President Reagan expressed uncertainty today about the prospects for arms talks with the Soviet Union, due to open March 12 in Geneva, and about reaching an accord before the end of his second term. After the announcement of the time and place of the talks was made simultaneously here and in Moscow, Mr. Reagan said in a radio interview that he was “a little more optimistic” than his advisers but was “not euphoric.” “I know how tough this is going to be,” he said. “We are certainly going to try but I would not want to confine it to four years because I know how long some negotiations have taken. At least it is the first time that I can recall the Soviet Union openly themselves saying they wanted to see the number of weapons reduced.”
The Soviet Union said today that agreement on arms control could be achieved only if the proposed separate talks on space weapons, strategic arms and medium- range arms were interrelated. In announcing that negotiations will open March 12 in Geneva, a Soviet spokesman, Vladimir B. Lomeiko, stressed the linkage on which the Soviet Union has insisted all along. He also repeated a warning by Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko that continued deployment of medium- range nuclear missiles in Western Europe would “put the talks in Geneva into question.” “This is a serious warning,” he said. Mr. Lomeiko said the Soviet delegation would be headed by Viktor P. Karpov, 56 years old, an experienced arms negotiator and a man described by his American counterparts as tough, well- prepared and knowledgeable.
OPEC oil ministers, gathering here for an emergency meeting that begins Monday, seemed today to be headed for a collision over how to cope with a glut of oil that has been eroding prices. At the heart of the dispute are differences over how to change OPEC’s official price structure to enable members to sell all of their allotments under the overall production ceiling of 16 million barrels a day that the 13-member cartel imposed in October. Officials of the group’s market monitoring committee, who met in the Inter- Continental Hotel today, agreed on the necessity to hold oil prices around the $29-a-barrel bench mark set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in March 1983. But they called for a sharp reduction in the gap between the official prices for light and heavy crude oils.
The two sides in Britain’s 10-month-old coal strike have patched over their differences and agreed to talks to pave the way for an end to the dispute. The miners’ union and the National Coal Board said informal talks will be held Tuesday to try to set up an agenda for full negotiations. But there was no guarantee that those negotiations would develop unless the union backs down on its central demand and agrees to consider the closure of unprofitable pits. According to the board, 3,386 more men abandoned the strike last week and 77,000 of 188,000 miners are now at work. The union disputes this figure.
A nonviolent nationalist party in Northern Ireland has called on the British Government to disband its Ulster Defense Regiment, a locally recruited regiment of the British Army. John Hume, who is head of the Social Democratic and Labor Party, also called on the British and Irish Governments to try again to work out a political framework to solve the province’s problems. He spoke at the predominantly Roman Catholic party’s annual conference. On Friday, a member of the Ulster Defense Regiment was sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 murder of an election worker for Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and for six other attempted murders. Among his intended victims was a man subsequently shot dead by the police.
Cypriot President Spyros Kyprianou said today that he had asked to meet with President Reagan to discuss the failure of talks last week to reunite the island. Mr. Kyprianou said contact had been made with United States officials but no meeting had been scheduled. Mr. Kyprianou said he wanted to explain to Mr. Reagan why talks at the United Nations with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, had failed. “I feel certain that it would be useful to hold discussions at this level,” Mr. Kyprianou said at a news conference. Mr. Kyprianou and Mr. Denktaş met last week with the United Nations Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, to discuss a plan to make Cyprus, which Turkey invaded in 1974, into a two-state federation. Spokesmen for the State Department and the White House had no comment today on Mr. Kyprianou’s request.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl has become caught up in a controversy growing out of a magazine’s suggestion that the West German Army could sweep unopposed into Eastern Europe and reunify Germany. The article, “Reflections About Germany,” appeared in the official magazine of an organization that represents German refugees from Polish Silesia. The group’s name translates as the Silesian Compatriot Association.
A widely respected political figure resigned from the Government today in a move that could threaten the collapse of Prime Minister Rashid Karami’s Cabinet. Sunni Moslem leaders in West Beirut were trying tonight to persuade the official, Education Minister Selim al- Hoss, to take back his resignation. But Dr. Hoss, a former Prime Minister, has spoken privately in recent weeks of his increasing frustration and his desire to leave the Karami Cabinet. He has held back, Lebanese sources said, only at the insistence of Lebanon’s chief Sunni religious leader, or Grand Mufti, Sheik Hassan Khaled.
Syrian President Hafez Assad has declared an amnesty for some imprisoned members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and has invited those in exile to return to the country, state-controlled Syrian newspapers reported. The Muslim Brotherhood, made up of fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, has long opposed Assad because he and other top members of his administration come from the Alawite Muslim minority. The press reports said Assad made his decision after the group’s leaders indicated they “have pledged to no longer be the tools of Syria’s enemies.”
