President Reagan has instructed Secretary of State George P. Shultz, in his meetings next week with Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko, to spurn any Soviet proposal to negotiate limits on developing new antimissile defenses, White House officials said today. Instead, the officials said, the President told Mr. Shultz to follow a two- track approach: to try to persuade the Russians to resume negotiations on reducing each side’s medium-range and long-range offensive weapons, and to offer only to hold discussions on future defensive arms. If talks on defensive arms are held, the American goal will not be to seek a ban on such technology, as the Russians have been calling for, but to convince them that research into space defenses could enhance nuclear stability, particularly if combined with cuts in the size and number of offensive weapons, the officials said. An Administration official said, however, that Mr. Shultz would make it clear to Mr. Gromyko that the United States, while serious about going ahead with research on missile defense, would be interested in hearing the Soviet concerns and would be willing to discuss ways to limit deployment of new offensive and defensive systems.
An apparent Soviet cruise missile crossed northern Norway and was believed to have crashed on Finnish territory on Friday, according to Norwegian officials. The object was watched by Norwegian radar stations as it crossed the Pasvik River, which forms the Soviet- Norwegian border. It then continued toward the southwest toward Lake Inari in Finland.
The second of three former security officers who have admitted killing the Rev. Jerzy Popiełuszko testified today that their leader had been authorized “from the top” to proceed even if the pro-Solidarity priest appeared to be dying. As the trial resumed, the defendant, Waldemar Chmielewski, offered his testimony in a stammer that he said had developed since his arrest. Like Leszek Pekala, who preceded him to the witness stand, Mr. Chmielewski described the abduction and killing in October as a plot orchestrated by his superior, Grzegorz Piotrowski. Mr. Chmielewski’s remarks again raised the question of who within the Interior Ministry might have known in advance of the abduction and might have condoned the killing. Mr. Pekala said he had been told by Mr. Piotrowski that the mission was authorized, even if it resulted in the priest’s death. Mr. Pekala said it was his impression that the operation had been approved by Adam Pietruszka, a deputy director of the department monitoring the activities of clergy. Mr. Pietruszka is the fourth man on trial, charged with abetting the murder.
Mr. Chmielewski, in his testimony, said that after he had learned of the mission, the question arose as to what would happen if the cleric died. The witness said Mr. Piotrowski had told him that he was “in constant touch with the directors and that authorization for the mission has been obtained.” But when the possibility of the priest’s death was raised, Mr. Chmielewski said, Mr. Piotrowski “said he would have to consult on this matter.” Some days later, the witness said, Mr. Piotrowski reported that the question had been settled and that it had taken so long because it had to go “to the top.” The witness quoted his superior as having said that the men were free to proceed without fear.
President Reagan meets with Prime Minister of Japan Yasuhiro Nakasone. President Reagan and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, seeking to ease some trade barriers, agreed today to arrange high-level talks on finding ways to open several Japanese markets to American products. The agreement came after the two leaders met to discuss trade and other issues amid growing pressure for the Administration to take tough countermeasures against Japanese trade barriers. The new high-level effort, a ranking Administration official said, will concentrate on several specific sectors of the Japanese economy, including telecommunications, computers and electronics, medical supplies and forest products. Asked about the tone of the meeting, the official said that at the start Mr. Nakasone had acknowledged the existence of trade restrictions in some areas and had been told by Mr. Reagan of other United States concerns. The official indicated that the session had been businesslike.
A majority of the estimated 25,000 Jews in Ethiopia, known as the Falashas, are now in Israel, an Israeli official said in an interview published today. The official, Yehuda Dominitz, director general of the Jewish Agency’s immigration department, told Nekuda, a magazine published by the extreme nationalist Gush Emunim settlement movement, that it was no longer clear how many Jews still lived in Ethiopia. Asked if most were now in Israel, Mr. Dominitz replied, “It is possible to say that this is so without going into details.”
