Fifteen Democratic lawmakers have written to President Reagan urging him to delay a shipment of 417 pounds of plutonium — enough for 30 nuclear bombs — to be shipped from France to Japan. The transfer is subject to U.S. approval because the plutonium originated in nuclear fuel from the United States. Secretary of Energy Donald P. Hodel has approved the move, but the lawmakers said Reagan can overrule his energy chief and delay shipment until more secure transfer arrangements could be made. Rep. Richard L. Ottinger (D-New York) told reporters he and nine other House members and five senators warned Reagan that the shipment would pose “grave security risks worldwide.”
The Reagan Administration, while pursuing a campaign to stop other countries from furnishing military equipment to Iran, has permitted U.S. firms to sell the Iranians jeeps, engine parts for civilian jets and other items being used to pursue the war against Iraq, the Washington Post reported. The sales are the result of loopholes in U.S. law and of commitments made by the United States under the 1981 agreement that freed the embassy hostages in Tehran.
Police in London investigated reports that millions of dollars worth of Rolls-Royce naval engine parts have been stolen and smuggled out of Britain, destined for Iran and Argentina. The Sunday Telegraph also charged widespread corruption at the state-owned aircraft and naval power plants, contending that employees took bribes from companies in exchange for awarding contracts. Among other things, Rolls-Royce builds Tyne engines for navy destroyers. Its automobiles are built by a separate company that is not involved in the inquiry.
A powerful bomb explosion ripped through the upper two stories of the three-story Palace of Justice in Antwerp, Belgium, causing extensive damage but no injuries. Police said they suspected the blast was caused by the Spanish Basque separatist group ETA in reprisal for the extradition of two Basque suspects from Antwerp to Spain on July 14.
A leader of the outlawed Solidarity labor union who was recently released from prison under the Government’s amnesty called today for a meeting of the union’s leadership. Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, a member of the Solidarity underground’s national leadership, said the meeting should be held ”to create a group close to Walesa which would be able to lead union activities openly and officially.” Mr. Frasyniuk referred to the Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa. ”We should think how to help organize structures and activities in factories,” said Mr. Frasyniuk, who was interviewed by telephone in the southwestern city of Wroclaw. ”There are self-government bodies and unions in factories, but too few.” Mr. Frasyniuk said it would be difficult to plan the meeting because all the leaders have not been released from prison and some are undergoing medical treatment.
A senior Yugoslav leader said today that opponents of the Government were trying to overthrow the country’s Communist system and create a Western-style democracy. Vidoje Zarkovic, a member of the 23- man policy-making Presidency of the ruling Yugoslav Communist Party, said nationalists and internal enemies of the Government had organized links with ”reactionary circles in the West.” ”They are attempting to overthrow the Yugoslav constitutional order, to eliminate our Communist Party and to establish a multiparty bourgeois democratic system in Yugoslavia,” Mr. Zarkovic told a gathering in southern Yugoslavia. He said the enemies, given the country’s economic difficulties, were trying to test whether the country was susceptible to pressures to change its internal political system and nonaligned status.
Rainfalls in the northern Ukraine have badly hampered the grain harvest and cut back the flow of processed grain to state silos by more than a third, according to a report published today. The farming daily Selskaya Zhizn said the cut crop was so wet in the northern districts of the republic that it all had to be dried out, but that grain driers were badly overloaded and could not cope. The daily cited officials in the important Zhitomir region as saying the quantity of crop going into state storage was running at less than 10,000 tons a day there, compared with more than 30,000 tons in previous years.
An Israeli soldier was killed and two were wounded when their armored personnel carrier hit a mine near the village of Amiq in eastern Lebanon, a military spokesman said. The incident occurred not far from the narrow no man’s land that separates Israeli and Syrian forces in Lebanon. Military sources in Tel Aviv said an investigation is under way to determine whether the mine was placed by the Syrians or by guerrilla infiltrators who, the Israelis say, have bases in Syrian-held territory. Attacks against Israeli troops have increased recently. Israeli sources said there have been 25 attacks or attempts in the last week. The mine incident was the fourth attack on Israelis in Lebanon today and the seventh in the last 24 hours. The Israelis suffered no casualties in the other attacks.
