NEWS LITE\Is that a U2 over Sarajevo? No, just Bono.

Byline: Compiled by Jim LaVally fronm Daily News staff and wire reports.

A visit to long-besieged Sarajevo left the U2 rocker Bono red-eyed Sunday - from staying up late to celebrate peace with the Bosnian Muslims, whose cause he championed.

Bono apologized for wearing black wraparound sunglasses, saying, "I'm not a poseur." The Irish singer stayed late into the night in a popular downtown restaurant with Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey and other prominent Sarajevans.

Sacirbey also planned a New Year's party for Bono and his wife, Ali.

"I'm very happy to be the first tourist in the new Sarajevo," Bono said soon after his arrival Saturday on a United Nations transport plane.

He pledged to stage a concert next time he comes, saying he wanted to do it during the siege but was told that the threat of shelling made it too dangerous for large crowds to gather.

Unfortunately for Sarajevans, the band has commitments through 1996.

No, wait, I'M supposed to tie YOU up

A convict in Las Vegas who escaped from prison picked the wrong house to break into Sunday: He was tied up by the couple who lived there.

"Our people were chasing him the entire time and that's why he had to expose himself by breaking into the house," said Glen Whorton, Nevada state prisons spokesman. "He was hungry, thirsty and cold."

The couple, whose names were not released, tied up Janko Gasic and held him for about 20 minutes until police arrived. Gasic was unarmed.

Gasic, 40, apparently escaped Wednesday by cutting a hole in the fence at the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs, 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas. A hacksaw was found near the opening.

A man believed to be Gasic was spotted in the desert Wednesday morning, and dogs and helicopters were called out for the search.

Pope 1, flu 0

Recovered from a bout with the flu, Pope John Paul II cracked jokes Sunday about his fellow Poles and urged followers not to indulge in irrational "pagan" revelry during the last hours of 1995.

Only a few thousand hearty souls remained in St. Peter's Square after hours of driving rain, and the thinner-than-usual crowd gave the pontiff material for his traditional Sunday noon blessing.

Usually, the pope ends his appearance with a few phrases for Poles, who have a large immigrant community in Rome. This time, he looked down at the square from his window and pronounced: "I'm trying to count the Poles but there aren't any."

His cheerful demeanor was in sharp contrast to his appearance Monday, when nausea caused by the flu forced the 75-year-old pope to cut short his traditional Christmas Day greetings.

A few days of rest at his vacation residence in the hills southeast of Rome seemed to have restored the pope's spirits, as well as his health, when he returned to the Vatican on Saturday.

"I wish everybody a happy new year!" the pope said Sunday, after reading a speech about the importance of family life.

Later Sunday, during a service of thanksgiving in a church in Rome's historic center, John Paul counseled the crowd against New Year's Eve rowdiness.

People who give to glass houses

For a rusting 100-year-old iron-and-glass house full of palm trees, here comes the sun. George Harrison has joined efforts to rescue the "jewel in the crown" of the Beatles' hometown.

The Victorian Palm House in Liverpool's Sefton Park, topped by three tiers of glass domes, was opened to the public in 1896 to display exotic plants, statues and other artworks.

It survived a 1941 German bombing raid that shattered most of the glass, but has been closed for safety reasons lately since rust caused the replacement panes to begin falling out.

A group called Friends of Sefton Park Palm House is hoping to raise $600,000 toward the $1.8 million cost of refurbishing the house and ensuring its future. Organizers say Harrison has made a "generous contribution" toward the $60,000 already raised.

Offbeat At this price, let's use it for bubbly

Happy New . . . Gas Tax!

Starting today, a new tax on gasoline in Finland will raise the price per liter - about a quarter of a gallon - by 12 cents. That will make average price of the most common fuel, unleaded low-octane gas, around $5 per gallon.

More than 70 percent of that will go to taxes. The Finnish Petroleum Federation said that makes for the highest gas tax in the world.

As 1995 drew to a close, drivers stockpiled fuel. But the government was looking forward to 1996, as it stands to collect $3.14 billion from fuel taxes.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo (1) Bono fraternizes with a NATO ally (2) The hat heard 'round the world Beneath that brim stood Abraham Lincoln, who made "stovepipe" a household word. Abe's artifacts will go on display soon in Chicago. Associated Press