Eric Gay/AP Linda Rosfeld watches the rain as she stands on the porch of her home in San Antonio yesterday. Rosfeld's home was destroyed over the weekend when flash floods swept through the area.

QUEENSTOWN, Md. - Israel suspended all negotiations with the Palestinians on issues other than security yesterday after a bloody attack at a busy Israeli bus stop threatened already lagging Mideast peace talks.

A senior Palestinian official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, dismissed the Israeli move as ''cheap blackmail.''

President Clinton said the grenade attack was a ''complicating factor'' in the talks, which entered their fifth day yesterday. But he returned to the secluded conference site along the Wye River to try to coax Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to conclude a land-for-peace deal.

Clinton then held a three-way session with the two leaders, P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said.

It was the first time Netanyahu and Arafat had met face-to-face since last Friday and the first three-way session involving Clinton since then.

Milosevic not complying with agreement

BERISHA MOUNTAIN, Yugoslavia - The guerrilla laid his sniper rifle on the ground, raised his binoculars and pushed a thorny branch to one side. ''See it there - in the clump of trees near the pile of red bricks?'' he asked.

Nestled under an arbor of autumn leaves near a farmhouse 400 yards below was a Yugoslav army armored vehicle, brought in just hours earlier yesterday morning.

To the Kosovo Liberation Army rebels, the tank and other government weaponry are proof the Serb forces are not abiding by the agreement reached by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and American negotiator Richard Holbrooke, and are in fact preparing a new offensive.

However, international officials are also concerned the KLA may be the spoiler in the fine-tuned Holbrooke plan. The Serbs say the KLA is deliberately trying to provoke them with a series of planned ambushes.

A Yugoslav army armored column moved out of Pristina headed for the central mountains of Kosovo Sunday - and, according to the KLA, another came eastward from Pec to join it.

The Serbs have beefed up the forces already in Kosovo and virtually surrounded the troublesome mountain area, a stronghold of KLA guerrillas fighting for independence for the southern province of Serbia, whose 2 million people are 90 percent ethnic Albanian.

Government lawyers make opening remarks as Microsoft trial begins

WASHINGTON - Government lawyers opened their landmark antitrust trial against Microsoft Corp. yesterday by accusing the software titan of a carefully crafted, no-holds barred campaign to illegally ''crush'' a rival company.

The hard-core tactics alleged by the government included Microsoft using its money and influence as the maker of the hugely popular Windows operating system to intimidate computer makers and entice other companies to distribute Microsoft's own Internet software over that of Netscape Communications Corp.

The government contended Microsoft launched its war with Netscape after a controversial June 1995 meeting at which Microsoft allegedly proposed, unsuccessfully, to divide the market for Internet software. Microsoft has denied ever making such an offer, which would be illegal under antitrust laws.

''What you see is a consistent pattern of Microsoft doing this, using its monopoly power, using its leverage, using everything it has,'' Justice lawyer David Boies told U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.

Microsoft's lawyers were expected to make their opening arguments today.

Hundreds of activists rally at the Pentagon

WASHINGTON - Several hundred peace activists, including comedian Dick Gregory, rallied near the Pentagon yesterday to protest military policies and spending.

About 21 protesters were arrested without incident earlier in the day at the Pentagon Metro station, allegedly for trying to block Defense Department workers from entering the building.

''If the Pentagon had to plan what we did today, it would cost billions of dollars,'' Gregory told the rally, sponsored by the War Resisters League.

Gregory said the Pentagon was ''drunk with power'' but that its missiles had no power. ''The missiles of love that we have ... they will win out.''

A series of speakers addressed the group gathered in the rain on the Pentagon's parade field, normally used for formal welcoming ceremonies for visiting dignitaries.

''We say no to war, we say no to the war machine,'' one large poster read. ''Healthcare not warfare,'' said another.

Ohio meat business demand low; slaughterhouses forced to close

DAYTON, Ohio - Ohio is living low on the hog when it comes to slaughterhouses.