Iranian Prime Minister Hussein Moussavi, ending a two-day visit to Nicaragua, ridiculed assertions by President Reagan that the Islamic republic is helping the leftist Sandinista government buy arms. At a news conference in Managua, Moussavi accused Reagan of trying to “present lovers of liberty as terrorists.” Earlier, Moussavi promised that his country “will always be by the side of Nicaragua,” and he wished success to the Marxist-led government in its fight against the U.S.-backed rebels.
U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar called today for negotiations to end the “suffering, destruction and agony” in Cambodia, and prepared to visit refugees from a Vietnamese offensive against rebel camps near the Thai border. About 62,000 Cambodians have recently been moved to the camp after fleeing the fighting. The United Nations leader, who will also visit Vietnam during his trip, said at a banquet given by Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda that he would “do my utmost to bridge the differences and facilitate the search for a peaceful resolution” to the fighting between Vietnamese soldiers and Cambodian rebels.
Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke has told New Zealand it must accept port visits by U.S. warships if the ANZUS defense pact is to last. “We could not accept as a permanent arrangement that the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) alliance had a different meaning, and entailed different obligations, for different members,” Hawke wrote New Zealand’s Prime Minister David Lange. In reaction to Hawke’s letter, Defense Minister Geoffrey Palmer said New Zealand “will not be deflected from our policy…” of not allowing ships carrying nuclear arms to make port calls.
Mexico and Yugoslavia urged that poorer countries be given the chance to accelerate their development so they can continue to repay their foreign debts. The two countries said if the conditions for development are not created, it is unrealistic to expect global economic recovery. The call was made in a joint statement issued after an official visit by Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid.
Searchers have recovered the bodies of eight of 21 people aboard a U.S. military C-130A aircraft that crashed off the coast of Honduras, the Pentagon reported. The plane. went down last Tuesday in bad weather off the Caribbean town of Trujillo, about 150 miles north of Tegucigalpa. None of the victims has been identified so far, although three of the bodies were found Friday and five more on Saturday.
The Pope arrived in Venezuela to start a 12-day tour of Latin America with a firm call for greater discipline in matters of Roman Catholic doctrine and a warning against ideologies that seek “an illusory earthly liberation.” The Pope arrived from Rome a day after he made a surprise announcement that a Synod of Bishops would be held in November to examine the results of the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. Although he praised the spirit of Vatican II, which instituted widespread changes in the church, his call came when high Vatican officials have sought to reinforce church discipline against what they see as a growing laxity. In conversations with reporters on his plane today, John Paul explained that the purpose of the synod was not to turn back from Vatican II, but “above all to hold the line” and “confirm the orientation of the Council.” (American Cardinals, Bishops and theologians said they were stunned by the announcement of the synod, but they welcomed it as an opportunity to discuss developments since Vatican II with the Pope.
Americas Watch, a U.S.-based human rights group, accused the Paraguayan government of General Alfredo Stroessner of maintaining its grip on power by torturing opponents, muzzling the press, limiting trade unions and outlawing opposition parties. The group’s charges were based on two visits to the South American nation in 1984. On their first visit, last April, the group’s representatives were expelled from the country.
A cloud of toxic ammonia gas escaped from a fertilizer plant in a southeastern Brazilian town, causing the evacuation of 5,000 people and injuring at least 30, environmental officials said today. Most of the 30 people who were hospitalized in nearby towns “had vision and breathing problems, but none was in serious condition,” said an official of the Sao Paulo state environmental agency in Cubatao, 260 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro. Officials said 5,000 people began to flee from the shantytown of Vila Parisi, on the outskirts of Cubatao, after being awakened by strong fumes around midnight Friday. Many returned this morning, officials said. Mr. Flores said the operators of the Ultrafertil fertilizer plant next to the shantytown would be fined once the cause for the gas escape had been determined.
Nelson Mandela, the black leader in South Africa, who was imprisoned more than 20 years ago, was quoted in a rare interview as saying that his armed followers would call a truce in their war against white rule if the authorities would “legalize us, treat us like a political party and negotiate with us.” He said that “until they do, we will have to live with the armed struggle.” It was the second interview permitted him since he was jailed. “Until they do, we will have to live with the armed struggle,” said Mr. Mandela, who is regarded by many blacks here as their true leader. He was quoted by Lord Bethell, a British member of the European Parliament, who talked with Mr. Mandela earlier this month at Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town. The interview is to appear Sunday in a London newspaper, The Mail on Sunday.