Israel’s opposition leader was asked to form a new government. Shimon Peres, the Labor Party’s leader, received the mandate from President Chaim Herzog nearly two weeks after national elections that left both the Labor Party and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s Likud bloc without a parliamentary majority.
An explosion in the Red Sea that severely damaged a Liberian-registered tanker, might have been caused by a mine. The tanker, the Olympic Energy, was sinking, according to unconfirmed reports that did not mention casualties. The explosion appeared to be the worst in a series in the key waterway that have damaged at least five other ships since Thursday. The State Department says a total of 15 ships have recently been involved in such incidents. A Liberian-registered oil tanker was severely damaged by an explosion in the Red Sea, and there were reports that the vessel was sinking. No casualties were reported, but the blast appeared to be the worst in a series of explosions that have damaged at least seven other ships in the waterway in the last week. Some shipping officials have blamed the explosions on mines, and in Beirut, an anonymous caller took responsibility for the blasts on behalf of Islamic Jihad, a fundamentalist group with ties to Iran. The Liberian tanker, the Oceanic Energy, reportedly was en route from Yemen to Jidda, Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian Minister for Revolutionary Guards, Haj Mohsen Rafik Dost, said today that Iran would not attack tankers in the Persian Gulf and would not widen the Iran-Iraq war, the official Syrian press agency reported. Mr. Dost’s comments came after a meeting earlier in the day with the Syrian Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Lieutenant General Mustafa Tlas. ”Iran is committed not to attack any tanker in the gulf and has no ambition in any Arab country,” the press agency quoted Mr. Dost as saying. But it said he then added that the gulf war ”cannot end before the ouster of Saddam Hussein from the Iraqi leadership.” Iran and Iraq now have been at war for almost four years. The agency said Mr. Tlas told the Iranian delegation that Syria condemned the war ”because this war serves only the enemies of the Arab nations.”
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Ranasinghe Premadasa, has proposed that India and Sri Lanka hold a joint inquiry into the bomb explosion at Madras Airport, the state radio said today. Sri Lanka Defense Ministry officials have said they believe the blast was part of a plan by Sri Lanka separatist Tamil guerrillas to send explosives to Colombo and blow up two Air Lanka jets. The government here says about 24 Sri Lanka citizens were among the 32 people who died in the blast. The radio said Mr. Premadasa proposed the joint inquiry at a public meeting at Weligama in southern Sri Lanka on Saturday. It quoted him as saying the explosion proved his recent assertions that guerrillas fighting for a separate Tamil state were operating from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, something India has repeatedly denied.
A Tamil separatist group based in Madras said today that it killed six Sri Lanka Navy men in an ambush Saturday in northern Sri Lanka, the Press Trust of India reported.
A twin-engine Fokker jetliner crashed while attempting to land at Dhaka, Bangladesh, during a storm, killing all 45 passengers and four crew members on board. Airport officials said the plane, operated by Bangladesh’s Biman Airline, lost contact with the control tower shortly before it plunged into a flooded, 30-foot-deep ditch at the end of the runway at Zia International Airport. It was the worst air disaster in Bangladesh since the country became independent in 1971. Officials said all 45 passengers and 4 crew members were killed when the plane, a Fokker F-27 belonging to the national airline, plunged into a marsh near Dhaka Airport. Officials said the plane was en route to the capital from the port city of Chittagong. The passengers included one Briton, a Japanese and 33 Bangladeshis coming from Chittagong to catch a connecting flight to the Middle East.
