Low-altitude anti-satellite arms have become an issue between American military officers and some civilian leaders, according to Administration sources. They said the military has expressed reservations about the need for the arms. Important segments of the Navy, in particular, are said to believe that ships at sea can evade detection by Soviet satellites, making it unnecessary to shoot them down. Given Navy attitudes, the Air Force, which is responsible for financing the $4 billion antisatellite program, has proposed that the number of weapons to be procured be cut by half, to 21.
But civilian leaders in the Pentagon and in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency have rejected these views and have sustained the program. They have opposed a Soviet proposal for a moratorium on testing antisatellite weapons that would accompany the start of talks suggested by the Russians for September in Vienna. The Soviet Union has tested what has been described by Americans as a primitive antisatellite weapon, while the United States plans tests this fall. There was speculation that President Reagan’s opposition to a test moratorium could change if the the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided that there was no need for the antisatellite system.
The Soviet feature syndicate Novosti today rejected an American assertion that Moscow was not serious about its proposal to hold talks on banning space weapons. It called ”unfounded” an assertion Wednesday by President Reagan’s national security adviser, Robert C. McFarlane, that the Russians had been ”disingenuous” about their offer to meet in Vienna next month. The agency added that the United States appeared reluctant to enter the talks, and it repeated the Soviet contention that an American counteroffer was tantamount to ”legalizing” the spread of the arms race to outer space. The Soviet Government press agency is Tass. Novosti, though technically a nongovernmental agency, also reflects official views. With correspondents around the world and in major Soviet cities, Novosti supplies features and background articles to the Soviet press and disseminates the Kremlin’s position on public issues abroad.
The United States has informed Poland that it will withdraw opposition to Polish membership in the International Monetary Fund and ease sanctions on economic and scientific cooperation in response to Warsaw’s amnesty for political prisoners, a Reagan Administration official said today. The official added that the charge d’affaires in Warsaw, John R. Davis, had advised the Foreign Ministry of the Administration’s intentions. Mr. Davis’s action was also reported in Warsaw by the Polish press agency. An announcement will be made here Friday. The sanctions, which are estimated to have cost Poland a total of $10 billion to $12 billion, were imposed after Warsaw imposed martial law in December 1981 to cope with a challenge from the Solidarity labor movement.
I.B.M. settled a long antitrust suit brought against it by the executive commission of the European Economic Community. Under the settlement, the International Business Machines Corporation, the world’s largest computer manufacturer, has agreed to alter its European marketing strategy for its most powerful range of computers and give rival European manufacturers more information about them.
Ken Livingstone, head of the Greater London Council, resigned to force a showdown over the government’s plans to abolish Europe’s biggest city council. The action by Livingstone, known as “Red Ken” by the conservative British press, and three other Labor Party council members means that special elections will have to be held later this year. They hope the elections will serve as a referendum on what Londoners think of the abolition plan. The Thatcher government, branding the move a political gimmick, vows to scrap the council by 1986.
A leader of a New York-based group linked to the Irish Republican Army arrived here Tuesday after Britain barred him from Northern Ireland, an official of Sinn Fein, the I.R.A.’s political front, said today. The man, Martin Galvin of the Irish Northern Aid Committee, ”is now in hiding in the city,” said Brian McDonald, a Sinn Fein spokesman. The Governments of Britain and the Irish Republic have said that the New York aid group is raising money for the outlawed I.R.A.. The group has denied any connection with the guerrillas. Mr. Galvin had planned to fly to Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Sunday for ceremonies marking the 13th anniversary of Britain’s introduction of interning guerrilla suspects without trial.
A 15-man team of U.S. Navy mine warfare experts has launched an investigation in Egypt in an effort to determine the cause of a series of explosions that have damaged ships in the Gulf of Suez at the southern end of the Suez Canal. The team is also expected to look into new reports that three ships have been damaged by mystery explosions at the southern end of the Red Sea, off the coasts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres won a key endorsement to head a national unity government with the ruling Likud bloc. Ezer Weizman, leader of the small but pivotal Yahad (Together) Party, which controls three seats, declared his support for Peres as the leader of a unity government during a meeting with Israel President Chaim Herzog. Peres, leader of the Labor Party, met again with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to discuss the nation’s economic crisis and the possibility of a unity government.
