Russian KGB officer Vitaly Yurchenko defects to the U.S. in Rome, naming Americans Ronald Pelton and Edward Lee Howard as KGB agents. After 25 years of service in the KGB, he allegedly defected to the United States during an assignment in Rome on August 1, 1985, arriving the following day. After providing the names of two U.S. intelligence officers as KGB agents, asserting that Yuri Nosenko was a true defector, and claiming that Lee Harvey Oswald was never recruited by the KGB, Yurchenko slipped away from the Americans and returned to the Soviets. In November 1985, before eating a meal at Au Pied de Cochon, a French restaurant in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., Yurchenko told his CIA guard, “I’m going for a walk. If I don’t come back, it’s not your fault.” Yurchenko did not return.
At a 1999 Texas A&M conference attended by several CIA intelligence professionals, as well as turncoat KGB General Oleg Danilovich Kalugin, the question of Yurchenko’s defection came up. Kalugin stated that Yurchenko started as a real defector, then changed his mind and redefected. Kalugin gave several points:
The KGB typically did not use ‘fake defectors’ because the defection would be a propaganda problem for the Soviet government. (“People were not supposed to run from paradise”)
— Yurchenko was in love with a woman married to a Soviet official and thought that they could be together in the US. This did not work out as planned.
— Yurchenko had a stomach ulcer that worried him greatly, and he thought it could be cured in the US. It was not.
— Yurchenko’s defection was leaked to the media after he had been promised it would not be.
— Yurchenko “felt his freedom to move around was sort of limited by the CIA”.
— Yurchenko apparently thought the KGB might treat him well because of the cases of recent re-defectors like Betov and Chebatriov.
In his 2007 Yale University Press book, “Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games” former CIA officer Tennent H. Bagley says Yurchenko was a false defector sent to the U.S. to draw suspicion away from Aldrich Ames, to “verify” the bona fides of false defector Yuri Nosenko, and to confirm the importance of spies John Anthony Walker and his son, Michael. Bagley says instead of being arrested, tried, and executed upon his return to the USSR, Yurchenko was rewarded and was still in the FIS (KGB successor) as late as 2002.
No one except Yurchenko is sure of the truth.
The Soviet Union pressed the United States today to join in a moratorium on nuclear testing that was announced Monday by Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader. At a news conference, a First Deputy Foreign Minister, Georgi M. Korniyenko, was critical of the United States’ failure thus far to react formally to the Soviet initiative, and he voiced the hope that Washington “has not yet said its last word.” Mr. Gorbachev said Monday that the Soviet Union would cease its testing program on Aug. 6, the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, until the end of the year, subject to an extension if the United States were to join in the moratorium.
The House and the Senate cleared and sent to President Reagan a $13-billion general spending bill to cover supplemental expenses through this fiscal year, which ends September 30. The measure includes $27 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels fighting the leftist government of Nicaragua and $2 billion in economic aid for Egypt and Israel, as well as $250 million in economic aid for Jordan.
Forest fires fanned by Mediterranean winds and fueled by parched vegetation along the French Riviera killed five firefighters and injured at least 16 before they were controlled, officials said. The two fires ravaged about 7,500 acres in the hills above the resort area near Cannes, authorities said. Nearly 1,000 firefighters, 750 soldiers, aircraft and more than 260 vehicles were used to battle the fires in the Massif du Tanneron at the edge of the Var and Alpes-Maritimes region.
A Palestinian sentenced to life in prison after a long extradition battle but later freed in a prisoner swap was rearrested and held without charges in “administrative detention” by the Israeli army. Ziad abu Eain fled to Chicago, where he had relatives, after he was accused of a 1979 bombing that killed three people and wounded 30. Extradited to Israel, he was convicted and sentenced to prison. An army spokesman said that since his release in a prisoner trade in May, he has participated in “propaganda and incitement activities.”
