Bulgaria will boycott the Olympics in Los Angeles this summer, becoming the first country to join the Soviet Union in refusing to participate. Diplomats in Warsaw said East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary were expected to follow.
The U.S. will not try to persuade the Soviet Union to change its mind and participate in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, the Administration said, adding it had done enough to meet Soviet complaints.
Moscow postponed a visit to China by a First Deputy Prime Minister the day before the Soviet official was expected to arrive, the Chinese Government said. He would have been the highest-ranking Soviet official to visit China in 15 years. Moscow said the Soviet delegation was not fully prepared for the visit.
Arms sales by industrial nations to the Third World declined last year to $24.7 billion, the lowest level since 1976, but the value of U.S. deals was more than double that of Soviet sales, a report by the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, said. U.S. sales fell from $15.5 billion in 1982 to $9.53 billion last year. However, the American share of the market increased to 39% from 32%. The value of Soviet sales declined from $12.6 billion in 1982 to $4.2 billion in 1983.
An environmental official warned today that the 117,710-ton Saudi oil tanker Al-Ahood, which had been hit by a missile, was in danger of exploding and polluting the Gulf, the Kuwait news agency Kuna reported. The warning was attributed to Abdul-Latif Zeidan, director of the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment. The vessel was believed to have been hit by an Iraqi missile on Monday about 80 miles southeast of the Kharg Island oil terminal in Iran, where it had taken on 140,000 tons of crude oil. The tanker was reported still on fire today.
Iranian pilots might use kamikaze-style suicide tactics against U.S. or other foreign naval vessels in the Persian Gulf. Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani warned. In a speech quoted by Iran’s official news agency, Rafsanjani referred to Japanese kamikaze attacks against U.S. warships in World War II and urged Iranian forces to “control waterways,” an apparent reference to oil traffic in the gulf.
An Israeli Cabinet minister set off a political furor by suggesting that the 1980 car-bomb attacks that maimed two Palestinian mayors had produced positive results. Yuval Neeman, science and development minister who heads the right-wing Tehiya Party, said on state radio: “I don’t say that I justify it, but I say that in total, it had a positive effect.” His remarks were quickly denounced by other Israeli politicians. Jewish terrorists are suspected in the bombings, in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Ramallah.
A time bomb exploded under a car in the Northern Ireland city of Newry, killing a part-time soldier in Britain’s military reserves, a police spokesman said. Two other members of the reserve force, called the Territorial Army, were wounded. There was no immediate word on their condition. In a statement, the outlawed Irish Republican Army. which is fighting to end British rule in Ulster, claimed responsibility for the attack.
President Spyros Kyprianou of Cyprus, in New York for the U.N. Security Council debate on the divided Mediterranean island, expressed disappointment over President Reagan’s offer of up to $250 million in aid if Turkish and Greek factions settle their differences through negotiation. “Any assumption that the Cyprus problem could be steered towards a just solution by an amount of money or a fund, whatever its size, rather than by political pressure directed toward Turkey, is disheartening.” Kyprianou said. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives voted to trim $85 million from Administration-requested military aid for Turkey.
Thousands of political detainees have been systematically tortured under martial-law rule in Turkey, Amnesty International charged. The London-based human rights group quoted former prisoners. Most of the reported torture took place during the martial-law period from 1980 to 1983, when Turkey was under military rule, but “the pattern has shown no significant change in 1984,” Amnesty International added.
An Italian state prosecutor said today it may take several months for a judge to rule on his request that three Bulgarians and four Turks stand trial in connection with the attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. Antonio Albano, the prosecutor, asked that indictments be brought against the seven on a charge of complicity in the shooting by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman who is serving a life term in an Italian jail. The charge could result in life imprisonment, the prosecutor said. The recommendation will be considered by Judge Ilario Martella, who is in charge of investigating the shooting in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. Mr. Albano asked for trials for Sergei Ivanov Antonov, former station manager of the Bulgarian state airlines in Rome, and two former Bulgarian Embassy employees, Todor Ayvazov and Vassiliev Kolev. Mr. Antonov has been held since November 1982. The other Bulgarians have left Italy. Mr. Albano also recommended trials for four Turks: Bekir Celenk, who is in custody in Bulgaria; Omer Bagci and Musa Serdar Celebi, who are jailed in Italy, and Oral Celik, who is at large.
