May 28, 2001

AIDS virus has devastated impoverished and remote Donghu, China, where some 80 percent of adults carry HIV and over 60 percent are already debilitated; depth of tragedy in villages like Donghu, something officials in Henan Province have generally insisted is not problem, is only now emerging as desperate, dying farmers have started to speak out; many farmers in province were infected in 1990's at government-owned collection stations where they sold their blood; virus has continued to spread through other routes because officials have blocked research and education drives; map; photos (M)

Mideast Talks, and Bombs President Bush's new emissary met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders against a backdrop of two bombings in Jerusalem. PAGE A5 Words of Wisdom What do Kofi Annan, Jon Bon Jovi and Stephen King have in common? All shared their wisdom at the nation's commencements. PAGE A10

Bush administration strategists say United States will offer Russia arms purchases, military aid and joint antimissile exercises to win its cooperation in scrapping 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty; say deal will likely include offer to buy Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missiles that could be integrated into defensive shield over Russia and Europe; plan reflects Pres Bush's need for Pres Vladimir V Putin's consent to scrap treaty, both to defuse European objections and to satisfy Congress (M)

Alan Webb, high school senior from Reston, Va, breaks Jim Ryun's 36-year-old scholastic mile record with time of 3:53:43 at Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore; photo (M)

Interview with artist James Casebere, whose photographs are on display at new Sean Kelly gallery and will be shown at Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; photos (M)