A leader of pro-Iranian Muslim militants said today that he considered it a “badge of honor” that his family had been accused of holding seven kidnapped Americans. But he denied the accusation, which was made in Washington this week by sources in Lebanon and relatives of the hostages. Hussein Musawi, leader of the Islamic Amal group based in this eastern Lebanese city, told reporters he knew nothing of the whereabouts of Americans or Frenchmen kidnapped in Lebanon over the last 18 months. “I declare that we are not at all linked to the kidnappings of Americans or Frenchmen. We have no knowledge of their place of detention,” he told reporters. The denial was his second in four days.
An Iranian helicopter fired a missile at a British tanker but missed by two miles as the ship took evasive action, shipping sources in the Persian Gulf reported. A Bahrain-based shipping executive said he believes it was the first time Iran had used a helicopter to attack shipping, although its warplanes have attacked other vessels to retaliate for Iraqi attacks on ships sailing to or from Iranian ports. The 15,950-ton British Spey was attacked in neutral waters about 100 miles east of Qatar, loaded with oil from Saudi Arabia.
Militant Sikh leaders pledged today to step up their protests against a recent accord to settle three years of agitation in the northern state of Punjab. The accord, between moderate Sikhs and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is believed to be winning widespread support in the state. Among other things, it involves territorial concessions to the Sikhs and referral of longstanding Sikh grievances to judicial panels. “We can never accept this settlement and our struggle will continue in the form of public protests and rallies to educate our people,” said Harjinder Singh Kahlon, a leader of the All-India Sikh Students Federation, one of the most radical groups opposed to the accord.
A congressional panel agreed to delete Laos from the U.S. list of “enemy” countries in an effort to encourage Laotian cooperation in the search for servicemen missing in action in the Vietnam War. However, the House Appropriations Committee action — taken at the request of families of American MIAS — was intended merely as a gesture, since the designation, which mandates a ban on U.S. aid, remains in an authorization bill already approved by Congress.
South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan named hard-liners to two important posts in his government party, apparently in preparation for an anticipated clash in the National Assembly this fall with opposition parties seeking greater democracy. Chung Soon Duk, 49, a former brigadier general, was named secretary general of the governing Democratic Justice Party, and Lee Sei Kee, 48, a former professor, as majority floor leader. Meanwhile, the opposition New Korea Democratic Party reelected Lee Min Woo as party president.
Japan is grappling with its peacetime role as a world power 40 years after abject wartime defeat. The nation is amply proud — detractors would say smug — about its economic might, but it also knows that its success has made other countries edgy or outright angry.
Two Australian heroin smugglers were sentenced to death in Malaysia, the first Westerners condemned under the South Asian nation’s harsh drug laws, which make the death penalty mandatory for all but minor traffickers. Kevin Barlow, 26, a welder from Perth, and Brian Chambers, 28, a Sydney builder, stood silently as Justice Dzaiddin Abdullah told them he had no choice but to condemn them to the gallows. Defense lawyers said they will appeal. The two men were arrested in 1983 after police found 6.3 ounces of heroin in their luggage.
Pentagon and State Department officials said tonight that they had been told by the Philippine Embassy here that President Ferdinand E. Marcos planned to resign in September in order to call a special election this fall as a test of his popular support. The officials said the United States Embassy in Manila had been unable to get confirmation of such plans from the Philippine Government. A White House spokesman said there had been no official notification to the Reagan Administration of a planned election.
The Nicaraguan Defense Ministry said today that its armed forces had been placed on maximum alert after a United States aircraft carrier was detected off the Atlantic coast. A statement said the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, with at least 80 planes, was near the San Andres islands, 235 miles southeast of Puerto Cabezas.
A disease that medical authorities believe is cholera appears to be spreading rapidly here in the Ethiopian capital. Similar reports have also been received from the Sudan. “We have a cholera epidemic on our hands,” a European doctor said. “I don’t think there’s any real doubt about that at this point.” The doctor said about 50 new cases a day were coming in to the hospital where he works. A Western diplomat who has been monitoring the situation gave a “rough estimate” of 300 new cases daily in Addis Ababa.
