The Soviet-American hot line for emergency communication between the two governments is to be modernized under an agreement expected to be initialed in the next few days. Administration officials and foreign diplomats say the accord is part of an expanding agenda of nonpolitical discussions. In coming weeks, the sources said, talks will resume on the Soviet-United States boundary in the Bering Sea, on Soviet fishing rights in American waters and on cultural exchanges. While Soviet diplomats appear to be playing down the discussions as minor and technical, both sides recognize the broader implications. It is understood on both sides that the Reagan Administration will use the increased activity to argue that the Kremlin is prepared to work with President Reagan, contrary to Democratic accusations.
The initialing of the pact for modernizing the 21-year-old hot line is said to be planned tentatively for Friday or Monday. Officials said that in deference to Soviet wishes, the signing will not be portrayed as a breakthrough in relations. But the Soviet side has acceded to American wishes to have the document signed at a level higher than the heads of delegations.
Britian expelled two Nigerian diplomats and informed Nigeria’s chief envoy, who was recalled to Lagos, that he was not welcome to return. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary, told the House of Commons that the action came after Nigeria turned down a request from authorities that they be allowed to question several members of Nigeria’s diplomatic staff about the July 5 kidnapping of a wealthy Nigerian exile, Umaru Dikko. Sir Geoffrey would not say whether the two who are being expelled were directly implicated in the kidnapping. One of the two, Okon Edat, an attaché who came to Britain in 1980, was at the airport when the crate was opened. The other, Peter Oyedele, a counselor, arrived here in September 1982. They have been given seven days to leave the country.
In Lagos, Nigerian television reported that two British diplomats had been given one week to leave the country, according to Reuters.
The West German Defense Minister urged the United States today not to threaten the European allies in trying to get them to make greater military and financial contributions to the Atlantic alliance. “Threatening is not a method with which you can treat an ally,” the official, Manfred Wörner, said at a news conference here. He arrived Wednesday for a five-day visit. “If you threaten us with a withdrawal of part of your troops,” he said, “to whose benefit is that? The Soviet Union’s. It is entirely the wrong signal to send to the Soviets.” He responded in English to questions about a recent proposal by Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat of Georgia, that American troops in Europe be cut if the allies refused to contribute more. The proposal was defeated in the Senate, but it reflected American criticism of European efforts. With his news conference, Mr. Wörner opened a defense of the contributions made by the allies. West German officials said that he would present the same message to President Reagan on Friday.
Thousands of Spanish workers began a 24-hour strike to protest government plans to cut the workforce in state-owned shipyards from 22,000 to 14,000. The Communist-led Workers’ Commissions Union group said about 100,000 workers are expected to heed its call for walkouts, including general stoppages in the northern shipbuilding region of Galicia and the northern city of Gijon.
Budget Minister Pietro Longo resigned to prevent a collapse of Italy’s fragile coalition government after he was linked to a major political scandal. Longo’s resignation came after a government inquiry verified his connection with the scandal, involving a secret society known as the P-2 Masonic lodge, which was accused of trying to manipulate government policy. Longo, 48, said he will keep his position as leader of the small Social Democratic Party, which will remain in the coalition.
Pitched battles in northern Lebanon raged for the second day between pro-Syrian factions, and Damascus rushed a special envoy to the region to try to end the conflict. Police said 12 people were killed and 15 wounded in the artillery, rocket and machine-gun exchanges in the town of Amyun, the capital of the district about 25 miles north of Beirut, and in ten villages, between followers of former President Suleiman Franjieh and militiamen of the National Syrian Social Party. The state- run Beirut radio said two furniture factories were ablaze and that fire brigades had been unable to reach them because of the fighting.
Libya’s foreign secretary, Ali Tureiki, defying an assassination threat by Shia Muslim extremists, arrived in Beirut under heavy guard and delivered a message to the Lebanese government from Libya’s leader, Colonel Moammar Qaddafi. Tureiki met with Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and Premier Rashid Karami to present a message from Qaddafi concerning “the necessity of unifying the Arab stand.”
Kuwait, spurned in its request for U.S.-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, has initialed a $327 million arms deal with the Soviet Union aimed at defending commercial shipping against attacks by Iran or Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, it was disclosed by Kuwaiti officials. The deal comprises surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, tanks and other military equipment. Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheik Salim al Sabah said the agreement is “a straight commercial deal” that carries no political overtones. Washington denied the Kuwaiti request for the Stinger missiles because of fears they might fall into the hands of terrorists.