Abba Eban, chairman of the Israeli Knesset’s (Parliament) foreign affairs and security committee, said today that he opposed setting up a transmitter on Israeli soil to relay Voice of America broadcasts to the Soviet Union. The Israeli Government has not yet replied to an official American request to set up the transmitter.
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi today removed the top aides who served his mother for years, including Rajinder Dhawan, long considered the second most powerful figure in Indira Gandhi’s Government. The Prime Minister’s office announced that several members of Mrs. Gandhi’s administration had been dismissed. Mr. Dhawan, her special assistant for 22 years, was granted an “indefinite leave,” the office said. Mr. Dhawan, a 47-year-old career civil servant, controlled all Mrs. Gandhi’s appointments with official visitors and all documents and even telephone calls reaching her office. He was at her side when she was assassinated on October 31. Replacing him is Vincent George, a member of India’s Christian minority, who began serving as Mr. Gandhi’s personal aide in 1980. He is in his early 30’s. Mr. Gandhi also removed three other top members of his mother’s personal staff, M. M. Sharma, R. K. Sikri and Y. Dhawan, his office said.
Indian federal authorities in New Delhi, hoping to prevent the “exploitation” by United States lawyers of victims of the Bhopal gas leak, have set up a special legal aid commitee, a top official said today. “We do not want any money to be spent by the victims for the recovery of compensation,” H. R. Bhardwaj, Minister of State for Law, told members of the Supreme Court bar in New Delhi. “We do not want the tragedy to be exploited by the foreign lawyers.”
Vietnamese troops hammered Cambodian rebel positions along the Thai-Cambodian border today with a 40-minute artillery and mortar attack, and some fighting was reported in the Rithisen camp. But reports from guerrillas at the front said the attacking Vietnamese held all key positions in the camp and that only small-scale skirmishes occurred today. The International Red Cross said it treated 19 wounded guerrillas on the Thai side of the border today.
In Bangkok, a Thai Foreign Ministry official said his country would protest to the United Nations Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar over a Vietnamese intrusion Monday in which six Thai rangers were wounded. The complaint will be forwarded to New York as soon as the details are compiled, the official said. The Vietnamese, who have been fighting Cambodian guerrilla groups opposed to the Phnom Penh Government installed by Hanoi, attacked the Rithisen camp on December 25 and seized a major part of the camp.
Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang said that plans to decontrol prices had caused concern in China, but he said changes in the price system would be the key to success of the new economic program. The remarks, made Tuesday at a New Year’s reception, were published today in People’s Daily. Mr. Zhao sought to dispel fears about the decontrol of prices, which have been fixed by the government for decades. He said rumors of impending price rises on food, television sets and other items were “street gossip.” He did not specify when the first price changes would take effect, but he said they would be in the farm sector. The economic program, announced October 20, is aimed at shifting China to a market-oriented economy.
Bureaucratic problems within the Sandinista Government have harmed the Nicaraguan coffee harvest more than rebel attacks, a senior Sandinista official said today. “The most serious problem is lack of transportation,” said the official, Daniel Nunez, who is in charge of the coffee harvest in Matagalpa and Jinotega Provinces, where two-thirds of Nicaragua’s coffee is grown. “The resources are there. The problem is to focus the rest of the country on this region.”
The wreckage of a jetliner was found on the side of a mountain in Bolivia 20 hours after it vanished on a flight to La Paz, Bolivia, from Asuncion, Paraguay, airline officials said. Reports from the scene said none of the 29 people on board Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 had survived and that the wreckage was scattered over a large area, embedded in thick snow, with only the tail visible. Among the American passengers reported aboard the Boeing 727 plane was Marian Davis, wife of Arthur H. Davis, the Ambassador to Paraguay, according to Alan Romberg, a State Department spokesman. Airport officials at El Alto Airport, where the plane had been headed, identified another of the American passengers as William Kelley, director of the Peace Corps in Paraguay. A third American passenger was identified by Eastern as Jonathan Watson. No further information on Mr. Watson was immediately available.
