Final results in Israel’s elections were announced and they seemed to strengthen chances that Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir would be asked to form a new government. With the military vote added to the tally of Monday, slightly rearranging the allocations, an extra seat went to the Tehiya Party, an ally of Mr. Shamir’s 41-seat Likud bloc. This gave Tehiya 5 seats and made it the largest of 13 smaller parties. Labor’s loss of a seat reduced its total to 44. It remained the largest single party in Parliament. Although long the nation’s dominant party, Labor has been losing partners for a coalition. The soldiers’ vote diminished those chances further.
Prime Minister Rashid Karami of Lebanon said today that his coalition Government “respects” guerrillas fighting against Israeli occupation troops in southern Lebanon. “Their resistance reflects the will of the people,” he said in an interview here before meeting with President Hafez al-Assad. Mr. Karami said the Lebanese Government wanted the Israeli troops to leave as quickly as possible. The Lebanese leader got a warm welcome from President Assad. Officials said the two leaders had talked for three hours at the Presidential Palace in Beirut. Mr. Karami’s Government took office with the backing of Syria and it has closely coordinated its actions with Damascus.
The Lebanese leader’s statements came one day after Israel yielded to demands by the Lebanese Government and closed its liaison office in Dbeiye, a Beirut suburb. The office was the only official contact between Lebanon and Israel. Asked if the Lebanese Government was extending any help to guerrillas attacking the Israeli Army in the south, Prime Minister Karami did not respond directly. “The government does all that it can to reach this objective of bringing an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon,” he said. “And when we closed the Dbeiye office, we did our duty toward our people and toward ourselves.”
U.S. Navy F-14 jet fighters flew over the disputed Gulf of Sidra, within 38 nautical miles of Libya, but encountered no challenge from the Libyans, the Pentagon said. The operations, conducted from the aircraft carrier Saratoga in the central Mediterranean, were considered routine by the Navy. On August 19, 1981, two F-14s shot down two Soviet-made Libyan Sukhoi 22s over the gulf. Two years later, two other F-14s encountered two Libyan MIG-23s, but there is no record of shots being fired. The Pentagon spokesman, Michael Burch, said the F-14’s had conducted “routine flight operations over international waters” and had come within 38 miles of the Libyan coast. He said that the operations began Wednesday night and ended today and that there had been no interception of the planes by Libyan aircraft or any other challenge to the operations.
Ten people were killed and 50 wounded in a fresh round of fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon, after the collapse of a cease-fire agreement between warring factions, official sources said. The day before, 20 people were killed. The pro-Syrian Arab Democratic Party militia and the Sunni Muslim Tawhid group were fighting over the location of examinations for high-school certificates, which traditionally have been held in a territory controlled by the Syrian-backed militia. The exams were suspended.
Iran reported it shot down an Iraqi plane over the Persian Gulf today, and both sides said they inflicted heavy casualties in ground fighting. The Iranian press agency said the Iraqi aircraft was downed by a jet fighter when it intruded into Iranian air space. It did not say what type of plane was involved. Quoting a communique issued in Tehran, the press agency also said Iranian troops had killed or wounded more than 35 Iraqis over the last 24 hours. An Iraqi military communique reported an Iranian attack had been repulsed on the northern front with 68 Iranians killed and some arms and equipment seized. It also said Iraqi helicopter gunships hit Iranian positions east of Basra, on the southern front, where Iran has massed troops for a new offensive.
Iranian oil exports have increased rapidly this month as Iraqi missile attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf have declined, Japanese oil industry sources said today. Their estimates show Iran exported an average of 1.9 million barrels per day during the first 25 days of this month. They estimated average daily Iranian oil exports fell in June to around 900,000 barrels per day as attacks on tankers intensified and shipping insurance and freight rates rose.
Lawyers for three Israelis and a Nigerian accused of kidnapping a former Nigerian official said today that the Governments of Nigeria and Israel were not involved in the abduction. Those countries have repeatedly denied any role. The four men were brought to Lambeth Magistrate’s Court in London under heavy police escort. All were ordered held without bail until another hearing on August 23. The three Israeli defendants are Dr. Lev-Arie Shapiro, 43 years old, of Petah Tiqva; and Alexander Barak, 27, and Felix Abitbol, 31, both of Netanya. The Nigerian defendant is Mohammed Yusufu.
