5 Americans killed in tour bus accident

NEW DELHI, India (AP) - A bus carrying a U.S. university tour group rolled into a ditch on the way to the Taj Mahal yesterday, killing five Americans, the U.S. Embassy said.

The embassy said four students were hospitalized. A newspaper said at least 18 students were injured but the report could not be immediately confirmed.

The bus overturned in the ditch as it was trying to pass another vehicle. The Indian bus driver and a tour guide also were killed in the accident in northern India.

There were 30 people on the bus - 27 Americans, the Indian guide and two Indian drivers.

Mexico home to highest deforestation rate

SAN JUAN PARANGARICUTIRO, Mexico (AP) - In the past decade Mexico has been deforested at a faster rate than any other country, President Ernesto Zedillo said here.

In announcing a forestry plan for 1995-2000, Zedillo said in this town in the western state of Michoacan that Mexico is being deforested at the rate of about 2.5 million acres a year, news reports said.

Zedillo said the program calls for a $7 million funding of a new Forest Development Fund that will encourage sustainable development and commercial investment in tree farming.

Zedillo said the Finance Secretariat is willing to finance up to 65 percent of the start-up costs for such investment. Businesses investing in tree farms will be able to defer tax payments for as long as 20 years.