Flag-draped caskets of five U.S. military officers missing since the Vietnam War rested at the Oakland Army Depot’s tri-services mortuary awaiting shipment to their burial sites. The Americans were identified through tests conducted by the Army in Honolulu. The five, whose remains were turned over to U.S. officials in Hanoi on July 17, were identified as: Marine Captain Hugh M. Fanning of Fort Worth; Marine Major Stephen J. Kott, Greenville, South Carolina; Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Vincent J. Connolly, San Antonio; Navy Commander Richard C. Nelson, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, and Navy Lieutenant Gary L. Shank, Prairie Village, Kansas.
Peru appears stymied in its offensive against leftist guerrillas. President Fernando Belaunde Terry said he is pessimistic that the Peruvian Army will be able to make much headway against the guerrillas in the Andean highlands. Mr. Belaunde, who in 1980 became Peru’s first elected civilian leader after 12 years of military rule, put the army in full control of the counterinsurgency campaign last month, because, he said, the guerrillas’ violence had reached alarming proportions.
Overscheduling of flights at airports is a fairly widespread problem, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration. At Kennedy International Airport recently, 63 planes were scheduled to land in the hour beginning at 3:45 P.M., but the most the airport could handle, even with clear weather, was 44. Overscheduling has contributed to a sharp rise in flight delays and is responsible for growing criticism from Federal officials and consumer groups.
The budget deficits could not be cut significantly by President Reagan or Walter F. Mondale leading economic forecasters said. In a comparison of both candidates’ statements with underlying trends in the economy and political attitudes in Congress, the economists predict that annual Federal deficits would remain at the stubbornly high $200 billion level through the 1980’s.
President Reagan works on clearing a stretch of forest on his California ranch. President Reagan introduces his new Medic and Military Aide to the ranch.
Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro charged today that President Reagan’s declaration that he had no plan to raise taxes amounted to a campaign promise he would break if re-elected. As Mrs. Ferraro spent a relaxed weekend at her vacation home here on the western end of Fire Island, she took time out to comment on politics. ”I just hope the American voter does not forget the promises that Ronald Reagan made in 1980,” the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate said before riding her bicycle home after morning mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea. She recalled: ”He said he was going to reduce Government spending, which he has not; that he was going to make this Government more secure, which it is not; going to give us a balanced budget by 1983, which he did not; and a surplus of $93 billion by 1984 which does not exist.”
Vice President Bush opened up a new avenue of attack on Walter F. Mondale today, accusing the Democratic Presidential nominee of failed leadership in handling the departure of Bert Lance as general chairman of his campaign. He also said the Reagan Administration would consider reducing the deficit through ”revenue increases,” while stressing that such a program would not mean raising income taxes. Mr. Mondale has said that the Administration has a ”secret plan” to raise taxes, but did not specifically mention income taxes. Mr. Bush made the comments at an airport news conference as he arrived here for a four-day campaign swing through the West.
The nation could spend more than half a trillion dollars to meet federal clean air and clean water standards this decade, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report. Noting that environmentalists contend that the cleanup will stimulate the economy and create jobs while some businessmen contend just the opposite, the study said the truth is somewhere in between. The report was prepared by Development Planning & Research Associates Inc., under a contract with the EPA and required by the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a two-year, $7.4-million effort to examine about 1,000 U.S. sites beginning this summer that might be contaminated with low levels of toxic dioxin. If dangerous levels of contamination are found the sites will be referred to the agency’s “superN fund” program for cleanup, officials said.
Drastic ecological changes along the coast from northern Maine to Cape Cod are feared by some scientists if Nova Scotia builds a huge plant to generate power from the tides in the Bay of Fundy. Studies indicate the plant may increase the tides by one foot, or 10 percent.
Rebellious prisoners in Virginia released their hostages under threat of a state police assault if they failed to meet a 7 A.M. deadline. The prisoners at the maximum security Mecklenburg Correctional Center near the North Carolina state line released the last of nine members of the prison staff just before sunrise.