The Israeli government announced that construction will begin next week on eight new settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, a move the Labor Party branded as a political ploy designed to improve the governing Likud bloc’s chances in the July 23 general election. Government spokesman Shmuel Levine said the action is unrelated to the election. But Labor Party official Nissim Zvili complained that the timing is a political move “directly related to the election campaign” to help the Likud. He said the burst of settlement activity is counter to approved priorities.
The chief ministers of four Indian states walked out of a key economic meeting with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in what they called a reflection of the nation’s wrath over her iron-handed rule. They left at the start of a two-day session of the National Development Council, the nation’s highest economic policy-making body, and accused Gandhi and her ruling Congress-I Party of manipulating the firing of the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, Farooq Abdullah.
An anti-Vietnamese coalition in Cambodia is causing military problems for Hanoi, Southeast Asian nations at a two-day meeting in Jakarta were said to have reported. Six Southeast Asian nations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met with the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The coalition members led by former Prince Norodom Sihanouk were reported to be “working very well on the ground” and coordinating their moves, instead of clashing with each other as in the past. An American official said the report on military action contrasted with the gloomy report on the political front. There, he explained, “a stonewall” existed on finding a formula for Vietnamese withdrawal and formation of a new Cambodian Government.
China and Britain ended another round of talks today on the future of Hong Kong. The discussions were said to have included a Chinese proposal for a joint committee to monitor events leading up to the transition of authority for the colony. The Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po said Sunday that such a panel could provide channels for consultation until 1997, when Britain’s 99-year lease over most of the colony’s territory runs out. Wen Wei Po said the 13 years until the transition was different from the following 50 years, during which China has promised to let Hong Kong continue practicing capitalism. Peking officials had previously promised that no Chinese Communist officials would run Hong Kong after it reverted to Chinese sovereignty.
The Taiwanese Government today ordered Taiwan’s 124 coal mines closed for safety checks after the country’s worst mine disaster. The death toll rose to 101 today, and the search continued for two miners still missing. The Government said that unsafe mines would be closed permanently and that anyone found guilty of ignoring safety regulations would be severely punished. It was the second major mine disaster in Taiwan in three weeks. On June 20, 74 miners died at the Hai-shan mine southeast of Taipei. Rescuers found 68 bodies today at the Mei-shan coal mine, 31 miles northeast of Taipei. Officials reported the rescue of 22 men who were trapped by a fire in the tunnel Tuesday. They said 12 of the survivors were in critical condition. The police said the fire was caused by a short-circuit in a compressor. Taiwan’s mines supply about a quarter of the 8.4 million tons of coal consumed annually here.
Charges of three killings of Guatemalan refugees by the Mexican Army last week were contained in a document by a Roman Catholic diocese in southern Mexico. A high-level official in the Interior Ministry denied the charges.
Mexico’s foreign minister has written Secretary of State George P. Shultz emphasizing his government’s continuing interest in the extradition of former Mexico City Police Chief Arturo Durazo. It is vital to “the moral renovation campaign initiated by President Miguel de la Madrid,” Bernardo Sepulveda wrote. Durazo, now in federal custody in Los Angeles, is a major target of De la Madrid’s anti-corruption campaign.
A car bomb set off by the military wing of the ANC, explodes in Durban, South Africa, killing 5 and injuring 27 people.
The United States would deny Government family planning money to international organizations supporting abortion under a policy statement the White House approved, Administration officials said.
Geraldine A. Ferraro was named by Walter F. Mondale as his Vice-Presidential running-mate, becoming the first woman selected to run for the office on a major national party ticket. Mr. Mondale, who expects to be nominated by the Democratic convention next week, introduced Mrs. Ferraro, a Queens Representative, to an ebullient crowd at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. Mr. Mondale said the 48-year-old former school teacher and assistant prosecutor was “the best Vice President.”
Democrats praised the choice of Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro for the Democratic Vice-Presidential nomination, and feminist leaders called it a historic breakthrough. Republican spokesmen, apparently presaging their line of attack in the campaign this fall, challenged what they called Mrs. Ferraro’s limited experience, especially in foreign affairs.
Senator Gary Hart called Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro “a good choice” as Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee but vowed to continue his own bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He described Mrs. Ferraro as “a good choice” for Walter F. Mondale “if he turns out to be the nominee, but that won’t be decided until next Wednesday.”
President Reagan addresses the annual “Campvention” of the National Campers and Hikers Association.
President Reagan tours the Mammoth Cave National Park and is briefed on the park’s restoration/improvement Program (PRIP).