Paulo Muwanga, who was Vice President and Defense Minister under the ousted President, Milton Obote, was sworn in today as Prime Minister of the military government that seized power in a coup five days ago. Mr. Obote fled to Kenya when the coup occurred Saturday. The new Military Council has demanded that he return to answer for crimes that include human rights abuses and attempts to exploit tribal conflicts in the military. Lieutenant General Tito Okello, the new head of state, summoned leaders of the four political parties to a meeting, and there was speculation that Cabinet posts would be discussed.
The U.S. House of Republicans voted economic sanctions against South Africa by a vote of 380 to 48, but final action on the measure was delayed until September after Senate opponents threatened a filibuster. President Reagan has opposed the sanctions, and authoritative Administration officials said today that Mr. Reagan would veto the bill moving through Congress. Senate Republicans have said they believe that Mr. Reagan would accept a bill containing moderate sanctions, such as the one they adopted. Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, plans to ask President Reagan to impose sanctions of some form under his executive authority during the August Congressional recess.
In a signal of displeasure over the situation on South Africa, 11 more Western European nations recalled their ambassadors from Pretoria today for what were termed consultations. The foreign ministers of the 10 members of the European Economic Community, and of Spain and Portugal, all of whom are here for the meeting marking the 10th anniversary of the Helsinki Declaration on European Security, decided on the measure at a four-hour meeting on South Africa on Wednesday night. One Common Market member, France, recalled its Ambassador to South Africa last week and barred new investment in South Africa. Sources close to the Common Market ministers said that the discussion never reached the point of deciding on specific sanctions to impose against South Africa. Opposition to any kind of sanctions was apparently overwhelming from the outset of the talks.
Bishop Desmond M. Tutu vowed to break South African laws he considered unjust. The Anglican leader, who is the nation’s most prominent black cleric, appealed to Pretoria’s white authorities to cancel newly announced restrictions on funeral rallies by blacks. “I appeal to the authorities,” he told mourners at a funeral for a black political activist near Parys, 75 miles south of here, “please do not try to find reasons for confrontation to make worse a situation which is already bad.” Bishop Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, was referring to regulations issued Wednesday under South Africa’s 12-day-old emergency decree imposing severe curbs on black funerals, which have come into use as forums for black political expression.
A long budget impasse ended as the House and the Senate approved a 1986 budget plan that would shrink projected deficits by $55.5 billion in 1986 and $276.2 billion over three years. In the House, the plan was approved on a bipartisan vote of 309 to 119. In the Senate, the vote was 67 to 32. Congress left for an August recess after passing the budget resolution, which only sets guidelines for spending; actual appropriations must be passed in separate legislation. The votes came after House and Senate budget conferees this afternoon resolved a seven-week deadlock. The compromise won the reluctant support of Senate Republicans, who decided that having a budget they did not like was better than having no budget at all.
The package would kill just one major federal program, revenue sharing to the states, in 1987. No significant changes in taxes or in Social Security are included. The plan allows military spending to rise to make up for inflation, but cuts spending for a variety of domestic programs, including a 15 percent reduction in aid to Amtrak and mass transit. However, the agreement generally avoids deep cuts in benefit programs for the elderly, the poor and urban residents. The agreement by House and Senate conferees envisions modest savings in Medicare and Medicaid.
President Reagan meets with Vice President Bush and Chief of Staff Donald Regan to discuss the budget.
Democratic leaders in the House sharply attacked the Reagan Administration’s economic record today and charged that rising budget deficits “will haunt us for generations.” As Congress hurried to end its business and leave town for a summer holiday, Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. told a news conference, “It is now obvious that this Administration has no plan whatever for dramatically cutting the Federal deficits.” In recent weeks, the main debate over budget policy has pitted Republican Senators against the White House. Mr. O’Neill placidly accepted a statement by President Reagan that the Administration would approve no budget that raised taxes or reduced Social Security benefits. But today, the Democrats renewed the partisan warfare that normally accompanies budget discussions and laid out some of the themes they hope to use against the Republicans in political campaigns next year.
The President had minor surgery on his nose, the White House said. It said a piece of skin had been removed from Mr. Reagan’s nose and it had been determined that “no further treatment was necessary.”
