Yasser Arafat was evacuated with 4,000 of his men from the Lebanese port of Tripoli. Mr. Arafat, who had been under siege for six weeks by Syrian-backed dissidents within his Palestine Liberation Organization, sailed aboard a Greek ferry escorted by French naval vessels. He left without a farewell message to sympathizers or a final public appearance, heading for exile, probably in Tunisia, as a guerrilla chief without a battlefront for his followers to contest.
A Palestinian leader in Damascus said that he and other prominent Palestinians were trying to organize an emergency meeting of all factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization to prevent the 19-year-old group from disintegrating. The statement was made in an interview by Khaled Fahum, chairman of the P.L.O.’s parliament.
The mission of the marines in Lebanon will apparently include moving in behind the Lebanese Army to provide security as it seeks to expand its control throughout the country, according to President Reagan. In the past, Mr. Reagan has said that the marines were providing only a symbolic presence.
General Paul X. Kelley was defended by President Reagan. At a news conference, Mr. Reagan said he did not think General Kelley, the Marine Corps Commandant, “was attempting to cover up for anyone” when he testified before Congress about the destruction of the Marine headquarters in Beirut by a terrorist truck bomb on October 23. A report by a House subcommittee said the testimony given by General Kelley and other officials was “often inaccurate, erroneous and misleading.”
President Reagan attends a National Security Planning Group meeting to discuss Soviet violations of treaties and agreements.
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick is satisfied in general with the three-month session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mrs. Kirkpatrick, the chief American delegate, said at a news conference that American positions fared “reasonably well” in the just-concluded session.
The Soviet Union handed over 83 more items from the South Korean airliner shot down by a Soviet fighter plane September 1. Soviet officials at Nevelsk, on the southwestern end of Sakhalin Island, gave five boxes of debris and clothing to American and Japanese officials. It was the second such transfer. On September 26, the Soviets handed over five crates consisting mainly of twisted pieces of metal and clothing believed to be from Korean Air Lines Flight 007, downed with the loss of 269 people when it strayed into Soviet airspace over Sakhalin.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone tried but failed to persuade Eitaro Itoyama, a newly elected member of Parliament, to join the ruling Liberal Democrats in an effort to widen the party’s razor-thin majority. Itoyama’s refusal left the party’s total at 258 seats — the 250 won in Sunday’s election, plus eight unaffiliated conservatives who joined the Liberal Democrats after the vote. The three-seat majority in the 511-seat lower house means that the ruling party will be able to control only five of 18 standing committees in the house.
India’s defense minister, Ramaswamy Venkataraman, charged that the United States is pouring arms into Pakistan to transform it into an “advance post for the West.” His statement, made during parliamentary debate on the reported sale of Indian defense secrets to the CIA, underscored the concern of Indian leaders over what they regard as a military buildup in neighboring Pakistan.
Turkish police found a car loaded with high explosives in a parking lot near U.S. and French facilities in Izmir, the city’s martial-law command reported. It said the car was discovered abandoned about 100 yards from the U.S. officers’ club and a seaside hotel frequented by American servicemen. A French cultural center and the French Consulate General are also nearby. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization maintains a base there, and there are an estimated 1,500 U.S. servicemen in Izmir.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher today condemned the aid that the Irish Republican Army gets from Irish-Americans and said their help was “possibly” responsible for the bombing at Harrods department store on Saturday that killed 5 people and wounded 91. The I.R.A. took responsibility for the Harrods bombing but apologized for the civilian casualties. Answering questions in the House of Commons, Mrs. Thatcher denounced the New York-based Irish Northern Aid Committee and noted that President Reagan shared Britain’s view of the fund-raising body. She said money for the committee went to “those who pursue their ends by violence and death and destruction.”
Polish television authorities have indefinitely postponed their plan to broadcast the ABC-TV film about the aftermath of nuclear war, “The Day After,” ABC officials said yesterday. The program had been scheduled to appear last night. Eddie Kalish, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for Producers Sales Organization, distributors of the film for ABC, said: “Our representative in London today received a communication from Polish television that the airing would not take place at this time. It appears to have been a last- minute decision and the whys and wherefores were not supplied.” Patricia Matson, an ABC spokesman, said the move appeared to be a postponement rather than an outright cancellation.
The second marriage of Princess Caroline of Monaco will not be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, which holds her first marriage to be valid unless an annulment is granted, church sources said today. The sources, a Vatican official and a church law expert, said the Vatican was still reviewing the request for an annulment of Princess Caroline’s marriage in 1979 to a Frenchman, Philippe Junot, whom she divorced two years later. The Grimaldi family announced Monday night that Princess Caroline, who will celebrate her 27th birthday on January 23, would marry Stefano Casiraghi, 23, the son of a wealthy Italian businessman. A civil ceremony is scheduled December 29. The church sources said the second marriage should have no effect on the request for an annulment. They said a special commission of Vatican judges appointed by Pope John Paul II to examine the annulment request would decide on evidence for or against annulment and not take the civil marriage into consideration.
