December 26, 1996

Rev Peter Colapietro, pastor at Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross on West 42d Street, describes working on Christmas; photo (M)

Dennis Ross, American mediator, expects Israelis and Palestinians to seal an agreement on West Bank city of Hebron within a week, praising both sides for approaching negotiations as partners; agreement is expected to provide various arrangements to maintain and safeguard Jewish enclaves in center of Hebron and assure Jewish access to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to recommit Israel to withdrawal from more areas in West Bank within six weeks (M)

Pres Alberto K Fujimori of Peru projects an iron will in face of Marxist guerrilla takeover of Japanese Ambassador's residence and shows no signs of abandoning his authoritarian ways; many of his critics fear that his rigidity is jeopardizing lives of hostages, but officials and foreign diplomats believe Fujimori is a sensible leader who will compromise, but only if absolutely necessary; rumors circulate that several unofficial deals are being negotiated to free hostages, including one with Japanese Government; photo (M)

Bagels are rapidly growing in popularity, allowing Bruegger's Corp, Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp and Manhattan Bagel Co to spread into nation's midsection; bagel sales are expected to total $2.3 billion in 1996, up from $429 million in 1993; graphs; maps; photo (M)

Number of prison inmates receiving medical care from managed-care contractor is growing by about 20 percent a year as state and local governments seek to cut costs; private companies get fixed fee--no matter what care inmates later require--and set strict rules on when doctors can call specialists, use expensive tests or send inmates to the hospital; inmate advocates fear companies lack an incentive to provide quality care, but companies say the provide equal or better care than government does while saving taxpayers money; largest company, Correctional Medical Services, a subsidiary of Aramark, has contracts with jails and prisons in 28 states, cares for 162,000 inmates and has annual revenues over $200 million; graph (M)