The Challenger astronauts, in a new success, released a tiny satellite from the shuttle’s payload bay and shot it with a looping beam from an electron gun. Then, after some fancy flying maneuvers 190 miles above earth, they grasped the satellite from space with the shuttle’s 50-foot mechanical arm in a test of the shuttle’s effect on the ionosphere. The drum-shaped, $5 million satellite, the Plasma Diagnostics Package, studied the electrical effects the shuttle has as it moves, boatlike, through the electrically charged gases of ionosphere, the area extending from 40 to 600 miles above the earth. “One of our goals is to understand the aurora,” said Dr. Louis Frank, the scientist at Mission Control in Houston who is in charge of the project. “No other planets, so far as we know, have aurora as fascinating as earth’s.”
An Iranian plot to smuggle arms has been foiled with the arrest of six people, including an Army lieutenant colonel, the F.B.I. announced. It said the conspiracy involved more than $75 million in advanced missiles and weapons. Federal officials said Iran’s attempts to obtain American military items involve an informal, worldwide network of procurement experts and middlemen.
A House committee approved cutting Medicare and Medicaid spending by $150 million over three years but tempered the cuts with new programs of prenatal care for poor women and vision care for the elderly. The Energy and Commerce Committee approved a package of changes intended to bring spending on the programs within budgetary limits voted by the House for fiscal 1986, which starts October 1. The cuts include requirements for a second doctor’s opinion before certain types of surgery, which the panel estimated would save $215 million over three years.
Health care spending increased 9.1% during 1984, the first time in 20 years that medical inflation has dropped below double-digit levels, the government reported. The Health and Human Services Department said that $387.4 billion had been spent on health care, contrasted with $355.1 billion in 1983. The Reagan Administration credited the change to cost restrictions on Medicare and Medicaid and to more competition in the health care industry.
About 30,000 couples and individuals with incomes above $250,000 paid little or no federal income tax in 1983, the Treasury Department reported. The number included 3,170 who earned more than $1 million apiece. Of the 260,275 persons whose incomes exceeded $250,000, 121,850 paid a tax rate of more than 20%, the department said. About 83,000 paid between 10% and 20%, 25,452 paid between 5% and 10% and about 29,800 paid less than 5%. As many as 306 persons who earned over $1 million may have paid no tax.
The House passed a bill allowing pictures and descriptions of missing children to appear on millions of pieces of official government mail. Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), a prime sponsor of the bill, said: “If it brings just one child home, it will be worthwhile.” The Senate passed the measure in May. It now goes to President Reagan for his signature.
Small businesses that generate limited amounts of hazardous waste would be required to dispose of the substances at federally authorized sites under regulations proposed by the Reagan Administration. “For the first time, generators of small quantities of waste will be brought under federal hazardous waste management controls,” said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee M. Thomas. Under the plan, which I would take effect next year, an estimated 175,000 small businesses — including laundries, dry cleaners, printers, service stations, clinical laboratories and textile manufacturers — would be required to meet strict requirements for disposing of hazardous materials.
Mayor W. Wilson Goode of Philadelphia today defended his actions in the confrontation with the radical group Move and said he had no fear of a federal investigation into the incident. Mayor Goode backed up the police action in dropping a two-pound bomb on the fortified house occupied by members of the group. The bomb ignited a container of flammable liquid, the authorities said, starting a fire that left 11 people dead in the house, 61 homes destroyed and more than 250 people homeless.
Alaska Governor Bill Sheffield was abruptly called back before a state Senate impeachment panel in Juneau to determine whether he committed perjury during earlier testimony. The first-term Democrat was recalled after the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Republican Tim Kelly, said “new evidence” had turned up suggesting the governor knew more than he admitted about some controversial meetings dealing with a state lease that went to one of the governor’s political backers.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved a full-power operating license for the second reactor at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California. Opponents of the power station, on the Pacific Coast near San Luis Obispo, said they would ask a Federal appeals court to overturn the action. Commissioner James Asselstine dissented in the 4-to-1 vote, saying the commission still owed the plant’s opponents a hearing on whether a nearby earthquake might hamper an emergency evacuation of the area. In issuing a full-power license last year to the first reactor, the commission concluded that the chances that an earthquake would occur simultaneously with a nuclear accident were too remote to warrant new hearings.
