The annual review of Soviet arms by the Pentagon shows that the Russians are bent on world domination, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger said. In releasing the assessment, Mr. Weinberger said “quantitatively, we’re behind in a large number of conventional categories.” He said the Soviet Union had an edge in strategic and intermediate-range missiles, while the United States was “trying to get qualitative improvement” in its forces. As in two previous reports, the current review presents a picture of an aggressive posture in all aspects of Soviet military operations.
Soviet leader Konstantin U. Chernenko, in a speech to the Communist Party Central Committee, pledged to follow the policies of his predecessor, Yuri V. Andropov, but ignored controversial Andropov programs. Chernenko sought to reassure reformers by pledging to seek “new forms and structures” of economic management. But he seemed to court conservative elements in the hierarchy by making no mention of Andropov’s anti-corruption campaign and such economic experiments as decentralization.
The U.S. Senate voted 84 to 12 in favor of a sense of the Senate resolution that condemns the use of Federal funds to mine Nicaraguan waters. The overwhelming vote was a rebuke to President Reagan. The Senate majority leader, Howard H. Baker Jr., and 41 other Republicans voted against the Administration. Senator Russell B. Long, Democrat of Louisiana, was joined by 11 Republicans in opposing the resolution, which was sponsored by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts.
Nicaragua’s Sandinista leaders are continuing to send military equipment to guerrillas in El Salvador and to operate training camps for them in Nicaragua, according to Western European and Latin American diplomats in Managua. The United States has been making such charges since 1980. Nicaraguan leaders, who do not explicitly deny all of the charges, say, their support is “moral and political.”
El Salvador’s runoff election for President will be held May 6, election officials announced. The two candidates are Jose Napoleon Duarte, leader of the moderate Christian Democrats, and Roberto D’Aubuisson, leader of the far-right Nationalist Republican Alliance. The runoff was called because neither won a majority in the initial election. Duarte, a Christian Democrat, finished first in round one of the voting on March 25 with 43.4%, followed by D’Aubuisson, of the Arena Party, with 29.7%.
More than a million people surged into downtown Rio de Janeiro for a rally demanding direct elections for the presidency, which were abolished by the military regime that seized power in 1964. The figure, confirmed by a senior police official, represents “the biggest political demonstration in Brazilian history,” said Rio de Janeiro state Governor Leonel Brizola. President Joao Baptista Figueiredo, the fifth general to lead Brazil since the 1964 coup, says that direct presidential elections now are “inopportune.”
Peruvian President Fernando Belaunde Terry named a political ally as prime minister and rejected the resignations of 13 other Cabinet members. Sandro Mariategui replaces Fernando Schwalb, who quit as prime minister in a dispute with Belaunde over how to deal with Peru’s worsening economic crisis. Schwalb continues as vice president and is expected to return to his old post as envoy to the United States.
Fire destroyed the only hospital on the Falkland Islands, killing eight islanders-more than in the 74-day British-Argentine war in 1982, when three died. The blaze swept through the 50-bed King Edward VII hospital, a two-story wooden structure in Port Stanley that was built in the 1930s. The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that the structure was in need of urgent repair and that some fire hoses and pumps did not function. Royal Air Force firefighters drew water from the sea to battle the fire.
Five West European nations have agreed to restrict the export of chemicals that can be used to make chemical weapons, European officials said today. The officials said they did not know whether all such exports would be restricted, or just those to countries at war or in “tension zones.” They did not say when the curbs would take effect. The decision was made Monday, 10 days after the United States announced that it would restrict the sale to Iraq and Iran of five chemicals used in the manufacture of nerve and mustard gases that American intelligence officials say Iraq has used in its war with Iran. The European officials said the Foreign Ministers of West Germany, Britain, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, approved a plan to license the export of the chemicals.
Turkish Cypriots in the self-declared independent state of Northern Cyprus will hold a referendum on a new constitution in August, followed in November by general elections for a parliament. Turkish-Cypriot officials said this had been decided today by political groups in the north of the island, divided since Turkish troops occupied the north 10 years ago. The Turkish Cypriots, a minority on the island where the majority is Greek Cypriot, declared the Turkish-controlled area an independent state in November. The new state is recognized only by Turkey.