Three men freed their last hostages and surrendered to security men at Tehran airport after setting off an explosion that rocked the airliner they had hijacked. Three hijackers holding a French jetliner at the airport here took their hostages off the plane today, set off an explosion in the plane and then surrendered. Security men surrounding the plane since it landed here early Wednesday said the hijackers had first taken the approximately 45 passengers and 5 crew members about 200 yards from the Boeing 737 and ordered them to lie down. Then a blast shook the Air France jet, causing damage to the cockpit, and the hijackers gave themselves up with hands held high in the air. The hijackers had demanded that France release five men jailed in an attempt to kill an opponent of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Reporters allowed near the aircraft earlier said the co-pilot and an Iranian believed to be a passenger had appeared at the door and shouted that the hijackers had placed explosives. The Iranian shouted in Persian through a megaphone: ”This plane is full of explosives and machine guns. These people are not joking. ‘This plane is full of TNT and Molotov cocktails and if the French Government refuses to reply to their demands, they will explode the plane and its passengers.” The French charge d’affaires in Teheran, Jean Perrin, was told by the Iranian Foreign Ministry earlier that France should fully cooperate with Iran to save the lives of the hostages. Mr. Perrin said he told the Ministry the hijacking was on Iranian territory and it was Iran’s responsibility ”and that I trust they would do something to solve the problem.”
Nine people were killed and 13 were wounded when a bomb exploded tonight at the airport in the southern Indian city of Madras. The bomb went off shortly before midnight in the airport’s international arrival hall, a police spokesman said. He said about 30 people were in the area waiting to board a flight to Abu Dhabi. Initial reports said the bomb had been hidden in a suitcase. The police said they believed there might be more bombs at the airport but gave no further details. The Press Trust of India said the roofs of at least two rooms at the airport collapsed under the impact. The explosion followed two bomb hoaxes earlier in the evening.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reshuffled the Indian Cabinet for the second time in two weeks, naming a former planning minister, S.B. Chavan, defense minister to replace Ramaswami Venkataraman, who will be the ruling party’s vice presidential candidate in coming elections. Prakash C. Sethi, whose removal as home minister was the main reason for the earlier changes, was named both irrigation and planning minister.
China said that its people fully support the government’s strict population-control programs. “Attempting to coerce a billion people would be equivalent to inviting disaster,” said Shen Guoxiang, spokesman for the Chinese delegation at the coming population conference in Mexico City. His remarks, reported by the official news agency, apparently were to rebut charges by foreigners, including some in the U.S. Congress, that China forces women to have abortions in its effort to keep the population from exceeding 1.2 billion by the year 2000.
Argentina’s ex-President was jailed by the military’s top court on charges related to the thousands of deaths and disappearances that took place under his rule. The prisoner, Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla, was the most powerful leader in the military circle that ruled Argentina for nearly eight years before the election of President Raul Alfonsin last year.
Talks between Nicaragua and the United States are “on a good path,” diplomats said after the third round in a series of meetings, the Mexico City News reported. U.S. special envoy Harry W. Shlaudeman and Nicaraguan Deputy Foreign Minister Victor Hugo Tinoco met for two days at the Pacific resort of Manzanillo.
Uruguayan political leaders made public the terms of an agreement negotiated with the 11-year-old military government for restoration of “complete democracy” next year. The agreement, reached after three days of hard bargaining, provides for the election on November 25 of a president and legislative assembly who will take office March 1, 1985. The negotiations involved the Colorado and Civic Union parties, a Broad Front coalition and the commanders of the three armed forces. However, the Blanco Party refused to participate while its presidential candidate, Wilson Ferreira Aldunate, remains in jail.
Bert Lance resigned as general chairman of Walter F. Mondale’s Presidential campaign less than three weeks with a title but no clear political role. Mr. Lance, who was to be the key political representative in the South for Mr. Mondale and his running mate, Geraldine A. Ferraro, was absent from a two-day campaign swing they made through Mississippi and Texas.
President Reagan works around the ranch on some of his chores.
President Reagan speaks with his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Robert C. McFarlane.
The Democratic standard bearers took their campaign to the open air farmers market in San Antonio early yesterday and appealed for support from a boisterous crowd in the predominately Hispanic city. Mayor Henry G. Cisneros said that Ann Richards, the Treasurer of Texas, who was the biggest vote-getter on the statewide Democratic ticket in 1982, had proved that Texans would vote for a woman.
Scientists at the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta have been able to infect chimpanzees with the virus believed to cause AIDS, researchers said, calling it a major boost in the search for a vaccine to prevent the deadly disease. The CDC reported that chimpanzees were infected both by isolates of the virus linked to AIDS and with human plasma from a patient with lymphadenopathy — a disease that often accompanies acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The chimps showed evidence of having the virus in their systems but have not come down with the disease itself. This is being hailed as an important step in the search for an animal model on which any AIDS vaccine must eventually be tested.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved an expansion of the “superfund” hazardous waste cleanup program to $10.2 billion from current spending levels described as hopelessly inadequate, clearing the legislation for House floor debate next week. The panel endorsed an earlier decision by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to seek a sharp boost in spending levels from the current $1.6 billion. The latter committee had recommended an expansion to about $9 billion.