A seizure in Paraguay of chemicals used to refine cocaine has led United States officials to believe that some senior members of the Paraguayan Government may be involved in narcotics trafficking, according to Administration officials. Despite repeated requests from the United States, the officials said in interviews over the last few days, Paraguay has refused to destroy the chemicals or to discuss the matter with the American Ambassador. The American officials also said they had conducted inquiries that have discovered links between drug traffickers and senior Paraguayan military officers. An official in the Paraguayan Embassy in Washington denied the assertions, saying: “I don’t think that is true. The Government of Paraguay knows what to do with the chemicals. Paraguay doesn’t need the United States to tell us what to do.”
Somalia said today that Ethiopian troops attacked Somali defenses around the western garrison town of Balambale early Tuesday but were repulsed with 200 Ethiopians killed and many wounded. The official Somali radio, monitored by the BBC, quoted a Defense Ministry statement as having said the attack lasted eight hours. It said four Somali soldiers were killed and 14 wounded. There was no immediate Ethiopian reaction to the report.
Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, urged foreign investors today to exert “persuasive pressure” for racial change in his country within the next 18 to 24 months. If that tactic fails, he said at a news conference here, “punitive pressures” and economic sanctions should be introduced. The statement was the clearest enunciation of his attitude toward economic sanctions the Bishop has made in recent months in South Africa, where public arguments against foreign investment are illegal. It was the strongest indication that he might in the future advocate such measures in this country.
Interior Secretary William P. Clark, who submitted his resignation to President Reagan this week, said today that he would remain in office two or three months until his successor was ready to take over. The President, meanwhile, told reporters that “no decision” had been reached on a replacement for Mr. Clark, who took over the Department of the Interior on Nov. 22, 1983, six weeks after James G. Watt resigned under pressure. Interrupting the beginning of his meeting with Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan to talk about Mr. Clark’s resignation, Mr. Reagan apparently ruled out the appointment of Senator Paul Laxalt, a Nevada Republican who is the President’s closest friend on Capitol Hill, to the Interior post. Mr. Reagan said Senator Laxalt was “a good man, but right now we need all the help we can get in the United States Senate.” The President said he would miss Secretary Clark, who has served him for 18 years in Washington and the governor’s office in California, but would not seek to dissuade him from returning to private life.
President Reagan returns to the White House from his Christmas Vacation in California.
Three former top Presidential economic advisers told Congress today that a cut in the cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients must be part of any package to reduce the Federal deficit. Three former chairmen of the Council of Economic Advisers, including Martin S. Feldstein, who served in the Reagan Administration from 1982 to 1984, called for such a cut in committee testimony the day before the start of the 99th Congress, in which the deficit is expected to be the major issue. Mr. Feldstein also said increases in “taxes are going to have to be a significant part” of a deficit-reducing package. Mr. Feldstein often expressed similar sentiments about the desirability of tax increases while he was in the Reagan Administration, angering some of his colleagues. He also said the growth rate of military spending would have to be sharply slowed. Mr. Feldstein and two predecessors, Alan Greenspan, who led the economic council in the Ford Administration, and Charles L. Schultze, who served in the Carter Administration, testified before the Senate Finance Committee about the economy’s need for a substantial reduction in the deficit, now about $200 billion a year.
Speaking softly and staring at the courtroom floor, Bernhard Hugo Goetz told a judge here today that he would return to New York to face charges of attempted murder in the subway shooting of four teen-agers. The police said Tuesday that Mr. Goetz, who walked into the police station here Monday afternoon and said he had shot the teen-agers after they tried to get money from him, would fight extradition. But this morning Mr. Goetz, an electronics specialist from Manhattan, stood in Concord District Court and calmly told a judge: “I am not going to ask for the protection of the State of New Hampshire. I am willing to go back.” He gave no explanation for his change of mind.
