EVENTS

CLINTON SEEKS UN ACTION ON KOREA President Clinton said Saturday that the threat of UN sanctions should prod North Korea to open up to international nuclear inspections and that it was not too late for Pyongyang to comply. As Mr. Clinton spoke, South Korea and Japan backed the push for sanctions after a two-day meeting with US officials at the State Department in Washington. ``North Korea's actions have, in my view, made it virtually imperative that the Security Council consider the question of sanctions,'' Clinton said at a joint news conference with Britain's John Major at Chequers, the country home of the prime minister. The US president rejected Korean claims that sanctions are equivalent to an act of war. Bosnia talks scrapped

The United Nations yesterday called off plans to hold cease-fire talks between the warring Bosnia factions in Geneva, according to Michael Williams, a spokesman for Yasushi Akashi, the United Nations' top official in former Yugoslavia.

A dispute over the Serb presence in the UN exclusion zone around Gorazde has already delayed talks four days. Indonesian aftershocks

Another earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck East Java yesterday in the wake of Friday's quake that killed 218 people. Rescue teams searched in coastal villages through debris left by 20-foot waves that swept as far as one-third of a mile inland. Tennis victory for Spain

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain clinched her second French Open women's singles title yesterday over Mary Pierce of France 6-4, 6-4 in a gripping final. With Sergi Bruguera defeating Alberto Berasategui in the men's finals, Spain has won both singles titles. Roosevelt gets nod

Boston state Rep. Mark Roosevelt won the Bay State Democratic Party endorsement Saturday to challenge Republican Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts in November. Rescue at sea off Florida

Cuban gunboats fired for more than four hours Saturday on a Cuban freighter loaded with Florida-bound refugees who reportedly hijacked the vessel. Seven people were injured. Passengers said three gunboats chased and tried to stop the 125-foot freighter Rene Bedia Morales soon after it left the Port of Mariel.