BOSNIA PEACE MOVES
Meeting at the heavily guarded Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio, the leaders of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia made limited progress on plans for ending the 42-month-old war in Bosnia. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the U.S. expects Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to be ousted from power shortly; the two have been indicted by an international tribunal as war criminals.
COURT ORDERS CULT DISBANDED
The Tokyo District Court, finding that Japan's Aum Shinrikyo manufactured the sarin nerve gas used in the Tokyo subway attack, ordered that the cult lose its tax-sheltered status as a religious organization. The ruling paves the way for a liquidation of Aum's assets, estimated at anywhere from $20 million to $1 billion. The proceeds from the sale would be seized by the government or used to settle lawsuits against the cult. Echoing the relief felt by a vast majority of his countrymen, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said, "We were expecting to hear this conclusion, and I am glad to hear the result." The cult has filed an appeal contesting the ruling.
SUBWAY FIRE KILLS 288