The National Weather Service, making one satellite do the work of two, said that the continental United States will receive adequate warnings of severe storms but that Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska will not be well-protected. Weather Service Director Richard Hallgren told the Senate space subcommittee that after the breakdown last Sunday of the GOES-east satellite the agency began moving the GOES-west satellite from its southerly position over the Pacific to a new spot where the entire country will be in its view. Hallgren noted that the satellite’s failure comes at a bad time — the start of the hurricane season. New satellites are on order but won’t be available until mid-1986.
Rangers and bear experts ventured cautiously into a closed section of Yellowstone National Park looking for a bear that killed a sleeping camper and then vanished in the Wyoming wilderness. The victim was identified as Brigitt Fredenhagen, 25, of Basel, Switzerland, whose mauled body was found Wednesday near a campsite at White Lake. The bear was the first to kill a human at the park in 12 years.
Former Tennessee state Senator Victor Ashe easily won the Republican nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr., and will face Democratic Rep. Albert Gore Jr. and Ed McAteer, an independent conservative, in November. Ashe, a Knoxville legislator endorsed by Baker and the state GOP, was challenged in the primary by Jack McNeil, a Memphis lawyer, and Hubert Patty, a perennial candidate from Maryville.
A 16-mile oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico threatened to coat 100 miles of upper Texas coast beaches with a film almost as gummy as peanut butter and necessitate a multi-million dollar cleanup. Jerry Galt, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at Port Arthur, Texas, said the 1.3 million-gallon spill would likely beach around the Galveston north jetty by late today. The oil was spilled Monday from the British tanker Alvenus.
Ford Motor Co. announced the recall of some 773,000 Ford and Lincoln-Mercury cars because their engine cooling fans might crack and fly apart. The models affected are 1977 Thunderbirds, Cougars, LTD IIs and Rancheros with 302, 351M and 400 CED V8 engines, and 1978 and 1979 Granadas and Monarchs with 250 CID 6-cylinder engines.
Postmaster General William F. Bolger has threatened to dismiss any Postal Service employees who walk off the job. Mr. Bolger said that if any of the 600,000 unionized postal employees ”commit an illegal act in either wildcat or nationwide strikes, I will fire them.” His warning, which came in a meeting with editors of The Washington Times and was published in today’s editions, came one day after the presidents of the two largest postal unions said they were prepared to go to jail if necessary to achieve a new contract. Negotiations between the Postal Service and its unions for a new three-year labor contract collapsed July 20 and no new talks have been scheduled.
Mayor Federico Pena said today that the Federal Government was ”grossly negligent” in its response to the crash of a truck carrying naval torpedoes at Denver’s busiest highway interchange. He has sent a letter to President Reagan asking for an explanation. The Navy today acknowledged that the emergency telephones listed on the waybill for the torpedo shipment were not manned 24 hours a day. But it said that henceforth telephones that could be reached at any hour would be listed with weapon shipments. City officials also continued today to question what the truck was doing in Denver when it crashed at 5 AM on Wednesday. In his letter, Mayor Pena said that under the Hazardous Materials and Transportation Act, Class A explosives such as torpedoes were not to be taken through populous areas.
Dallas, Texas officials say they will try to save the city’s program of screening calls for ambulances even though its five nurses have quit since the death of an elderly woman in January resulted in criticism of the system. The last of five nurse-dispatchers who screened calls for the Dallas Fire Department resigned two weeks ago. Jack Hickey, the assistant fire chief, said the nurses felt ”the pressure” that followed the death of Lillian Boff. An investigation determined that Mrs. Boff died after a nurse-dispatcher argued with Mrs. Boff’s stepson about her symptoms, delaying an ambulance for several minutes. Glyn Beesley, a member of the Civil Service board that investigated the Boff case, said that since the death came to light callers had been giving the nurses ”a hard time” when they asked questions to determine whether an ambulance was warranted. City officials say they value the program and will recruit more nurses.
Wall Street had a record trading day amid a consensus that economic growth had moderated to a sustainable pace. On the New York Stock Exchange, 172.8 million shares changed hands, exceeding the previous record of 159.99 million shares set on January 5. The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 19.33 points on Wednesday, soared a further 31.47 points, to close at 1,166.08.
An advance against malaria, one of the most serious health problems in the world, was announced by Federal officials. They said they expected that a vaccine against at least one stage of the major form of malaria would be ready for trial in humans within 12 to 18 months.
The nation’s poverty rate remains at its highest level since the start of President Johnson’s antipoverty drive in 1965 despite the improved economy, the Census Bureau reported. The bureau said that the number of poor people grew 868,000, from 34.4 million in 1982 to an ”unexpectedly high” 35.3 million in 1983.
