EVENTS

US OVERSEES MIDEAST PEACE TALKS With strong US support, Israel and Jordan yesterday forged a commitment to hasten peace by agreeing develop a highway, a park, and other marks of commerce that could result in sharing water resources and technology. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Salam Majali met publicly in Jordan for the first time. On Monday, Jordan's King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin will hold a summit in Washington with President Clinton. US Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the US would ask Congress about providing new weapons to Jordan. Bosnian airlift suspended

The United Nations airlift to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, was suspended yesterday for the first time in 2 1/2 months after a US Air Force cargo plane was hit by a round of fire after takeoff, a UN official said. No injuries were reported in the incident, which happened as international mediators tried to get the warring parties to agree to a peace plan in Geneva. Berlusconi withdraws decree

Nationwide anger has forced Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to withdraw a decree limiting magistrates' power of arrest, his first major defeat since entering politics seven months ago. He was forced to drop the decree Tuesday amid tension in his coalition and clamor that it was a whitewash for corrupt politicians. The decree will be replaced by a draft law that limits use of preventive detention, although corruption suspects will be included among those who can be imprisoned. Single-parent families

With high divorce rates and more Americans delaying marriage, the number of children living with single parents is up sharply. About 27 percent under 18 lived with one parent last year, up from 12 percent in 1970, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. ``Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1993'' also noted more births to single women. Some 35 percent of children in single-parent situations lived with a never-married parent in 1993, nearly as many as the 37 percent who lived with a divorced parent. Apollo ceremony planned

Twenty-five years after US astronauts first walked on the moon, the White House prepared yesterday to honor the mens who did it. The Clintons and Vice President Al Gore Jr. were slated to attend a ceremony commemorating the July 20, 1969, mission by Neil Armstrong, Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Housing starts fall

Construction starts on new homes and apartments took an unexpectedly steep tumble in June, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, as rising interest rates took a toll on building activity. The annual rate of starts on new homes slumped 9.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million units after a revised rise of 1.8 percent in May. Guerrillas kill general

Leftist guerrillas in Colombia shot Gen. Carlos Julio Gil Colorado to death after a bomb failed to kill him. He was the highest-ranking Army officer slain in Colombia in 20 years. Tuesday's attack was apparently part of an offensive by rebels known as the Simon Bolivar Guerrilla Coordinator. Guerrillas also attacked Bogota-area targets. New kangaroo species found

A species of tree kangaroo that whistles and shows off its belly was discovered in June in Irian Jaya in New Guinea, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.