A funeral for 9 French soldiers killed in Chad was interrupted when the brother of one of the dead soldiers tried to run down Defense Minister Charles Hernu, who, with other French officials, was attending the service in Toulouse. Mr. Hernu’s bodyguards wounded the driver and his car came to a halt without injuring any of the funeral party.
The major Iranian underground group announced that it has launched a campaign against the general elections scheduled in Iran on Sunday and that the drive has led to armed clashes between authorities and the resistance. In a communique, the Paris-based Moujahedeen, an Islamic socialist organization, said its followers in Iran are urging citizens to boycott the elections.
An Israeli Cabinet committee approved the establishment of five new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, a government spokesman said. The five sites will be converted to civilian settlements from army outposts already in existence there. Science and Technology Minister Yuval Neeman, chairman of the committee, said another 20 settlements already approved in principle will probably not be converted this year because of a shortage of funds.
A mysterious ball-shaped cloud, which one airline pilot said rose 12 miles high and spread as wide as 150 miles in a matter of minutes, was spotted off Japan 24 hours before the Soviet Union was to begin testing missiles in the general area. The cloud was sighted by crew members on four of five jetliners flying through the area, but tests showed no radioactive contamination of the planes. The Federal Aviation Administration speculated that the phenomenon was a vertical lenticular cloud, a natural formation that usually spreads sideways rather than up and down.
At least 50 people have died in recent clashes in northern Burma involving guerrillas fighting for independence from India, the Burmese Army and villagers in the region, according to reports received today from the area. In one incident that was said to have occurred at the end of March, the guerrillas attacked a village, killing 25 people, according to the reports. They were also said to have gunned down five Burmese soldiers who tried to repel the assault. The guerrillas are members of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, which is based in Burma and seeks independence from India for the Naga tribal group. The council is the most active among a number of insurgent groups and is said to have the largest rebel army, estimated at more than 2,000, in Burma. Nagas have lived for centuries in Burma as well as in what is now Nagaland and Manipur, in India’s remote northeast region.
Five people were killed in the northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna when government forces fired on separatist guerrillas in two incidents today and Monday, a government spokesman said today. Douglas Liyanage, secretary to the Information Ministry, said three people died Monday when troops opened fire after guerrillas ambushed their truck, wounding 14 of the 24 soldiers in the vehicle. Two people were shot dead and several were wounded this morning when troops fired at insurgents in an attempt to prevent them from setting fire to a Buddhist temple and a school for Sinhalese children. The guerrillas are fighting for a separate Tamil state in Northern and Eastern provinces.
The President and First Lady attend a State Dinner in the honor of their guests President and Mrs. Salvador Jorge Blanco.
Challenger’s mission was fulfilled when a 50-foot-long robotic arm directed by one of the astronauts reached into space and clutched a 5,000-pound malfunctioning observatory satellite and brought it aboard the shuttle for the first major repair satellite repair job in orbit. Repair of the satellite Solar Max was the main objective of Challenger’s mission. The astronaut’s first attempt to retrieve it failed. “O.K., we’ve got it,” radioed Captain Robert L. Crippen of the Navy, the Challenger’s command pilot. Cheers and applause broke the expectant hush of Mission Control here. The mission had been plucked from the brink of failure after earlier frustrations. Terry J. Hart, the astronaut operating the 50-foot-long mechanical arm, grabbed the slowly rolling and wobbling satellite on the first try, locking on to a protruding knob the size of a fist. Then he hauled the 5,000-pound satellite into the shuttle’s cargo bay, easing it into a cradle back near the tail section.
With the Solar Max securely aboard, its two solar-energy panels extending over the sides of the open cargo bay, the astronauts were set to replace two of the satellite’s defective components Wednesday morning. The components’ failure more than three years ago has severely limited the satellite’s ability to observe the Sun’s dynamic behavior. Dr. George D. Nelson and Dr. James D. van Hoften are scheduled to don their spacesuits and leave the cabin at about 5 AM. They plan to spend six hours at their assigned repair tasks.