A 12-year-old boy was injured in the second bear attack in a week at Yellowstone National Park. Bryan Lynip was taken to West Park Hospital in Cody, Wyoming, where he underwent surgery on his right arm and was reported in good condition. The boy was asleep with his brother in a tent at Grant Village campground when the bear entered and attacked Bryan, leaving several puncture wounds and lacerations on his right arm, a park spokeswoman said. The first attack during the week killed a 25-year-old Swiss woman, Bridget Fredenhagen.
Eight Ohio Lotto jackpot winners won $3,085,534 each as their share of the $24.6-million lottery, spokeswoman Anne Bloomberg said. The identities of the winners will not be known until they hand in their tickets to regional lottery offices today. The net annual payment for each will be $123,421.36 over 20 years, allowing for 20% tax withholdings, Bloomberg said. The jackpot is the largest in U.S. history, surpassing a $22.8-million jackpot split by four persons in New York’s Lotto game in May.
Almost no oil from an 85-mile slick remained in the waters off Galveston Island, Texas, but officials said it would take two weeks to finish cleaning up the gooey balls and puddles left on beaches by the leak from the grounded British tanker Alvenus, which ran aground July 30 about 11 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and released about 1.4-million gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude.
Police arrested a suspect several hours after a gunman wearing a combat helmet and jacket burst into a wedding reception in South St. Paul, Minnesota, with a rifle and opened fire, killing the bridegroom’s uncle and wounding three others. The gunman also struck another man with the rifle butt. Gene Edward Krey, 51, of West St. Paul, was arrested without incident after he was found near a park, which had been evacuated after the gunman ran there, police Captain David Vujovich said. Authorities said Krey was booked on initial charges of second-degree murder. Police said that the suspect apparently had had a dispute with the bride’s mother several months ago.
The average bank robber is an unsophisticated criminal who does not study the bank or disguise himself from cameras and usually steals about $3,300, the Justice Department said today. Ultimately, the bank robber has a greater chance of being arrested than other types of thieves. Federal and state officials made arrests in 69 percent of the 11,000 bank robberies reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1978 and 1979, but they made arrests in only 17 percent of all robberies, the department said. Bank robberies account for only 1.3 percent of all robberies. Despite the high arrest rate of bank robbers, only 20 percent of the average $3,300 loss is recovered. The profile was based on data compiled from the F.B.I., the executive office of United States attorneys, the administrative office of the Federal Courts and the Bureau of Prisons.
Richard Burton, the actor, died of a stroke in a hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. He was 58 years old.
Lou Piniella, who ended his playing career earlier this season and became a full-time coach with the New York Yankees, saluted his fans yesterday in ”Lou Piniella Day” ceremonies at Yankee Stadium. ”The way I feel,” said the veteran outfielder, his voice choked with emotion, ”this is not a farewell, this is only a hello.” Piniella, 40 years old, played in only 29 games this year before deciding to call it quits with a career total of 102 home runs and 766 runs batted in. He played in four World Series with the Yankees, including the 1977 and 1978 victories over the Dodgers, hitting .319 in 22 Series games.
The Yankees rolled to their eighth consecutive victory yesterday at Yankee Stadium, beating the Cleveland Indians, 4–0, on one-hit pitching by three hurlers. Vic Mata hit a homer, and Brian Dayett batted in two runs.
The Kansas City Royals sweep two from the first-place Detroit Tigers, winning 5–4 and 5–0, in the first of three straight doubleheaders for Detroit. Pat Sheridan keyed a four-run first inning with a two-run homer and Charlie Leibrandt pitched eight shutout innings as the Kansas City Royals beat Detroit, 4–0, to sweep today’s doubleheader and the four-game weekend series with the slumping Tigers. The Royals took the opener, 5–4, when Dane Iorg doubled home two runs with two out in the ninth inning to break a 3–3 tie. It marks only the second time all season the Tigers have lost four games in a row — they have dropped nine of their last 13 — and sliced their lead over second-place Toronto in the American League East to eight games, the smallest since July 20.
