WORLD AT 1800 GMT UR; NEW: US-EXXON-MOBIL. Exxon agrees to dlrs 77.2 billion deal to buy Mobil. CUBA-CHRISTMAS. Communist nation permanently revives Christmas holiday. MITCH-DEATH TOLL. Honduras lowers its official death toll from hurricane. UR; MAIN SPOT NEWS: NEW YORK Exxon Corp. agrees Tuesday to its much-anticipated dlrs 77.2 billion purchase of Mobil Corp. the costliest merger of all time to create the world's largest oil company. US-EXXON-MOBIL. Lead expected by 2300 GMT. By Eric R. Quinones. AP Photos BEU101. UR; ALSO MOVED: BELGIUM-PETROFINA-TOTAL. France's oil giant Total SA and Belgium's Petrofina SA announce a merger to create the world's fifth largest oil company. AP Photos BRU101 PAR105. RHONE POULENC-HOECHST. Two of Europe's largest drug makers Hoechst of Germany and Rhone-Poulenc of France announce agreement to merge. AP Photos STR101-103 LONDON Gen. Augusto Pinochet distressed at demands by a London hospital that he leave is likely to move to a guarded residence Tuesday his British attorney says. BRITAIN-PINOCHET. Lead has moved; developments will be expedited. By Maureen Johnson. BEIJING Police detain two of China's most prominent dissidents and three other democracy campaigners in a concerted crackdown apparently aimed at crushing a budding opposition party. CHINA-DISSIDENTS. Lead has moved. By John Leicester. MOSCOW With Russia's leaders urgently seeking financial help the International Monetary Fund chief arrives Tuesday for two days of talks on Moscow's frozen loan agreement with the IMF. RUSSIA-ECONOMY. Lead has moved. By Vladimir Isachenkov. AP Photo MOSB104. MOSCOW A Russian helicopter swoops down through a blizzard in the dim light of the brief Arctic day Tuesday to rescue a TV crew stranded for weeks on a remote island. RUSSIA-STRANDED CREW. Lead has moved. BAGHDAD Iraq The United Nations has brought its complement of 120 weapons inspectors in Iraq up to full strength and is ready to resume intrusive searches a U.N. official says Tuesday. IRAQ-UN. Has moved. By Waiel Faleh. AP Photo BAG104. ALSO MOVED: IRAQ-RADIO FREE IRAQ. Iraqi authorities say they won't even bother jamming new U.S.-sponsored broadcasts. WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright opens an international conference on the fate of Nazi-looted art and property Tuesday by remembering her Jewish grandparents who died in the Holocaust and by urging delegates to right history's wrongs. US-HOLOCAUST CONFERENCE. Lead has moved. By Laura Myers. HAVANA Christmas in Cuba is back for good. The Communist Party formally re-establishes a custom that had been abolished in 1969. CUBA-CHRISTMAS. AP Photos HAV101 HAB101. TEGUCIGALPA Honduras Honduras lowers the official death toll from Hurricane Mitch by 1350 and suspends a governor after investigators are unable to verify the hundreds of deaths she reported in her remote northwestern area. MITCH-DEATH TOLL. Has moved. KUPANG Indonesia Christian mobs burn two houses a car and a motorcycle Tuesday on the second day of unrest in a provincial capital where rioters ransacked 15 mosques. INDONESIA-RELIGIOUS TENSION. Has moved. By Sam Martins. AP Photos JAK102-104. DURBAN South Africa Black liberation leaders operated a secret military command to supply vigilantes with weapons while negotiating with the former apartheid government to end white minority rule a Cabinet minister testifies Tuesday. SOUTH AFRICA-AMNESTY. Has moved. By Pat Reber. AP Photo DUR101. MONTREAL Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard faces an awkward challenge after voters return his pro-independence party to power but make clear there is no groundswell of support for secession. CANADA-QUEBEC-ELECTION. Lead expected by 2300 GMT. By David Crary. POTSDAM Germany Germany and France propose broad new priorities for Europe on Tuesday reflecting the left's influence on the political mood: a push to create jobs and better regulation of financial markets. FRANCE-GERMANY. Lead has moved. By Tony Czuczka. AP Photo POT101-103. GUATEMALA CITY In the first war-crimes convictions following Guatemala's civil war three former pro-government fighters are sentenced to death for their role in a 1982 massacre of Indian villagers. GUATEMALA-MASSACRE SENTENCES. Has moved. By Alfonso Anzueto. JOHANNESBURG South Africa Activists across the globe march in the streets distribute condoms and hold benefit concerts to draw attention to AIDS a disease that will kill millions of people this year. WORLD AIDS DAY. Lead expected by 2300 GMT. AP Photos JOH101103. ALSO MOVED: US-CLINTON-AIDS. President Clinton marks World AIDS Day by pledging assistance to AIDS orphans. LOOKING AHEAD: On Thursday U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan visits Tunisia World Council of Churches opens assembly in Harare Zimbabwe. UR; FEATURES MOVED: FEA-JAPAN-BRITTLE BANKS. Japanese banks rush to restructure amid rising tide of red ink. AP Photo NY300. FEA-US-HAYES MODEM. Computer industry pioneer who invented the personal-computer modem struggles for survival. FEA-US-AOL-NETSCAPE-GIZMOS. AOL-Netscape deal could spawn new means of Internet access. FEA-US-AOL-NETSCAPE-CULTURE CLASH. Critics fear end of 'free and open' Internet. YOUR QUERIES: The Associated Press World Service editors in charge are Ian Mader and Kim Gamel. Suggestions and story requests to The Associated Press World Service are welcome. Contact your local AP bureau or the AP International Desk in New York telephone 1 212-621-1650 fax 1 212-621-5449. APW19981201.1338.txt.body.html APW19981201.1103.txt.body.html