Despite “token surpluses” in their budgets, cities are facing a pent-up demand for services and are in no shape to absorb further reductions in Federal aid, the director of the National League of Cities said today. The director, Alan Beals, said it was misleading for Reagan Administration officials to cite a surplus estimated at $5 billion to $6 billion for all state and local governments as evidence that they did not need Federal help.
A junior member of the House Armed Services Committee said today that a strong effort was under way to depose Representative Melvin Price as committee chairman despite support for Mr. Price from the Democratic leadership. “They’ve got to stop counting the generals and start counting the troops,” said the junior committee member, Dave McCurdy, a 34-year-old Oklahoma Democrat. On Friday a Democratic Party caucus will meet to select House committee chairmen for the 99th Congress, with Mr. Price widely perceived as vulnerable after 10 years at the top of the military panel.
Bombings of abortion clinics around the country have been carried out by isolated individuals rather than by organized conspirators, according to Treasury Department officials. Solving the cases would probably be easier if there was a single group, said John M. Walker, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for enforcement and operations. The Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is leading the Federal investigation. Family planning groups, feminist organizations and abortion clinics, however, have grown increasingly disturbed at the Government’s response to violence against clinics. The F.B.I. reports 30 attacks on such clinics since May 1982.
In Pensacola, Florida, the wife and the fiancée of two men charged with the Christmas bombings of three abortion facilities were arrested by federal agents and charged as accessories. Earlier today, one of the men, James Thomas Simmons, a 21-year old glass company worker who turned himself in to the police on New Year’s Day, was denied bond at a hearing before a Federal magistrate. The other man, Matthew J. Goldsby, 21, a construction worker, was also denied bond after his arrest Sunday.
Governors from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and Maryland have agreed to a compact for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste, Governor Dick Thornburgh announced today. Pennsylvania, which produces more than five times the low-level waste of the other states together, would provide the first disposal site. The proposed Appalachian states compact is expected to be submitted to the four legislatures for approval in the approaching sessions, according to Mr. Thornburgh’s office. Representatives of the governors agreed orally to the plan. Low-level radioactive wastes include rags, papers, filters, gloves and other materials involved in the production of smoke alarms, emergency exit signs and medical equipment. The compact does not deal with spent fuel from a nuclear power plant, which is handled by the federal government. Any member state that later produced an amount greater than 25 percent of Pennsylvania’s volume would be required to provide a site. Congress set a deadline of January 1, 1986, for all states to develop such sites or to join regional facilities.
The Massachusetts House, for the first time in recent history, voted today to oust a sitting Speaker, replacing him with the former majority leader he dismissed a year ago in a power dispute. The Democratic-controlled House elected Representative George Keverian as its speaker for 1985-86, ending the incumbency of Thomas W. McGee of Lynn after nine and a half years. Mr. Keverian, from Everett, received 90 votes to 43 for Mr. McGee, and 27 votes went to the House minority leader, William Robinson of Melrose. Much of Mr. Keverian’s support came from “rules reformers” who demanded that the Speaker’s power be restricted and members be kept better informed on major issues.
A 17-year-old Hingham, Massachusetts youth charged with murdering his father with a hatchet was quietly welcomed back to Hingham High School today by students who said their main concern was making him feel comfortable. The principal, Richard McLeod, said that the youth, Robert Ludwig Jr., arrived at school without incident and began attending classes for the first time since he told the police he had killed his father in an argument on November 18. “There are no problems,” Mr. McLeod said. “We’re keeping it as low key as possible.”
Volkswagen of America Inc. announced today that it had settled a lawsuit with the family of a black executive who committed suicide after leaving a note contending he was being blackmailed over a racial discrimination suit. The settlement was filed Friday in Federal District Court, but details of the agreement were sealed by Judge Gustave Diamond at the request of both parties, said Helen Lampl, aide to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert O. Lampl. Mr. Lampl represented the widow and children of William B. Brock, assistant personnel manager for Volkswagen’s southwestern Pennsylvania automobile assembly plant. Mr. Brock died January 8, 1983, a day after agreeing to join a group of employees in filing a lawsuit in Federal court charging the company with systematic discrimination against blacks.