A decline in the production of pork and beef has forced most major Ohio meatpacking plants to close, sending livestock producers on long, expensive road trips to market.

''The packers want to locate where the livestock is. It's that simple,'' said Dick Isler, executive vice president of the Ohio Pork Producers Council.

Southwest Ohio was once a world center of meatpacking. But starting in the 1970s, many of the slaughterhouses closed down as the industry consolidated.

''They couldn't compete with the larger packers,'' said Dennis Baker, an agricultural extension agent in Darke County. ''They couldn't offer as much. They had larger overheads than what it would take to compete with the big guys.''

Ohio ranks eighth in pork production and 27th in beef among the 50 states. However, it produces just half the hogs and two-thirds of the cattle it did 50 years ago.

One major pork slaughtering plant still exists in Ohio, but it is far too small to handle all the state's hogs. There is no major plant for cattle.

Kroger merger creates grocery powerhouse

CINCINNATI - Kroger Co. announced yesterday that it's buying Fred Meyer Inc. to create a grocery powerhouse designed to compete with the emergence of other giant retailers, including Wal-Mart, in the supermarket business.

The $8 billion merger will create a company with supermarkets from Virginia to Alaska. The combined company will retain Kroger's name and Cincinnati headquarters, but the component supermarket chains will keep their own identities while trying to learn from each other, executives said.

Fred Meyer's expertise at marketing imported items and seafood should help Kroger, and Kroger's experience in running combined supermarkets and drug stores should benefit Fred Meyer, Kroger consultant Paul Bernish said.

Otherwise, shoppers should not expect to see much that looks different in their stores. The companies already target the stores to satisfy the tastes of the neighborhoods that the outlets serve, Bernish said.

''These are two companies with strong local franchises. Why mess with it?'' Kroger spokeswoman Lynn Marmer said.

Kroger operates 1,398 food stores, 802 convenience stores and 34 manufacturing plants that supply Kroger stores and outside customers. Portland, Ore.-based Fred Meyer operates 800 food and general merchandise stores in 12 western states from Alaska to Texas, including Ralphs, Food 4 Less and Hughes Family Markets.

Lawsuit against tobacco company begins

MIAMI - The first class-action lawsuit brought by smokers against the tobacco industry went to trial yesterday with the plaintiffs' lawyer accusing cigarette companies of trying to confuse people about the dangers of smoking.

As many as 500,000 sick Florida smokers are seeking $200 billion in damages from the nation's five largest cigarette makers.

''The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen, that this is an industry that has never accepted their responsibility - corporate responsibility - for the devastating health consequences caused by cigarettes,'' lawyer Stanley Rosenblatt said in his opening statement to the jury.

The only previous class-action lawsuit against the industry to make it to trial was that of flight attendants who claimed secondhand smoke made them sick. In that case, also handled by Rosenblatt, the tobacco industry agreed to a $300 million settlement to establish a research foundation.

The tobacco industry has also agreed to pay four states a total of $37 billion to settle lawsuits over the costs of treating sick smokers. Florida was among those states, but nothing in its settlement prevents individuals from suing.

Summer school enrollment down; Faculty Senate discusses options

Members of the faculty senate discussed the low enrollment of students in Ohio University's summer school program at its meeting last night.

OU's summer school enrollment is down 3 percent from last year, but this will not have any financial implications for the university, said Provost Sharon Brehm.

In 1997, OU had 5,313 students enrolled for summer classes, and in 1998, OU only had 5,160 students enrolled, said Louis Wright, faculty senate chairman.

Summer school enrollment might be increased if the university's process for choosing what classes to offer in the summer changes, Wright said.

Under the current system, the course only will be offered if enough students sign up for the class, he said.

However, if the university decides ahead of time what classes they are going to offer and guarantees these courses will be offered no matter how many students enroll, more students might decide to stay for the summer, Wright said.

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