They are charged with kidnapping Umaro Dikko, a former Nigerian Transport Minister, on July 5 and drugging him. Mr. Dikko is wanted on corruption charges by the new military Government in Nigeria. He was found unconscious in a wooden crate addressed to the Foreign Ministry in Lagos, capital of Nigeria, in the cargo terminal at Stansted Airport outside London. The crates were about to be loaded on a Nigerian plane. Dr. Shapiro, identified by Israeli news outlets as an anesthetist, was found in the crate with Mr. Dikko, and Mr. Barak and Mr. Abitbol were found in a second crate.
Britain’s National Coal Board reported an annual loss of $1.19 billion in the state-owned coal industry and blamed a quarter of that deficit on a 20-week-old miners’ strike. The announcement coincided with a unanimous vote to continue the strike by leaders of the militant National Union of Mineworkers. The strike began March 12 over the board’s plans to close 20 unprofitable mines and lay off 20,000 men.
Mexican officials say that 46,000 Guatemalan refugees are voluntarily moving from isolated jungle camps near Mexico’s border with Guatemala to the Yucatan Peninsula where there are better conditions for settlement. The officials said that none of the refugees from the fighting between leftist guerrillas and Guatemalan troops are being pressured to leave the camps. Critics, including Roman Catholic Church officials, have charged that the refugees are being forcibly transferred from border areas.
Fidel Castro would welcome steps to decrease bitter tensions between the United States and Cuba. In a speech marking the 31st anniversary of the birth of the Cuban Revolution, President Castro said he would seriously consider “any efforts at decreasing tensions in our area and in the rest of the world.”
Nicaraguan rebel leader Eden Pastora charged that a unity agreement between two groups fighting the country’s Sandinista regime is a “shameful alliance” and a fraud that harms the rebel movement. The agreement was concluded in Panama between a faction of the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance, of which Pastora is military commander, and the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, whose leaders include former guardsmen of the regime of the late President Anastasio Somoza. Pastora told a news conference in Costa Rica by telephone hookup that he was back fighting in southern Nicaragua.
The New Democratic Party won nine of 13 seats in parliamentary elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ousting Prime Minister R. Milton Cato, unofficial results showed. Cato, whose Labor Party ruled the eastern Caribbean nation for 10 years, had called elections in hopes of obtaining a new five-year mandate. Former Prime Minister James Mitchell, 53, heads the winning party. Both men are considered pro-American.
Data on secret bank accounts in the Cayman Islands will be given to American officials investigating narcotics cases under an agreement signed by the United States and Britain. Bank secrecy laws in the British colony in the Caribbean have made it a popular place to hide drug money as well as a tax haven.
South Africa and guerrillas fighting to end Pretoria’s control of Namibia have failed to agree on a cease-fire in the disputed territory, South African officials said. Willie van Niekerk, administrator in Namibia, met in the Cape Verde Islands with Sam Nujoma, head of the South-West Africa People’s Organization. Van Niekerk said the guerrilla leader insisted that any cease-fire must be a part of a proposed U.N. plan for independence for Namibia. The failure to agree dimmed hopes for a Namibian settlement.
General Samuel K. Doe, the Liberian President, lifted a four-year ban on political activity today in a step toward a return to constitutional rule. General Doe also ordered the reopening of The Observer, an independent daily that was closed in February on charges of slandering the Government and threatening peace and security. In an address marking the 137th anniversary of Africa’s oldest republic, General Doe urged politicians to make the well-being of Liberians their top priority in campaigning for elections scheduled for next year. The announcement today followed a referendum this month in which Liberians overwhelmingly approved a new Constitution and the setting up last week of an interim National Assembly. The civilian-military Assembly, which replaced General Doe’s People’s Redemption Council, will oversee the process of returning Liberia to civilian rule. An elected civilian government is to be installed in January.
A $4.5 billion rescue of the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was announced by the Federal Government. The commitment is the largest package of Federal support for any private enterprise. The three Federal banking agencies said they were acting to keep the Chicago bank from collapsing and to avoid the possibility of a major international financial crisis.