Revised Federal budget projections released by the Reagan Administration show slightly lower deficits for 1984 and 1985, but higher deficits in later years. The most significant change in the revisions, which are regularly released in April, are the slightly higher interest rates projected for this year and next. These revisions added $600 million to the estimated cost of interest on the national debt this year and $5.2 billion to next year’s projected cost.
President Reagan signs legislation containing the Fair Housing Proclamation.
Walter F. Mondale re-established a firm claim to the leadership in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination with a big victory in the Pennsylvania primary. With strong support throughout the state, he ran well ahead of Senator Gary Hart. The Rev. Jesse Jackson was in third place, but with a black vote heavy enough to create a close race with Mr. Mondale in the city of Philadelphia. Mr. Hart’s advisers acknowledged that the Senator now has little chance to win an outright majority of delegates before the convention.
The trade unions have rebounded after early primary defeats to provide a steadily increasing share of Mr. Mondale’s victory margins in recent primaries. Their political recovery helped restore him as the frontrunner in the Democratic Presidential race. Union households provided roughly half of Mr. Mondale’s vote in Pennsylvania, a New York Times/ CBS News Poll.
Some American homes could be tainted with dangerous radioactive gas, the National Council on Radiation Protection warned in Washington. The council, a private group of scientists, recommended a survey of 1,000 homes to find out how serious the problem is. If a survey done in Canada were applicable to the United States, it said, about 0.14% of American homes would contain radon gas, a product of the radioactive decay of radium. The council recommended that exposure to radon gas in homes be limited to half the amount permitted to a uranium miner. An official of the Environmental Protection Agency said EPA wants the limit to be twice that strict. The problem is especially acute in towns built over uranium mine waste or phosphate deposits. Radon gas can increase the chances of lung cancer.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor, filed a complaint accusing a foundation of using her name without permission. The Foundation of Tribute to Mother Teresa “is one more way of the rich using the poor to make money,” Mother Teresa said in a letter filed with the complaint in the New York state attorney general’s office. “The money that would have bought food for the hungry child, you are holding as your own,” she said. The foundation called the dispute a misunderstanding and pledged to relinquish contributions.
Workers at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver suffer more brain tumors than expected, but no link has been proven between the tumors and radiation exposure, a report said. The Rocky Flats Employees Health Assessment Group, part of the Governor’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, recommended more and longer studies of workers. Rocky Flats, operated by Rockwell International, manufactures plutonium components for nuclear weapons.
Bond for accused spy Richard Craig Smith was set at $500,000, amid government charges that he might try to sell the Soviet Union more information. The government alleges that Smith, of Bellevue, Washington, betrayed six U.S. double agents working for the Soviet KGB and has enough information to sell out as many as two dozen more.
Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey signed a bill designed to end a battle between the state and some church schools whose supporters object to state certification of teachers. The battle has resulted in the jailing of the operator of the Faith Christian School in Louisville and of the fathers of Faith students. The measure allows the state Education Department to use teacher competency information as only one factor in evaluating private schools that choose not to adhere to the state’s usual accreditation process.
Two of three dangerous fugitives who fled a prison work detail were tracked down in the brush near Covington, Tennessee, by bloodhounds and National Guardsmen, who had been ordered to “check everything that creeps, crawls or moves.” Their escape Monday from Fort Pillow State Prison occurred just two months after a similar breakout there that resulted in three deaths. Only Bernard Sanders, convicted of murder, armed robbery and burglary, remained at large.
Philadelphia’s second-highest ranking police official resigned one day after FBI agents searched his office and car in connection with an investigation of police corruption. Two other police officials have been informed that they are the targets of a grand jury investigation into bribes from operators of illegal lotteries, Police Commissioner Gregore Sambor said. First Deputy Police Commissioner James Martin resigned after he was demoted by Mayor W. Wilson Goode, who has pledged to clean up the force.