While President Reagan’s tax program boosted the income of most Americans, families headed by women were left with less money to spend, according to a new Census Bureau study of after-tax income in 1982. Average household income for Americans rose to $18,910 in 1982, up about 1.7% from the year before, the report said. It attributed the increase to federal tax cuts approved in 1981. But the study also disclosed that, contrary to the experience of most families, income to households headed by women with no husbands present fell 3.8% in the same period, to $10,870.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for David Leroy Washington, clearing the way for the former choir boy and confessed triple murderer to die in the Florida electric chair shortly after dawn today. Three hours earlier, the nation’s highest court upheld a stay for Jimmy Lee Smith, who had been scheduled to die with Washington in the first double execution in the United States in 19 years. Smith, described by prison officials as “delighted,” was moved out of the death chamber he had shared with Washington near “Old Sparky,” the grim name given the electric chair by inmates at the Florida State Prison in Starke.
An industry-government task force concluded that airline delays have grown so severe that both the government and air carriers must take immediate action to ease the problem. The task force, which ended three days of discussions on the problem of congestion, sent a detailed report to the Federal Aviation Administration outlining the problem and offering recommendations, sources close to the discussions said. One of the recommendations called on airlines to reduce the bunching of flights during peak hours. To alleviate air traffic delays, 40 government and aviation industry officials, asked by the Federal Aviation Administration to recommend a solution, is said to be considering, among other steps, a modest increase in the circling of airliners near their destinations and a decrease in the amount of time planes are held on the ground before takeoff.
Residential natural gas bills could rise an average 14%, or about $104, for the average household next year unless Congress extends government price controls scheduled to be removed in January, the Citizen-Labor Energy Coalition said. The group predicted that wholesale gas prices will rise an average 20% in January after remaining relatively flat since late 1982.
Joseph Paul Franklin was convicted today of the bombing of a Chattanooga synagogue in 1977 after he told the jury he had done it because it was the “synagogue of Satan.” Mr. Franklin did not take the stand in Criminal Court to testify in his defense, but his tape-recorded confession to the police was played for the jury at the trial.
Border Patrol agents have begun breaking up a ring that may have smuggled 500 Poles into the United States from Mexico, a U.S. immigration official said. Verne Jervis, spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said more than 10 groups of Poles have been caught in Texas in the last few weeks, the most recent in Alpine early last week. “Our investigation is continuing,” he said. Jervis said one of the four Polish men apprehended in Alpine last week was carrying a passport showing that 578 Poles have been issued visas to visit Mexico since January.
South Carolina Highway Patrolmen said today that idle freight cars were parked so close to a McBee railway crossing that a tanker truck driver could not see the Amtrak passenger train that hit him, killing two men and dragging cars loaded with 309 passengers through ensuing fire. State Trooper E. C. Likes said: “I believe the cars did hamper the man’s vision. By the time the truck’s driver saw the train, it was too late.” “We have been told the driver stopped but couldn’t see the track with the Amtrak train because of the parked rail cars,” a spokesman for the Rainwater Transportation Company said. “There were no flagmen, no guards, no signals, no nothing.” Seaboard Systems Railroad, whose cars were parked near the intersection, denied that the cars had obscured vision at the crossing.
The Justice Department sued a suburban Houston school district for allegedly discriminating against blacks seeking teaching and clerical jobs. The civil employment discrimination suit was filed against the Spring Branch Independent School District and its officials. The suit said that, during the 1983-84 school year, the school district had 1,948 teachers, of whom 50 were black, and 284 clerical workers, of whom three were black.
Top Army brass reversed a decision to deny three months’ leave to a paralyzed civilian clerk and agreed to grant her time to undergo a laser treatment that might help her walk again. The case of Brenda Dinkle, 23, who was paralyzed 11 years ago in a car accident and who has worked for 2½ years as a medical supply clerk at Ft. Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, was called to the attention of the Army surgeon general’s office, which made the decision to allow a leave of absence.
Two flights of the space shuttle Discovery, whose first flight was scrubbed June 25, will be combined into one mission in order to keep the shuttle schedule on track, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced.
One count against John Z. DeLorean was dismissed by a federal judge in response to a defense motion to dismiss all charges in a nine-count indictment charging him with cocaine trafficking.
Bobby Joe Maxwell, charged with stabbing 10 men around the Los Angeles downtown skid row district in the winter of 1978-79, was convicted today of two counts of first-degree murder. Mr. Maxwell, 33 years old, a reputed devil worshipper who professed committing the slayings to procure souls for Satan, was also found guilty under special circumstances, meaning he will be sentenced either to die in the gas chamber or to spend the rest of his life in prison.
A bank employee and her friend, accused of stealing $2.7 million in one of the largest bank thefts in Nevada history, have been arrested in South America, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced. About $1 million of the missing money was recovered with the arrests of Janice Ruth Krebs and Richard Francis Cochran in Asuncion, Paraguay.