Texas election officials erred when they failed to obtain Justice Department approval for a critical election in the state’s First Congressional District, a Federal appeals court ruled. However, it said it would not delay or invalidate the election, which is set for tomorrow. The special election is seen as a test of growing Republican strength in Texas inasmuch as the district has not elected a Republican to Congress in 144 years. In a terse statement in Austin, Governor Mark White, who has maintained that the controversy over the setting of the election date was a politically inspired “trick” by the Reagan Administration to tip the election in favor of the Republican candidate, said the election would take place Saturday as scheduled and that the state was preparing necessary papers as quickly as possible.
A federal district judge has ruled that the Housing and Urban Development Department’s public housing policies discriminate against minority groups in 36 East Texas counties. Judge William Wayne Justice said Wednesday that the department had followed a “uniform policy of knowingly supporting segregated housing.” He ordered that a desegregation plan be proposed by the housing department, which provides funds to and oversees public housing developments.
William J. Schroeder, the nation’s second recipient of a permanent artificial heart, will be permitted to return to his Indiana hometown Sunday for its annual Strassenfest celebration, a spokesman for Humana Hospital Audubon said today. The spokesman, Linda Broadus, said Mr. Schroeder will participate in the festival’s parade.
The Federal Election Commission has decided unanimously that the Rajneesh Foundation and its leaders did not violate Federal election laws when they bused several thousand homeless people into their central Oregon commune last year. Larryann Willis, who was a Congressional candidate last November, charged that the groups had tried to indoctrinate the transplanted street people to vote against her and other “enemies” of the followers of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. She lost the election. The commission made its decision June 25.
Scientists reported a gain on leprosy. They said they had successfuly grown all the genes of the bacteria that cause the disease in the laboratory, paving the way to a screening test for early diagnosis and treatment of leprosy and a test for evaluating the effectiveness of treatment of patients who have the disfiguring ailment, which afflicts at least 12 million people around the world.
15.4 cm of rainfall is reported at Cheyenne, Wyoming (state record).
Massachusetts was drenched by its heaviest hour’s rainfall in 30 years, closing highways and stranding motorists. In Worcester, at least 30 cars were up to their roofs in water, which was up to six feet high on some streets. At Boston’s Logan International Airport, the 2.03 inches of rain between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. broke a 1955 record. In Pennsylvania, a dam leak forced residents to flee homes in La Belle, and tornadoes downed trees in Philadelphia. Another twister struck Fort Lauderdale, Florida, injuring one person.
18th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at Hotel San Diego.
12th Daytime Emmy Award presentation — Susan Lucci loses for the 6th time.
Baseball’s chief offered ideas on the protracted labor dispute between the owners and the players in hope of averting a strike set for next Tuesday. The commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, combined his ideas with suggestions from fans and unpaid consultants and announced proposals for the negotiators to consider.
Major League Baseball:
Andy Hawkins hurled a six-hitter for his 14th victory and Carmelo Martinez drove in four runs with three hits for San Diego as the Padres blanked the Braves in Atlanta, 6–0. Steve Garvey went 4 for 4 in the game and scored three runs. Hawkins (14–3), who now has a 3–3 record since winning his first 11 decisions, did not allow a runner past second base and retired 15 straight batters from the third to the eighth.
Larry Bowa’s one-out suicide-squeeze bunt scored Keith Moreland in the bottom of the 14th inning today to give the Chicago Cubs a 9–8 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. With one out, Moreland doubled off the reliever Ken Dayley (3–1). Jody Davis was intentionally walked, and Bob Dernier, batting for George Frazier (6–4) walked. Bowa bunted to Dayley, who threw wildly as Moreland slid home safely. Vince Coleman stole 2 bases — on the same play — in the first inning to run his season total to 74, breaking the Major League rookie record of 72 set last season by Juan Samuel. Coleman stole third base and Willie McGee stole second. Coleman overslid third, jumped up, and headed for home, escaping a rundown when the plate was left uncovered as McGee took third. Both players were credited with two stolen bases on the play. The game took 5 hours and 3 minutes to end.