The space shuttle Discovery was scheduled to end its secret military mission and land here this afternoon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced early today. The landing was set to occur at 4:23 PM, depending on weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center. The announcement also indicated that the shuttle’s primary mission of deploying what was widely reported to be a $300 million electronic intelligence-gathering satellite had been successful. According to the Air Force, the rocket propulsion system, called the inertial upper stage, that was carried by the Discovery was deployed and “successfully met its mission objectives.” The 32,000-pound, solid-fuel rocket system was attached to the 5,000-pound secret payload to boost it toward its higher operational orbit. The shuttle was presumably flying at an altitude of less than 200 miles. The satellite was to be placed into a 22,300-mile-high orbit south of the Soviet Union, where it is supposed to be able to monitor missile tests and military telecommunications.
President Reagan makes a Radio Address to the Nation on Economic Growth. Mr. Reagan resumed his weekly radio broadcasts, telling a national radio audience that “the fundamental strength and vitality of our economy is unquestionable.” “Like a sapling in springtime,” he said, “our economy sprang back after a long winter and reached for the sun.” In the Democratic response to Mr. Reagan’s address, Robert C. Byrd, the Senate minority leader, said Federal spending must be cut and the deficit reduced to keep the economy growing. But Mr. Byrd said it must be done in a way that is “fair and even-handed.” Mr. Reagan suspended his weekly five-minute radio speeches after the election.
President Reagan said today that he would resist efforts by Republican senators to make further cuts in the growth of military spending to curb the Federal deficit, calling such a proposal “very risky.” Mr. Reagan’s remarks in a live radio interview with representatives of seven independent networks reflected the President’s intention to support the spending goals of Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, despite criticisms that his stance could jeopardize Congressional support for a deficit- reducing package. The President’s comments on the deficit were his first response to criticism Friday by Bob Dole, the Senate majority leader, who voiced serious objections to the Administration’s planned targets for military spending in the fiscal year 1986. Senator Dole, in a speech, warned that it would be difficult to achieve some cuts in politically sensitive domestic programs without greater give on military spending.
President Reagan attends the Annual Alfalfa Club Dinner.
TheFederal Government wants to prevent 16 indicted church workers from arguing that religious convictions and moral objections to United States foreign policy led them to help Central Americans enter this country illegally. Federal prosecutors, who obtained indictments two weeks ago against leaders of the Tucson-based movement to give sanctuary to people fleeing Central America, have petitioned the Federal District Court in Phoenix to limit testimony to the facts of the case and to disallow any testimony that the defendants were motivated by religious principles or a belief that United States policy in Central America was “immoral” and contributed to an exodus from Guatemala and El Salvador. The Government maintains that very few of the Central Americans are fleeing political persecution. Rather, it says they are fleeing severe economic hardship, which is not a legal reason for granting asylum. Since the case simply involves the smuggling of aliens, prosecutors say, it should be treated as such, without raising issues they regard as extraneous.
Edwin Meese 3d faces another round of Senate hearings on his nomination to be Attorney General. Critics of the nomination are preparing to fight his confirmation, chiefly by raising ethical issues they contend were not resolved by an independent counsel’s finding that Mr. Meese did not commit any crime in connection with his financial affairs.
Senator Robert J. Dole (R-Kansas) formally kicked off his 1986 reelection campaign in Wichita, Kansas, and said farm programs must be cut to help reduce the federal deficit. Dole, who has no opposition so far, said farmers could expect more market-oriented farm programs as the government tries to get a handle on agriculture programs that have grown from $12 billion four years ago to $51 billion today.
District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan said yesterday that he had presented a grand jury with all the available evidence in the Goetz case and had not tried to push the panel toward any specific indictment. Mr. Morgenthau made his comments in an interview after a Manhattan grand jury refused on Friday to indict Bernhard H. Goetz for attempted murder or assault in the shooting of four youths on an IRT subway train last month. He was indicted on three charges of illegal possession of weapons. The most serious of the gun charges carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, while attempted murder carries a maximum of 25 years.
Federal hearings in Price, Utah, on the December 19 Wilberg Mine fire that killed 27 workers were postponed until next Friday to allow time for a court test of a judge’s ruling that they could not be closed to reporters. U.S. District Judge David K. Winder on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order that said the Mine Safety and Health Administration must either admit a pool reporter to the hearings or discontinue them pending a hearing next Friday on a request by news organizations for a preliminary injunction.
Three men of Armenian extraction were sentenced Friday to prison terms of up to six years for planning to bomb the Turkish Consulate in Philadelphia. No bombing occurred, but Federal District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer, who imposed the sentences, said the plot was a “planned act of terrorism.” The defendants were convicted last October. They were arrested in 1982 after the authorities made tape recordings of them planning the bombing.