French milk producers blocked the main roads out of Arras in northeastern France this morning to protest plans to cut milk output, the police said. In February, French truckers blocked roads throughout the country for more than a week in an effort to gain attention for a variety of grievances. Measures to reduce the European Community’s milk surplus were part of a package of agricultural reforms agreed on by the Community’s agriculture ministers in March. On Thursday, Agriculture Minister Michel Rocard of France is to talk with representatives of the milk sector to decide how to implement the cuts.
A gunman wounded two people in Quebec City one day after a soldier burst into the provincial assembly building and murdered three people. The gunman, a 39-year-old unemployed man, was said to have run to his family’s house, which was surrounded by heavily armed police officers.
The President appealed on television for approval of his package of military and economic aid to Central America, warning that “the Communists will likely succeed” in toppling the Government of El Salvador if Congress rejects the program. Mr. Reagan made his most explicit appeal for support of what was once known as a program of “covert” assistance to rebels seeking to overthrow the Government of Nicaragua.
Roberto d’Aubuisson claimed victory in the Salvadoran presidential election, saying that votes had been improperly counted and that by his party’s count he had won 52 percent of the votes. Jose Napoleon Duarte, the moderate candidate, said Monday he had won the election with 54 percent of the votes — a statement with which United States officials agree.
Honduras announced that it has recalled its ambassador to Nicaragua after Sandinista forces downed a Honduran helicopter, killing all eight people aboard. Honduran Foreign Minister Edgardo Paz Barnica said the recall does not represent a break in relations but could lead to one “if the Sandinista government does not rectify its criminal and aggressive conduct against Honduras.” Nicaragua said the helicopter was in its airspace. The Honduran government said the craft strayed off course because of bad weather.
President Reagan participates in a meeting with the U.S. Presidential Delegation of Observers to El Salvador’s second round Presidential Election.
Cuba opposes a phased withdrawal of its troops from Angola because of concern that a settlement in southern Africa would help President Reagan’s re-election prospects. Reagan Administration officials said that Havana had disclosed its position to Angola. As a result of Cuba’s resistance to withdrawing its 25,000 to 30,000 troops, State Department officials, who earlier this year were saying they were mildly optimistic about a diplomatic breakthrough, said they no longer expected an accord before the end of the year.
Union officials in the Dominican Republic said that the police arrested eight labor leaders on Tuesday, moments after they called for a general strike to protest increases in food prices ordered by the government. Carlos Enrique Arias, who was one of the union leaders reported arrested Tuesday, said the workers were asked to stay home for 24 hours today and that no demonstrations were planned. President Salvador Jorge Blanco, in a radio and television address Tuesday night, urged the leaders of five union groups to cancel the strike, which he said could “provoke violence.” The announcement of price increases last month was followed by three days of rioting in which 54 people died.
Cameroon is trying hundreds of people accused of taking part in an attempted coup last month, Government officials and diplomats said. A Government official said about 800 people would face trials before secret military tribunals and that those who took an active part in the attempted revolt would be executed.
President Reagan receives President Masire of Botswana.
Martin S. Feldstein is resigning as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He said he would leave on July 10 to return to Harvard. Mr. Feldstein has often differed with the White House over major issues. Mr. Feldstein, who has often spoken of his desire to leave public office and return to university life, said he would return to Harvard University. Then, as he has during much of his tenure, Mr. Feldstein took issue with the White House’s latest attack on the Federal Reserve.
President Reagan meets with selected Republican Members of Congress.