The Phillies blanked the host Pirates, 3–0, as Philadelphia’s John Denny pitched a six-hitter and started a two-run fifth inning with a single and a stolen base. With two out in the fifth, Denny singled off Don Robinson (2–6), then stole his second base of the season. He scored when Juan Samuel singled, and Samuel continued to third on an error. Rich Schu drove in the second run with a single.
The Reds downed the Astros, 5–2. Nick Esasky hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati and Andy McGaffigan pitched his first complete game in 24 major-league starts. Esasky’s homer into the left-field third deck erased a 2–1 lead in the fourth. The homer, his ninth, capped a three-run rally off Bob Knepper (8–9).
The Yankees’ longest trip of the season, a two-week sojourn through Minneapolis, Kansas City, Missouri, and Arlington, Texas, came to a dead end tonight in Cleveland Stadium. Again showing a meager offense and mediocre pitching, the Yankees suffered a 9–1 loss, limited to three hits by Roy Smith, a native of Mount Vernon, New York. The Yankee starter, Phil Niekro (10–9), came in with three consecutive victories and soon handed Smith and the Indians a big margin. The Indians chased the veteran knuckleballer in the third inning when they collected four runs and pushed their lead to 6–2. The Indians had taken a 2–1 lead in the first. Their third consecutive loss gave the Yankees a 6–9 record on the trip and left them eight and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in second place in the American League East.
Al Oliver and Willie Upshaw homered and Tom Filer recorded his third straight victory since coming up from the minors as Toronto won for the 11th time in the last 12 games, crushing the Orioles, 9–3. Upshaw singled home one of four Toronto runs in the first inning off Storm Davis (5–7) and hit his 11th homer off Ken Dixon in the sixth. Rance Mulliniks walked with one out to launch the first-inning uprising and scored after a double by Oliver and a single by George Bell. Before Davis departed, Upshaw, Jesse Barfield and Louis Thornton added run-scoring singles.
The A’s edged the Angels, 3–1. Chris Codiroli ended a personal five-game losing streak, with relief help from Jay Howell. Codiroli (9–8) allowed six hits before leaving in the eighth inning. Howell earned his 21st save, yielding one hit in two innings of pitching. The only run off Codiroli came on Brian Downing’s home run.
Dave Stapleton’s run-scoring double and Steve Lyons’s run-scoring single highlighted a two-run ninth-inning rally that gave Boston a 4–3 victory in the second game and a split of a doubleheader against the White Sox. In the first game, Harold Baines, Greg Walker and Oscar Gamble each drove in two runs to back the seven-hit pitching of Gene Nelson for Chicago as the White Sox topped Bsoton, 7–2.
The Indians trade veteran pitcher Bert Blyleven to the Twins for of Jim Weaver, pitcher Curt Wardle, and shortstop Jay Bell.
San Diego Padres 6, Atlanta Braves 0
Toronto Blue Jays 9, Baltimore Orioles 3
Chicago White Sox 7, Boston Red Sox 2
Chicago White Sox 3, Boston Red Sox 4
St. Louis Cardinals 8, Chicago Cubs 9
Houston Astros 2, Cincinnati Reds 5
New York Yankees 1, Cleveland Indians 9
California Angels 1, Oakland Athletics 3
Philadelphia Phillies 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 0
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1355.62 (+8.17)
Born:
Adam Jones, MLB centerfielder (All-Star, 2009, 2012-2015; Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks), in San Diego, California.
Cole Kimball, MLB pitcher (Washington Nationals), in Brooklyn, New York, New York.
Glenn Dorsey, NFL defensive tackle and defensive end (Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers), in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Died:
Sam Wooding, 90, American jazz pianist, and bandleader, one of the 1st to tour Europe (“Chocolate Kiddies”).
History Diaries 