A euphoric mood has swept Grenada because of the presence of American forces. Many Grenadians habitually wave and smile warmly at the United States military policemen who patrol in jeeps, and the Americans wave and smile in return.
El Salvador adopts a constitution. It is similar to that of 1962, often incorporating verbatim passages from the earlier document. Some provisions shared by the two charters include: the establishment of a five-year presidential term with no successive reelection; the right of the people to resort to “insurrection” to redress a transgression of the constitutional order; the affirmation (however neglected in practice) of the apolitical nature of the Salvadoran armed forces; the support of the state for the protection and promotion of private enterprise; the recognition of the right to private property; the right of laborers to a minimum wage and a six-day work week; the right of workers to strike and of owners to a lockout, and the traditional commitment to the reestablishment of the Republic of Central America.
Roberto D’Aubuisson resigned as Speaker of El Salvador’s Constituent Assembly to pursue his campaign as the presidential candidate of the rightist Arena Party. D’Aubuisson’s resignation, which was expected, came two days after his Arena Party nomination. According to Salvadoran law, any presidential candidate now in an official position must resign by Christmas Day in order to qualify for the ballot. Meanwhile, Jose M. Pacas, the nation’s economy minister, announced his resignation. Pacas gave no reason for quitting.
Police and military spokesmen said today that the police had arrested a Salvadoran Army captain accused by subordinates of ordering the killing of two American civilian advisers in 1981. The national police in San Salvador arrested Captain Eduardo Alfonso Avila on Monday “at the order of the armed forces high command,” a police spokesman said. The two Americans — Michael Hammer and Mark Pearlman — were advisers to the Salvador Government on land redistribution. They were gunned down along with Rodolfo Viera, the head of El Salvador’s land agency, on January 3, 1981, in a hotel coffee shop in the capital.
The Cuban government has made progress in providing health, food, education and jobs but remains intolerant of dissent and has virtually eliminated political opposition, a study by an agency of the Organization of American States reported. The study by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that Cuba, whose OAS membership has been suspended since 1962, “has shown itself to be notably efficient in meeting the basic needs of its people.” The study noted that there is no freedom of the press and only limited freedom of religion.
A former Argentine President was indicted on charges connected with the disappearance and presumed deaths of two Communist conscripts under his command in 1976. Judge Carlos Oliveri charged former President Reynaldo Bignone with giving false testimony and illegally holding the two in custody.
South Africa and Mozambique held unannounced talks in Swaziland. The session was attended by three Cabinet ministers on each side — with Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha, leading the South African delegation. According to Mozambican President Samora M. Machel, the objective of the session between the hostile neighboring states was a nonaggression pact in southern Africa. There has been speculation that the two nations are seeking an agreement to end South Africa’s support for anti-Marxist rebels in Mozambique and Mozambique’s backing for African National Congress guerrillas trying to overthrow white rule in South Africa.
President Reagan participates in his 21st Press Conference. The President denied any prejudice in his Administration’s social programs against any sector of American society. Mr. Reagan, at an evening news conference, attributed to misperceptions the marginal standing that national polls indicate he has with women and minority groups.
An accord on delegate selection for the 1984 Democratic national convention was reached by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Charles T. Manatt, chairman of the party’s national committee. Mr. Manatt agreed to allow Mr. Jackson to present his demand for new selection rules at next month’s meeting of the Democratic Executive Committee.
The credit rating of farmers has been improving in recent months and the number of farm foreclosures and bankruptcies seems to be declining after three years of hard times. The trends were reported by bankers and Agriculture Department officials. Lenders agree that most farmer borrowers will be able to get adequate loans next year, but they warned that hundreds of thousands of farmers still carried perilously large debts at high interest rates because of years of overambitious borrowing.
A military crackdown on drug abuse is foundering in dissension and confusion because of disputes over the accuracy of urine tests administered to about 3 million servicemen a year. The chief quality control expert for the program, Colonel William W. Manders, has challenged the validity of tests used to detect marijuana derivatives in urine.
A judge and a former court clerk pleaded innocent in Chicago to charges stemming from the federal government’s 32-year undercover Greylord investigation of alleged corruption in the county court system. Cook County Judge John M. Murphy, 67, is charged with extortion and conspiracy and taking bribes in seven criminal cases. Harold Conn, 56, a former clerk assigned to Traffic Court, pleaded innocent to charges of racketeering and extortion. Murphy and Conn were among 10 persons, including two current and one former judge and four lawyers, indicted last week by a federal grand jury.
Amid reports that a new offer had been made for The Chicago Sun-Times, Field Enterprises announced today that it had signed a “definitive agreement” and was near completion of its previously announced $90 million deal to sell the newspaper to the Australian publisher Rupert Murdoch. Field Enterprises announced November 1 that it would sell the 649,000-circulation daily to News America Publishing Inc., a subsidiary of the News Corporation Ltd., Mr. Murdoch’s worldwide publishing corporation. Responding to reports in The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post that another group had offered as much as $100 million for the newspaper, Field Enterprises said, “On December 19 a definitive agreement reflecting the News America offer was signed by Field Enterprises.” The newspaper’s prize-winning columnist, Mike Royko, said he had taken a leave of absence from the newspaper because he was not sure whether he wanted to work for Mr. Murdoch. “I’ve been reading about his journalistic endeavors and he doesn’t sound like my kind of guy,” Mr. Royko said.