The Senate voted to uphold $6.7 billion in Medicare cuts proposed by President Reagan and Senate Republican leaders as part of a $144 billion deficit-reduction package. Amendments offered by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) would have cut Reagan’s defense budget instead of Medicare. Senator Pete Wilson (R-California) voted for the Medicare cuts, while Senator Alan Cranston (D-California) voted against them. Later, the Senate defeated another proposal to slash deficits deeper than called for in the Reagan-GOP leadership plan.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Florida officials to execute a convicted killer who will be the first black in 20 years to be electrocuted in the state. The court by a 5-4 vote granted an emergency request by Florida officials to proceed with the execution of James Adams, which was set for 7 am EDT today. The justices overturned a reprieve granted Adams Tuesday by a federal appeals court. Adams was convicted of the 1973 murder of rancher Edgar Brown during a robbery.
The Administration selected Dr. Frank E. Young, a microbiologist and dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret M. Heckler made the announcement. Young, 52, succeeds Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr., who left the commissioner’s post in September, 1983, to become head of New York Medical College at Valhalla.
The Defense Department should make greater efforts in the future to ensure press coverage of military operations, but reporters who violate security guidelines established by the Pentagon should be barred from further coverage, according to a report submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The report, prepared by the so-called Sidle panel, also urges Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger to consider establishing a pool of reporters who could be ready on a moment’s notice to accompany invasion forces without being told where they were headed. Such a pool, the panel said, might further the goal of allowing press coverage “to the maximum degree possible consistent with mission security and the safety of U.S. forces.”
With Gary Hart’s victories in Ohio and Indiana, the Democratic Presidential race entered a new phase of competition that centered on the key California and New Jersey primaries and on the overall contest for delegates. Advisers to Walter F. Mondale conceded he now faced a struggle that would continue at least through the final primaries on June 5 in California, New Jersey, West Virginia, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Gary Hart altered his campaign after his defeat in Pennsylvania a month ago to help lay the groundwork for his victories in Ohio and Indiana, according to the Senator’s strategists. They said they changed the style and content of advertisements aimed at blue- collar workers to undercut Walter F. Mondale’s appeal on economic issues in two hard-hit states.
Reduced contingents of Arizona state troopers and the National Guard patrolled Clifton and Morenci today, but the copper-mining towns were calm after weekend violence, officials said. “It’s quiet, but we’re not ready to say the town is at peace and we can go home,” said Sgt. Allan Schmidt, a spokesman for the State Department of Public Safety. Governor Bruce Babbitt ordered the National Guard to Morenci and Clifton on Sunday after rock throwing and other incidents Saturday related to a continuing strike against the Phelps Dodge Corporation. Eleven people were arrested this weekend. About 50 of the estimated 200 National Guard troops on duty over the weekend remained in the area today, said Lieutenant Colonel Vince Barsolo, a spokesman. “It’s been relatively calm ever since we arrived,” Colonel Barsolo said, adding that taunting, but not violence, was frequent at shift changes.
A general-alarm fire struck the San Francisco Embarcadero, sending flames 100 feet high and lighting up the skyline. A Fire Department spokesman said the fire broke out shortly after 9:15 pm and engulfed four piers — 28, 30, 32 and 34. But none of the nearby skyscrapers appeared in immediate danger because 200 feet of water separates them from the piers. Fireboats helped fight the flames from the ocean side. The fire was near the Bay Bridge anchorage and was clearly visible to the many travelers across the span.
Pennsylvania state officials gave 140,000 residents of the Scranton area the go-ahead today to drink their water without boiling it first, but city officials said they did not believe the danger from a parasite had passed. City Business Representative Richard Rossi told Scranton restaurants, bars and residents to continue boiling water. He said he was not convinced that a parasite that has sickened hundreds of people had been removed from the water system. Mark Carmon, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Resources, which lifted the 60-day “boil order,” said at a news conference that he believed 60 days was long enough for clean water from alternative sources to cleanse city water pipes of the microorganism.
One known AIDS victim who is dying and two other suspected convict victims of the often-fatal disease are in medical isolation at Vacaville state prison in California, officials said. The confirmed “terminally ill” victim, the first inmate within the California prison system known to have the disease, is suffering from Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer or tumor of the blood vessel walls, prison officials said. The unidentified convict was transferred to a medical isolation unit at Vacaville from the Southern California Rehabilitation Center.