The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant at San Luis Obispo, California, won permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin operation. The vote was 3 to 1 with one abstention. However, opponents of the $5.1 billion plant were given a chance to challenge the commission’s action in court when the panel’s chairman, Nunzio J. Palladino, delayed the order for two weeks.
The U.S. performs a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.
In defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, last night, the New York Yankees evened their record at 52 victories and 52 defeats. It was 92 games and 104 days ago that the Yankees last saw .500. They never have seen anything above .500 this season. The Yankees nearly lost their chance to reach .500, letting the Brewers rally for two runs in the seventh inning and a 4-4 tie. But in the eighth inning, the Yankees rallied for two runs and their 16th victory against six defeats since the All-Star Game break. Run-scoring hits by Rick Cerone and Willie Randolph against Tom Tellmann gave the Yankees a sweep of the four-game series against the Brewers, who 10 days ago were only a game and a half behind the Yankees but now are seven back.
Lou Whitaker cracked a two-run homer and Jack Morris yielded seven hits over eight innings to pick up his 14th victory as the Detroit Tigers edged the Cleveland Indians, 2–1, and gained a split of the four-game series. Willie Hernandez pitched the ninth, allowing one hit, to pick up his 23rd save.
Divine intervention? The Chicago Cubs edge the Montreal Expos, 3–2, with the help of an “immaculate deflection” by reliever Lee Smith. With runners on first and third, pinch hitter Pete Rose laces a line drive towards center field that hits Smith’s glove, then bounces off his shoulder and hip to shortstop Dave Owen, who turns it into a double play. The win, coupled with the Mets loss to the Pirates, puts the Cubs 1½ games ahead in the National League East. Rick Sutcliffe (8-1) scattered eight hits over eight and one-third innings to get his sixth straight victory since joining the Cubs June 13 in a trade with Cleveland.
The New York Mets suffered the ultimate outrage tonight when the Pittsburgh Pirates scored three runs in the eighth inning and sent them reeling to their seventh straight defeat. Ron Darling, unbeaten in more than two months, finally lost a game on a pitch thrown by Jesse Orosco. The pitch was hit for a two-run triple by Lee Lacy, shortly after Orosco had replaced Darling with the Mets clinging to a 4–3 lead. But the lead collapsed as the Pirates stormed to a 6–4 victory that sank the Mets deeper into their worst slump in two years.
Chili Davis ended a 1-for-19 slump with a 4-for-4 performance and Jeff Leonard cracked a two-run homer to help San Francisco break a four-game losing streak, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 5–2. Leonard belted his homer in the first inning and Davis collected three singles and a triple and drove in two runs. Mike Krukow (9-8) overcame a steady rain in the early innings to earn his fourth straight victory. He allowed 10 hits and struck out 8 in 8⅓ innings before Greg Minton came on for his 11th save. The Giants scored four runs off Frank Pastore (3–6), who went five innings.
United States swimmers won three more gold medals in the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles. In two of the races, Americans also collected silver medals, and in the other race their relay team broke a world record. In the first four days of Olympic swimming, the United States has 14 gold and 7 silver medals in 19 events. The latest winners were Mary T. Meagher in the women’s 100-meter butterfly, George Di Carlo in the men’s 400-meter freestyle and the American team in the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay. Jeff Blatnick becomes second American to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Los Angeles Olympics, Blatnick was in remission for Hodgkin’s disease.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1166.08 (+31.47).
Born:
J. D. Vance [James Donald Bowman], American politician, Senator (R) Ohio (2023–), Republican nominee for Vice-President, 2024, in Middletown, Ohio.
Brandon Browner, NFL cornerback (NFL Champions, Super Bowl 49-Patriots, 2024; Pro Bowl, 2011; Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints), and attempted murderer, in Sylmar, California.
Luke Hughes, Australian MLB second baseman, first baseman, and third baseman (Minnesota Twins, Oakland A’s), in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Konrad Schmidt, MLB pinch hitter and catcher (Arizona Diamondbacks), in Santa Rosa, California.
Chiara Mastalli, Italian actress, in Rome, Italy.
Died:
Namdeo Jadav, 62, Indian Victoria Cross recipient known for his heroism during the Allied Italian Campaign during World War II. On 9 April 1945 at the Senio River, Italy, when a small party were almost wiped out in an assault on the east floodbank of the river, Sepoy Namdeo Jadhav, then 23, carried two wounded men under heavy fire through deep water, up a steep bank and through a mine belt to safety. Then, determined to avenge his dead comrades, he eliminated three enemy machine-gun posts. Finally, climbing on top of the bank he shouted the Maratha war cry and waved the remaining companies across. He not only saved many lives but enabled the battalion to secure the bridgehead and ultimately to crush all enemy resistance in the area.
History Diaries 