The Tarrant County (Texas) Medical Examiner’s office Thursday made what had become a chillingly commonplace announcement. For the fourth time since January 1, the remains of a woman had been found in the area; for the fourth time, the body belonged to one of five young Fort Worth woman who had disappeared since September. The string of disappearances and deaths has had an unnerving affect on residents, particularly women. Some of the women now talk about carrying guns and other weapons. On Wednesday, when the police sponsored a free seminar on self-defense, more than 3,000 people, the vast majority of them women, showed up.
Entry of temporary farm workers to the United States would be made easier under rules being prepared by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The rules would also discourage farmers from hiring illegal aliens, now estimated to number 300,000 in Western states.
The Reagan Administration proposed new regulations Friday to require hunters to use shotgun pellets made of steel, not lead, in areas where lead poisoning has killed waterfowl. Under the Interior Department’s proposal, the steel shot requirement could be put into effect in areas where 10 or more ducks or geese per square mile are shot by hunters annually, or where three dead waterfowl are found to have died of lead poisoning. There are 466 counties nationwide that generally have 10 waterfowl killed by hunters each year.
A tentative agreement was reached on a new contract for Yale University’s 1,000 blue-collar workers, averting a strike that white-collar workers had vowed to join. The proposed three-year contract at the New Haven, Connecticut, school must be ratified Monday by the membership of Local 35 of the Federation of University Employees. Negotiators gave no details on the pact. Labor troubles have disrupted campus life since September 26 when Local 34, representing white-collar workers, began a 10-week strike. Members of Local 34 ratified a new contract last week.
A judicial council has dismissed a misconduct complaint filed against U.S. District Judge Miles Lord over his sentencing of two anti-war protesters to probation, and over Lord’s characterization of their protest as a “desperate plea to the American government to stop military madness.” The protesters were charged with damaging $34,000 worth of military computer equipment at the Sperry Corp. plant near St. Paul, Minnesota. Lord also drew criticism last year for sharply lecturing executives of A. H. Robins Co. while finalizing a settlement reached with users of the Dalkon Shield contraceptive device.
U.S. students gained in science and math achievement, reports on 1982 and 1983 test results showed. The tests, sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, were given to students from more than a dozen other nations. The reports, published in the journal Phi Delta Kappan, said that math achievement of high school seniors has shown a modest increase since 1964, but that of eighth-graders dipped slightly. In science, between 1970 and 1983, fifth-graders and ninth-graders improved across the board, with fifth-graders scoring 3.5% higher in 1983, and ninth-graders scoring 2.8% higher.
A New York state judge extended a temporary order barring the opening of two abortion clinics while he considered arguments by lawyers for Albany’s Roman Catholic bishop that they are not needed and were improperly approved. Bishop Howard Hubbard’s decision to send his lawyer into trial court to fight state approval of the clinics represented the first such challenge by a Roman Catholic diocese in New York. Hubbard obtained the temporary restraining order to block the opening of abortion clinics in Albany and Hudson.
Coast Guard officials in Portsmouth, Virginia, recommended that the captain and maintenance chief of the coal ship Marine Electric be prosecuted for violating safety regulations for two years before the vessel sank with 34 aboard. Thirty-one crewmen died in the February, 1983, accident when the collier broke up in the icy waters of the Atlantic. “The ship was poorly managed and horribly maintained,” the Coast Guard said.
Guidelines for human gene therapy, a revolutionary form of treatment for inherited diseases, have been published by National Institutes of Health. The guidelines will become the Government’s most explicit statement of policy concerning the therapy, setting basic criteria for what ethical and scientific safeguards must be followed before experiments of this kind are tried on people.
A 14-year-old orangutan on loan to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans from the zoo in Philadelphia gave birth today to twins, a very rare occurrence according to Carol Lentz, a spokesman for the zoo. “There have only been five other occasions of twin orangutan births in the past 17 years,” Miss Lentz said. The mother, Sarah, was still holding the babies this afternoon, so their sexes had not been determined, she said. “We estimate the weight of the babies to be about three and a half pounds,” Miss Lentz said.
Lord Harlech, a close friend of the Kennedy family who was Britain’s Ambassador to the United States during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, died early today from injuries sustained in a car crash. He was 66 years old. Lord Harlech was returning last night to his family estate at Talsarnau, in north Wales, 60 miles west of Shrewsbury, when his car collided with another vehicle, the police said.
42nd Golden Globes: “Amadeus”, F. Murray Abraham, and Sally Field win.
Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season.
Born:
Heather Stanning, English rower (Olympics, women’s coxless pair, gold medals, 2012, 2016), in Yeovil, Somerset, England, United Kingdom.
Died:
William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech, 66, British diplomat and Conservative politician; British Ambassador to the United States, 1961-1965.
James Cameron, 73, British foreign correspondent and journalist.
[Ed: Hudson looks worse with every photo. He’s got to be sick at this point…]
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