Broadcasting deregulation was pressed by the Federal Communications Commission. By a vote of 4 to 1, the commissioners increased the number of television stations that an individual or company may own to 12 from 7 and to remove nearly all restrictions on the ownership of broadcast outlets in 1990.
A plan to spur voluntary prayer in the public schools was rejected in the House by a vote of 215 to 194. Only 33 Republicans joined 182 Democrats in opposing the legislation.
A cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits even if the inflation rate is below 3 percent, the present threshold, would take effect under a measure approved in the Senate by a vote of 87 to 3. The measure would increase benefits paid to 40 million people.
Representative Jim Wright of Texas, noting President Reagan’s criticism of Democrats for not nominating Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas for Vice President, said today that Republicans had not always been kind to Mr. Bentsen. “I guarantee that two years ago when Lloyd was running for re-election, they weren’t saying those nice things,” Mr. Wright, the House Democratic leader, told reporters. “They called him a socialist then.” In a campaign swing through Texas Wednesday, Mr. Reagan told an audience in Austin that Democratic leaders had given “the back of their hand” to Senator Bentsen, who was interviewed by Walter F. Mondale as a potential running mate.
President Reagan speaks with Mattie Hogan for the celebration of her 105th birthday.
President Reagan attends and addresses a buffet dinner hosted by St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Hoboken, New Jersey. The President courted ethnic voters at a Roman Catholic church supper in Hoboken, New Jersey. Mr. Reagan then sharply denounced his Democratic opponents for proclaiming compassion while at the same time tolerating abortion.
President Reagan attends the baptism of Frank Sinatra at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Hoboken, New Jersey.
The Senate voted 89 to 0 to make any parent’s or doctor’s decision to withhold treatment or nourishment from a severely malformed infant with a chance for life a form of child abuse subject to state legal action. The House approved similar legislation February 2 by a vote of 396 to 4. Nationwide debate has followed the 1982 death of a deformed infant known as “Baby Doe” in a Bloomington, Ind., hospital. The Indiana infant, born with a blocked esophagus and severe breathing problems as well as Down’s syndrome, died six days after birth when its parents and doctors decided to withhold treatment and nourishment.
The president of the nation’s largest postal union denounced U.S. Postal Service management as “anti-union” for implementing plans to pay new employees 23% less than the current postal workforce without waiting for an arbitration board’s decision on an employee contract. Moe Biller, president of the 300,000-member American Postal Workers Union, said, “We will not be provoked” into making a rash move-such as striking-but added that workers will not be discouraged from informational picketing. Contracts with four postal unions expired at midnight last Friday after union leaders rejected the Postal Service’s final proposal.
Warning that huge federal deficits “threaten the American dream,” a group of current and former public officials launched a nationwide organization to ensure a balanced federal budget by 1989. Vermont Governor Richard A. Snelling, who will head the group-called Proposition One-said he hopes to collect $10 million and to “raise an army” of 10 million Americans to press government officials for fiscal integrity. To erase record deficits-which may run as high as $175 billion this fiscal year-Snelling urged cuts in defense and social spending as well as tax hikes.
The Three Mile Island nuclear plant’s crippled reactor was covered with a new top designed to act as a radiation shield, plant officials said. The reactor’s old top, a 159-ton steel structure, was lifted by a huge crane for the first time since March, 1979, when the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear history occurred at the plant near Harrisburg, Pa. The crane placed a 6-foot-high steel cylinder atop the exposed reactor and workers began filling it with 10,000 gallons of water to act as part of a radiation shield.
The undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island would be restarted by the owners of the nuclear plant at up to 25 percent power, under a recommendation by the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The staff made a similar recommendation last December, but was instructed by the commissioners on June 1 to review its position in light of various investigations of the performance of the plant’s operators.
The U.S. Navy said that it has grounded 10 of its F-18 Hornets to repair recently discovered cracks in the tail assemblies of the $29 million jet fighters. The Navy so far has checked 100 of its 148 F-18s, according to Captain George Strohsahl, program manager of the jet program, who attributed the cracks to a “design flaw.” The jets are manufactured by McDonnell-Douglas Corp. of St. Louis. Strohsahl said the cracks were found in a section of the jet where its twin vertical tails are attached to the fuselage. Despite the damage, he said, there is no danger that the tails will fall off in flight.