The North Dakota Supreme Court has been asked to settle a dispute over who, for now, is the rightful Governor of the state. In the dispute over when a Governor’s term begins, the incoming Democrat and the outgoing Republican each claim the office and each claims the authority to make two appointments to the court this week.
A convicted mass murderer who hijacked an American Airlines DC-10 to Cuba on New Year’s Eve apparently had an accomplice here who provided him with a pistol, Virgin Islands officials said today. Ishmael Ali LaBeet, 37 years old, emerged from the jetliner’s lavatory with a pistol, disarmed three Virgin Islands Corrections Bureau guards escorting him and forced the New York-bound flight to land in Havana, United States officials have said.
A San Diego judge agreed to give Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s lawyer more time today to prepare for a surprise prosecution witness, a real estate investor who is expected to testify about the Mayor’s campaign fund. The Mayor is on trial charged with conspiracy and perjury in connection with campaign financing. He insists that if there were any irregularities, he had nothing to do with them. The real estate investor, Harvey Schuster, was not originally scheduled as a prosecution witness. He is expected to testify that Mayor Hedgecock was aware of a plan to avoid campaign contribution reporting requirements.
The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union said today that it would challenge in court a city ordinance requiring bookstore owners to keep sexually provocative books and magazines wrapped in opaque covers. “They’re playing political games with people’s First Amendment rights,” said Matthew Stark, the group’s executive director. He said his group planned to file a lawsuit against the Minneapolis ordinance, which took effect Tuesday. “The Bible might also be considered sexually provocative,” Mr. Stark said. “It talks about intercourse and adultery. You cannot tell from this what will in fact be sexually provocative.” The ordinance requires bookstore owners to check every book in their stores to determine which ones should be covered, he said. Similar laws in other parts of the country have been declared unconstitutional by the courts, he added.
Americans 85 and older make up the fastest-growing population group. New findings underscore concerns about the toll of the chronic multiple illnesses, the poverty and the widowhood suffered by some in the over-85 population, but the research also indicates that, as a group, they are less frail, less likely to be institutionalized and more independent than previously believed.
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood (37) weds British model Jo Karslake (29) in Gerrards Cross, England; they divorce in 2009.
Nevada Las Vegas basketball gives coach Jerry Tarkanian his 600th career victory with a 142-140 win over Utah State in triple overtime; total of 282 points breaks NCAA men’s record of 275 set in 1976.
Despite criticism centering on the relative weakness of its schedule, Brigham Young University, the nation’s only undefeated major-college football team, was the overwhelming choice for the No. 1 ranking yesterday in the season’s final polls of both The Associated Press and United Press International. The selection marked the first time that the Cougars or any other member of the Western Athletic Conference had been named national champion in the polls. Of the 60 sports reporters and broadcasters on the A.P.’s selection panel, 38 gave their first-place votes to Brigham Young, 16 to Washington and 6 to Florida. And of the 40 coaches who voted in U.P.I.’s final poll, 28 cast first-place ballots for the Cougars, compared with 11 for the Huskies and 1 for the Gators.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1198.87.
Born:
Ivan Dodig, Croatian tennis player (6 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Davis Cup 2018), born in Međugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia.
Greg Toler, NFL cornerback (Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins), in Washingotn, District of Columbia.
Anthony Hill, NFL tight end (Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts), in Friendswood, Texas.
Died:
Moses Josiah Madiba, 76, South African author and first African chancellor of the University of the North.
[Ed: Purely my opinion? Bernie was legitimately going to get mugged that day, and had the right to defend himself. But Bernie was also a nut who did himself no favors with his mouth after surrendered. The Tao of shutting the fuck up and asking for your lawyer is important, and rare. He also exceeded self-defense when he shot the wounded punk who was no longer a threat. I cannot feel much sorrow for any of the parties here.]
[Ed: Reality is not fiction. Fiction has to make sense.]
History Diaries 