A probe into fraudulent degrees sold to residents of New York and a dozen other states led to the arrest in New York of six people, three of them working as doctors, on criminal charges of possessing fraudulent degrees. The authorities said about 100 other people would face similar charges in the near future. The inquiry, which began at the federal level, involves several thousand fraudulent degrees from the Dominican Republic.
After deciding that the physical toll taken when she ran in the preliminaries and finals in the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter races at the Olympic track and field trials last month might result in a serious injury or otherwise lessen her chances to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, Mary Decker said that she would return home to Eugene, Oregon, and choose between the two events. Yesterday she said that she would run in the 3,000. ”I am disappointed and wish I could run in both events,” Miss Decker said: ”but I risk losing a gold medal. I’d rather have one gold than two silvers.” Miss Decker said that her preparation since the trials ended had been hampered because of a sore right Achilles’ tendon that became inflamed when she ran in six races in five days at the trials. The Olympic schedule would be the same.
Terry Bradshaw, who hedged a month ago on his retirement plans despite a painful throwing arm, is now resigned to ending his football career and announced as much yesterday. ”I’m facing the fact that I’m not going to be able to play,” Bradshaw said from his northern Louisiana ranch.
As Yogi Berra looked ahead to the second half of the season, he remarked wishfully, ”Maybe we can start the second half the way Detroit started the first half.” The man is a prophet. The Yankees, resuming the season last night, at least duplicated the Tigers’ season-opening effort by defeating the Kansas City Royals, 5–2, for Phil Niekro’s 12th victory.
The Twins downed the Tigers, 4–2, as Frank Viola (10-7) scattered five Detroit hits over eight innings to pick up his sixth straight victory, and Gary Gaetti cracked a two-out double to spark a three-run rally off Dan Petry (11-4) in the seventh inning. The Tigers, who lead the American League East, are now 22-23 since their 35-5 start. Minnesota has won 11 of its last 16.
Scott McGregor hurled a four-hitter, and Cal Ripken had a homer as the Baltimore Orioles defeated Chicago, 3–0, and completed a sweep of tonight’s twilight-night doubleheader with the White Sox. The Orioles snapped Chicago’s seven-game winning streak with a 2–1 victory in the opener as Wayne Gross and Eddie Murray hit homers to back a combined four-hitter by Storm Davis and Sammy Stewart. McGregor (11–7) was helped by three double plays in the second game.
Buddy Bell drove in four runs with a double, single and sacrifice fly, and Charlie Hough pitched a four-hitter to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Hough (9–7) won for the seventh time in his last eight decisions and pitched his American League-leading 10th complete game. He struck out four and walked two.
If manager Dave Johnson was looking for an omen to indicate how things might go for the next three months, he may have found a good one tonight. After watching his team fall behind by 3–0, tie it up in the eighth, then fall behind again a half inning later, Johnson witnessed one of the Mets’ most dramatic comebacks yet. Trailing by 6–3 going into the ninth inning, the Mets scored five runs off the Braves’ most effective reliever and won, 8–6, before 19,468 stunned fans at Country Stadium.
Jose DeLeon struck out 12 batters in eight innings, and Tony Pena’s run-scoring double capped a three-run fifth inning for Pittsburgh as the Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 6–3. DeLeon (6-4) fanned seven batters in the first three innings and struck out 10 for the fifth time in his one-year major-league career and the second time this season. DeLeon gave up six hits and walked three before needing relief help in the ninth from Kent Tekulve, who posted his eighth save.
Ryne Sandberg led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk-off home run today to give the Chicago Cubs a 3–2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandberg, the National League’s starting second baseman in the All- Star Game, smacked his 12th home run of the season to give the loss to Tom Niedenfuer (1–5). Steve Trout of Chicago and Alejandro Pena dueled through eight innings but neither was around for the decision. Tim Stoddard (7–1) pitched a scoreless ninth and 10th innings to gain the victory.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1104.57 (-3.98).
Born:
Marcus Johnson, NFL tackle and guard (Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers), in Greenville, Mississippi.
Jonathan Lewis, NFL defensive tackle (Arizona Cardinals), in Richmond, Virginia.
Jack Conte, American entrepreneur (co-founder of Patreon), and singer-songwriter (“Pomplamoose”), in San Francisco, California.
Mikaela Hoover, American actress (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), in Spokane, Washington.
Natalie Martinez, American model and actress (“Death Race”), in Miami, Florida.
Gareth Gates, British singer-songwriter, in Bradford, England, United Kingdom.
[The Ben Franklins were improved James Madison-class boats with quieter machinery. Very similar to the Lafayettes; some consider all of them to be Lafayette-class.]
History Diaries 