More than 200 persons convicted under Tennessee’s drunk driving law, the toughest in the nation, were ordered to report to jail today for the second mass jailing in a month in Nashville. Davidson County Sheriff Fate Thomas called for the “mass incarceration” to relieve a backlog of 1,200 persons who were caught driving drunk.
Scores of police officers patrolled the roadways of a sparsely settled section of northwestern New Jersey today, searching for a murder suspect who dove through a closed window and fled from police headquarters in Jefferson Township Wednesday night. The suspect — Richard T. Johnson, a 22-year-old recently paroled ex-convict — escaped as he was being questioned about the slaying of 11-year-old Dawn Keimel, whose body was found Tuesday evening.
Exercise helps prolong life, according to medical researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities who studied the habits and health of 17,000 middle-aged and older men. The researchers concluded that sedentary life styles lead to heart and lung diseases that shorten lives and they strongly urged Americans to undertake some form of regular exercise, even brisk walks.
Adoption agencies are pressing efforts to find homes for the harder-to- place children at a time when more and more couples are trying unusual methods of adoption. Agencies around the country are publicizing the availability of babies who are older, disabled and members of minority groups, easing eligibility standards and recruiting prospective parents.
Dr. George Gallup died at his summer home in Tschingel, Switzerland, apparently of a heart attack. The founder of the Gallup Poll and originator of public polling techniques was 82 years old.
Bowie Kuhn announces pitcher Vida Blue is suspended for the rest of 1984 due to his cocaine conviction.
The Boston Red Sox shut out the Chicago White Sox, 7–0. Roger Clemens, a rookie right-hander, pitched a four- hitter and struck out 11 for his first major league shutout as Boston completed a three-game series sweep. Jim Rice had three singles and drove in three runs, and Dwight Evans lined a triple and a double for two runs batted in as the Red Sox posted their sixth consecutive victory and the ninth in their last 10 games. At 51-46, they are five games over .500 for the first time since June 6, 1983. Clemens (4-4) walked three and did not allow a runner to advance beyond second base in pitching his second complete game in 13 starts. He struck out Ron Kittle four times. The Red Sox pounded Richard Dotson (11-7) for 10 hits and all seven runs in less than five innings, handing the slumping White Sox their fourth consecutive setback and their 11th in 15 road games since the All-Star Game.
The Montreal Expos’ Pete Rose ties Ty Cobb with his 3,502nd single, and the Expos edge the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5–4.
Bill Laskey and Frank Williams combined on an eight-hitter, and Dusty Baker started the San Francisco Giants on their way to a 3–2 win over the Houston Astros with a first-inning homer. Laskey (6-9) pitched the first seven innings and allowed six hits. Williams held the Astros scoreless over the final two innings to notch his third save. Baker’s shot was only his second homer of the year.
San Diego’s Tony Gwynn goes 3 for 4 in an 8–2 win over Cincinnati to raise his batting average to .362, best in the majors. Gwynn will finish the season at .351 to win his first National League batting title. Gwynn, who has seven hits in his last two games, also drove in a run with a single that scored Alan Wiggins in the third inning and increased the Padres’ lead to 4–0. San Diego scored in all but three innings. Mark Thurmond pitched seven innings for his eighth victory.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1107.55 (+10.60).
Born:
Brandon Morrow, MLB pitcher (Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs), in Santa Rosa, California.
Kevin Jepsen, MLB pitcher (Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers), in Anaheim, California.
Andre Coleman, NFL defensive end (San Diego Chargers), in Inglewood, California.
Kyriakos Ioannou, Cypriot high jumper, born in Limassol, Cyprus.
Emily Axford, American actress (“Hot Date”), in Albany, New York.
Died:
George Gallup, 82, American survey sampling pioneer and inventor of the Gallup poll, of a heart attack.
Ed Gein, 77, American serial killer who was the inspiration for the films “Psycho” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, of lung cancer.
[Ed: Very possibly so. But your children are More at Risk from governments that have murdered over a hundred million of their own people in a century. So be very careful how much power you give the government, in the name of whatever other evil you are worried about. The unintended consequences can be a right bastard.]
History Diaries 