Health officials are warning teenagers not to inhale the fumes of typewriter correction fluid after a 15-year-old girl died from the practice and other young people were treated. A drying agent in the fluid can cause death by forcing the heart to beat rapidly and irregularly, interrupting the flow of blood to vital organs, said Dr. Mallory Read, a physician at Virginia Beach General Hospital. He said abuse could also damage the kidneys, liver and central nervous system. The product in question is Liquid Paper correction fluid, which is intended to be brushed on paper to cover typewritten errors. The manufacturer is aware of the problem and in September 1982 began to include a strong warning on the label, said Dave Fausch, a vice president of Gillette Company, parent company of the Liquid Paper Corporation. He said that correction fluid made after March 1 contains a strong aroma intended to deter abusers. He said he did not know when these bottles would reach store shelves.
Firefighters in Southern California today fought brush fires fanned by high winds that consumed 11,700 acres, while a blaze in central Texas engulfed more than 1,500 acres and destroyed at least four homes. One of the California fires was skirting satellite tracking stations that had been evacuated at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Another burned in steep terrain near Santa Barbara. In Ventura County, about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles, high winds prevented firefighters from containing the 10,000-acre Grimes Canyon blaze until 9:30 Tuesday night. The Texas fire was reported almost under control late the same day.
Flooding forced more evacuations in Appalachia while storms that killed 17 people and left five missing swept out to sea. Kentucky officials said the worst was yet to come as major rivers continued to rise. Floodwaters surging downstream forced more evacuations in Appalachia, while storms that killed 17 persons and left five missing took a parting shot at the Eastern Seaboard and swept out to sea. While the rain had stopped and many of the 6,000 persons displaced by flooding were returning to mud-caked homes — notably in the West Virginia towns of Williamson and Kermit on the Tug Fork River — Kentucky officials said the worst is yet to come in some areas as rivers continue to rise. Elsewhere, snow fell in upstate New York and the mercury fell below freezing in the upper Midwest and the Rockies.
The nation’s air is significantly cleaner now than it was 14 years ago when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, says the government’s chief air pollution official. By 1990, he adds, virtually the whole country should meet air standards set by law. Joseph A. Cannon, assistant EPA administrator for air and radiation, says a new study confirms big declines over a seven-year period in major air pollutants. Cannon said he sees nothing that would indicate an end to progress until the whole country complies with air pollution standards.
The longest — and slowest — game in American League history ends in the 25th inning when Harold Baines homers into the center field bleachers off Chuck Porter to give the White Sox a 7–6 victory over the Brewers. It is the latest homer in history. The game falls one inning shy of the Major League record, but takes by far the most time to play: 8 hours and 6 minutes, surpassing the mark set in 1964 by 43 minutes. The contest was suspended yesterday after 17 innings with the score tied 3–3, Each team scores 2 runs in the 9th and each scores a Major League record 3 more runs in the 21st, the Brewers plating three on a homerun by Ben Oglivie. The Sox lose a chance to win in the 21st as runner Dave Stegman is touched by 3B coach Jim Leyland, which leads to a Sox protest. Tom Seaver pitches the final inning to earn the win, then wins the regularly scheduled game as well, 5–4. Tom Paciorek of the Sox, who sets a Major League record as he enters the game in the fourth inning and registers 9 at bats, striking out 3 times and collecting 5 hits. Dave Stegman gets fitted for a sombrero with 5 strikeouts.
Umpire Joe West ejects 2 SportsChannel cameramen Al Friedman and Doug Zimmer, from Shea Stadium when they allow the Mets to view replays of a controversial play at the plate in which Hubie Brooks is called out. The Mets beat Atlanta, 3–1, with Ron Darling getting the win.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1165.52 (-10.78).
Born:
Prince Fielder, MLB first baseman (All-Star, 2007, 2009, 2011-2013, 2015; NL HR leader 2007; MLB RBI leader 2009; Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers), in Ontario, California.
Chase Headley, MLB third baseman, leftfielder, and first baseman (San Diego Padres, New York Yankees), in Fountain, Colorado.
Michael Johnson, NFL safety (NFL Champions, Super Bowl 42-Giants; New York Giants), in Austin, Texas.
Ezra Klein, American progressive journalist and political analyst, in Irvine, California.
History Diaries 