A spurned suitor armed with automatic weapons and homemade bombs went on a rampage in Gillette, Wyoming, killing five persons and taking a woman hostage before blowing himself up, officials said. The gunman, identified as Dale Chamberlain, reportedly had been turned down when he asked Mary Alice Beatty, 26, a former co-worker, for dates, and she had filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. Before taking Beatty hostage in mid-morning, Chamberlain apparently set off a bomb at the home of as-yet-unidentified friends south of Gillette, killing a woman, her two children and an adult male. Chamberlain then shot two police officers who were answering a prowler report at Beatty’s home, authorities said. One of the officers was dead on arrival at a hospital.
Puerto Rico Justice Secretary Carmen R. Velez Borras has resigned in a clash with Governor Carlos Romero Barcelo over a special investigation into the police killing of two independence advocates. Velez Borras, 32, was the third Puerto Rican high justice official to quit in six months in connection with the probe into the July 25, 1978, slayings of Arnaldo Dario Rosado, 24, and Carlos Soto Arrivi, 18. The two young men, who favored Puerto Rican independence, were killed in the southern mountain region of Cerro Maravilla after what police said was an attempt to sabotage communications facilities. Opposition politicians have charged the two men were executed by police.
Alabama’s first black federal judge has been disqualified by another, senior, judge from presiding over a major Justice Department desegregation suit against Alabama’s public colleges and universities. U.S. District Judge U. W. Clemon is a former Alabama civil rights lawyer. Judge H. H. Grooms said he was acting under rules that require disqualification when a judge’s past activities could cause the “average, reasonable person” to “harbor a doubt” as to impartiality.
A judge today ordered the City of Santa Clara in California to halt its plans for collecting a year’s worth of salary overpayments from 350 employees. The overpayments, laid to a miscalculation of employee pay scales, totaled $189,000 and ranged from $250 to $1,100 a worker. The city had given the workers until 4 P.M. today to sign notes promising to repay the overpayments or have them deducted from their December 23 checks. Judge Peter Stone of Santa Clara County Superior Court signed a restraining order that barred the city from making the deductions until January 6, when a hearing will be held on the matter. The City of Santa Clara argued it has a right to get back money paid by mistake. The employees wanted to stop the city from collecting the overpayments at least until January.
Greyhound Lines, ready to resume full nationwide bus service after a bitter 47-day strike, tried to regain lost business by offering Christmas travelers discount fares. The company is offering a 33% discount coupon — redeemable for trips between January 10 and April 1 — with each ticket purchased. The nation’s largest transportation company planned to resume all of its 2,000 daily scheduled runs across the country at 12:01 a.m., local time, today. Union members approved a three-year contract Monday that calls for a 7.8% wage cut plus a 4% contribution to the pension plan. A Greyhound spokesman said employees began returning Tuesday.
A four-part, $1.6-billion plan to renovate Times Square and restore the former “crossroads of the world” was made public by the developer and politicians, who I called the project “crucial to the city’s economic growth.” Models of four office towers, the first elements in the mammoth undertaking, were put on display by a private developer, Park Tower Realty Corp., with the blessings of Mayor Edward I. Koch, who presided at the announcement, and Governor Mario M. Cuomo, who was represented by his wife, Matilda. The towers would rise 56, 49, 37 and 29 stories at four corners surrounding the triangle formed by 42nd Street, Broadway and 7th Avenue.
The Gerber Products Company recalled 48,000 jars of baby cereal after a California couple found aluminum slivers in two jars purchased at different stores, a company official said today. The recall involved Lot No. 468C6 of Gerber Mixed Cereal with applesauce and bananas, which was distributed only in California, John Whitlock, a spokesman, said at the company’s headquarters. All of the lot has been removed from retail grocery store shelves, Mr. Whitlock said. There have been no reports of injuries as a result of the problem, Mr. Whitlock said. The 4¾-ounce jars carry an expiration date of October 21, 1985.
A fire raced through a Wisconsin family’s rural home today, killing five children. Four more children were taken to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, and the parents suffered frostbite as the father attempted to rescue his children. The parents had been outside doing early-morning farm tasks. The dead were identified as Leon Sauder, 10 years old; Ammon Sauder Jr., 6; Allen Sauder, 5; Loren Sauder, 2. and Wilma Sauder, 6 months. The authorities said the family’s wood-burning furnace was believed to have been the cause of the fire.
Guy Lafleur, of the Montreal Canadiens, becomes the 10th NHL player to score 500 goals.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1241.96 (-2.65).
Born:
Justin Blalock, NFL guard (Atlanta Falcons), in Dallas, Texas.
Jonah Hill, American actor (“Superbad”, “Moneyball”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”), in Los Angeles, California
History Diaries 