Hotel officials in Las Vegas modified their wage proposals today in an open meeting with representatives of four striking unions, but failed to resolve the issues that have kept 17,000 workers off the job at 32 gambling resorts for nine days. While the talks went on, hundreds of job-seekers lined up for the posts left vacant by the walkout of musicians, bartenders, bellhops, stagehands and culinary workers. Hotel negotiators offered three modifications of their original wage proposals to union officials in the 90- minute open session. But a union spokesman said the offers were “essentially unchanged.” Both sides have agreed on the financing of a health and welfare plan, but they remain far apart on wages and on the hotels’ demands for concessions in work rules. The meeting broke up with little settled.
Tanker cars loaded with thousands of gallons of methanol caught fire after a train derailment this morning, spreading flames through the downtown business district and forcing the evacuation of all 2,107 residents of Marshville, North Carolina. No deaths or injuries were reported and the fires were extinguished by late evening, but evacuees were kept away because the threat of fire flare-ups remained, the authorities said. Seven cars caught fire, including four containing 281,000 gallons of methanol, said Mark Sullivan, a spokesman for Seaboard Systems in Jacksonville, Florida. The other cars contained plastics and pulpwood. By 8:55 PM all the tank car fires were out and the possibility of an explosion, which had forced the evacuations, had been reduced, said the Union County Fire Marshal, Kevin Stewart.
Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey today signed a bill designed to end the long fight between the state and some church schools that object to state certification of their teachers. The bill would let the State Education Department use teacher competency information as only one factor in evaluating private schools that choose not to adhere to the state’s accreditation process. Under the law, which will take effect July 9, teachers either could take a competency test designed by the department or be evaluated by the department. Schools would still have to meet minimum curriculum and safety standards, but people who fail the test still could teach at the department’s discretion.
The battle over church school teachers has been going on in Nebraska since the late 1970’s and has resulted in the jailing of the operator of the Faith Christian School in Louisville and fathers of some students at the school. A report by a study group in January showed there were 14 unapproved church schools with 227 students in the state.
Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb’s sale to Shearson/American Express for $360 million was agreed on in principle by the two companies. The new firm will be called Shearson Lehman/American Express, preserving the prestigious Lehman name, known on Wall Street for 134 years. Peter A. Cohen, chairman and chief executive of Shearson/American Express, will have the same positions in the new company. Lewis L. Glucksman, Lehman’s top officer, will be a consultant to American Express.
The trial of a farmer’s son accused of slaying two local bankers who foreclosed on his father’s farm began with a jury selection in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, near the murder site. The case illustrates the animosity between hard-pressed farmers and their often-resented local bankers.
Pinch hitter Champ Summers belts a 5th inning grand slam as the first-place Padres whip the Cardinals, 7–3.
Nick Esasky has a grand slam and 5 RBIs as the Reds beat the visiting Expos, 8–6.
Martha and the Vandellas’ iconic hit “Dancing in the Streets,” which was recorded a couple of miles north of the ballpark twenty years ago at the Motown Studios, finally is played over the public address system at Tiger Stadium. Jim Campbell, the Detroit’s GM who thought the lyrics might cause rowdiness in the stands, finally gives into the wishes of his younger fans, resulting in a ballpark tradition of the crowd cheering when Martha Reeves belts out the immortal words, “Can’t Forget the Motor City.”
The Tigers win the home opener 5–1 over Texas, Dan Petry did the work on the mound to pick up his second victory and Darrell Evans slams a 3-run homerun in the first for the Tigers.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1138.30 (+4.40).
Born:
Mandy Moore, American singer (“Candy”) and actress (Rebecca Pearson – “This Is Us”), in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Zoe, 1st frozen-embryo child, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Ivan Johnson, NBA power forward (Atlanta Hawks), in San Antonio, Texas.
Brooke Queenan, WNBA forward (Connecticut Sun, Chicago Sky), in Abington, Pennsylvania.
Died:
Ray Middleton, 75, American actor (“1776”, “Hurricane Smith”).
History Diaries 