Toronto’s Cliff Johnson hits his 19th career pinch home run, breaking the Major League record of 18 he had shared with Jerry Lynch. Johnson’s 8th-inning blast gives the Blue Jays a 4–3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Dave Collins swipes 4 bases to tie the club mark set by Damaso Garcia.
Tom Brunansky drilled a two-run shot in the third inning for his third homer in three games to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4–2 win over the California Angels. The triumph moved Minnesota back into first place in the American League West by one-half game over the Angels. Ken Schrom (4–5) allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked none in 7⅓ innings. Ron Davis recorded the last three outs for his 21st save.
Frank Robinson, who had led his club to a 42–64 record, is fired as manager of the last-place San Frnacisco Giants and replaced Danny Ozark. Under the new manager, the Giants rally to defeat the host Atlanta Braves, 7–4, as Jeffrey Leonard hits a 9th inning grand slam. With one out in the ninth, Dan Gladden singled and Bob Brenly doubled off Gene Garber (1–2). Donnie Moore relieved Garber and walked Chili Davis intentionally to load the bases. Leonard then belted his 16th homer of the season to overcome a 4–3 Braves lead.
Keith Moreland’s 3rd-inning grand slam is all the scoring the Chicago Cubs need in beating the Montreal Expos, 4–3. Chicago stays a half game ahead of the Mets in the National League East. The triumph was the eighth in the last nine games for Chicago. Rick Reuschel (5-5) pitched three innings in relief of the starter Rich Bordi to pick up the victory. Lee Smith pitched the final two innings to record his 24th save.
The Cincinnati Reds edged the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2–1, as Steve Sax’s throwing error in the bottom of the 11th inning allowed Cesar Cedeno to score the winning run. Cedeno led off the 11th with a single off the reliever Jerry Reuss (2–5) and moved to second on a sacrifice. Skeeter Barnes was intentionally walked, and Dave Van Gorder grounded to the shortstop Dave Anderson, who flipped to Sax at second for the force. But Barnes took Sax out with a hard slide and Cedeno sprinted for home. Sax threw wildly to the plate, allowing Cedeno to score easily.
The San Diego Padres rolled over the Houston Astros, 9–5. Steve Garvey slammed three hits, including a two-run homer, and Kevin McReynolds drove in three runs for the Padres. The Padres scored three times in the fourth on a passed ball and a two-out single by Dave Dravecky. The Padres scored three more runs in the sixth on a triple by Alan Wiggins, a double by Tony Gwynn and Garvey’s two-run homer.
Private sponsorship of the Olympics appears to have been successful, according to growing indications midway through the Games.
The first Olympic women’s marathon was won by Joan Benoit, of Freeport, Maine, who finished in 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds, about 430 meters ahead of Grete Waitz of Norway, the world champion who had never before lost a marathon she had finished. The 26-mile, 385-yard course in Los Angeles was the first women’s Olympic race longer than 1,500 meters.
American super-hurdler Edwin Moses wins the 400m hurdles gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, his 105th consecutive race victory.
Evelyn Ashford runs an Olympic 100m record time of 10.97 to beat American teammate Alice Brown in the Los Angeles Olympic Games final.
The rowing competition at the Los Angeles Olympics concludes with Romania dominant in the women’s section winning 5 of 6 gold medals; the U.S. wins the eights from Romania.
Born:
Helene Fischer, Russian-born German pop singer (Farbenspiel), in Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
Sean Kazmar Jr., MLB shortstop and second baseman (San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves), in Valdosta, Georgia.
Died:
Richard Burton, 58, Welsh Tony and BAFTA Award-winning stage and screen actor (“Cleopatra”; “Camelot”; “Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”), and fifth and sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor (1964–1974, 1975–1976), of cerebral hemorrhage.
There are other victories than medals.
[Ed: The Lehman/Reagan navy’s Surface Action Groups centered on the recommissioned battleships had a powerful offensive potential against both sea and shore targets — as long as the air and missile threat was limited.
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