Britain’s Defense Secretary announced today that he and his American counterpart, Caspar W. Weinberger, had overcome the difficulties blocking Britain’s full participation in the Reagan Administration’s research program on an antiballistic missile shield. At the conclusion of a two-day gathering of NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group, Michael Heseltine, the Defense Secretary, made clear that in a discussion today with Mr. Weinberger he had abandoned a previous demand that British companies be guaranteed a $1.5 billion share in the research program. ”There was no way in which I could negotiate a contract that said X sum to Y company on a specific date,” said Mr. Heseltine, who suggested that the expected large-scale involvement by British companies would generate lucrative contracts. Mr. Heseltine, who announced the development to reporters after Mr. Weinberger had left for the United States, said both sides would submit the outline of an agreement to their governments for approval.
The director of the ”Star Wars” antimissile defense program told Congress today that the United States ”must accelerate” research in methods of shooting down shorter-range nuclear missiles as well as those of intercontinental range. As originally conceived in 1983, the ”Star Wars” program seemed overwhelmingly oriented toward defense of the continental United States against intercontinental ballistic missiles, called ICBM’s, and long-range submarine missiles. But Lieutenant General James A. Abrahamson, chief of the Stategic Defense Initiative Organization, said today that ”we must accelerate examination of potential applications” of ”Star Wars” research ”to the short-range missile threat.” In testimony to the Subcommittee on Strategic and Theater Nuclear Forces of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Air Force general said that, in tailoring the research and testing program to accommodate Congressional budget cuts, he had nonetheless made a priority of work on fighting missiles of ”all ranges.”
President Reagan will be interviewed by four Soviet journalists on Thursday, the first President to hold such a meeting since John F. Kennedy in 1961, the White House announced today. Larry Speakes, the White House spokesman, said the Oval Office interview, at 2 PM, would be ”a unique and historic opportunity for the President to communicate directly with the people of the Soviet Union.” ”We hope it is a sign of a new and more open information policy on the part of the Soviet Union,” said Mr. Speakes, who made it clear the interview was timed to Mr. Reagan’s meeting in Geneva in three weeks with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader. White House officials said that a transcript of the interview would probably be made public on Sunday, simultaneous with publication of an account of the interview in Izvestia, the Soviet Government newspaper. They said there were no restrictions on Soviet questions, and no requirement for the Russians to publish a text of the President’s remarks.
Prime Minister-designate Bettino Craxi announced today that Italian political leaders had agreed to revive the five-party coalition government that collapsed two weeks ago over the Achille Lauro affair. ”We have overcome the government crisis,” Mr. Craxi declared. The price of the agreement was a long, painstakingly negotiated policy document that made some potentially significant concessions to Giovanni Spadolini, the former Defense Minister. The government fell after Mr. Spadolini pulled his Republican Party out of the coalition.
A Soviet minesweeper rammed a Swedish ship monitoring Soviet naval exercises in international waters in the Baltic Sea, Swedish defense officials said. There were no injuries or serious damage. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said no diplomatic action was planned pending a report from the captain of the 1,400-ton Orion, a $10-million vessel carrying intelligence-gathering equipment. Sweden, whose coastal waters have been penetrated repeatedly by Soviet submarines in recent years, regularly monitors foreign naval activity, defense sources said.
Greece and the United States agreed to improve their often-troubled relations and to strive for greater cooperation, an Athens government spokesman said after talks between Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and visiting U.S. Under Secretary of State Michael H. Armacost. Papandreou has said that agreements for four major and a number of smaller U.S. military bases will not be renewed when they next expire in 1988.
A Communist front organization has urged the Polish Government to consider releasing political prisoners as a gesture of national reconciliation geared to a new parliamentary term. The official government press agency said that the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth had urged some form of limited amnesty in the wake of what the government says was a 79 percent voter turnout two weeks ago.
The world’s major airlines, hit by rising costs and a series of air disasters, called for tougher security but were unable to reach agreement on how to achieve it. After an annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Hamburg, West Germany, a spokesman said fares are likely to go up because of rising fuel costs and the need for tighter security. Guenter Eser, secretary general of the 140-carrier group, said 1985’s profits will probably be among the lowest in civil aviation history.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said another Soviet Bloc country probably will renew low-level diplomatic ties with Israel soon, joining Poland. He would not name the country, but Israel radio, giving no source for its report, said Hungary plans to exchange representatives with Israel. All East Bloc nations except Romania broke relations with Israel during the 1967 Middle East War, but there have been recent signs of a thaw on the part of the Kremlin and its allies.
President Amin Gemayel is trying to reopen military negotiations about southern Lebanon with Israel under United Nations auspices, and has sent a senior aide to Damascus for consultations with Syrian officials, Arab diplomats say. The aide, former Foreign Minister Elie Salem, arrived in the Syrian capital today to meet with Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa. The Lebanese President is said to have discussed the possibility of United Nations talks between Lebanese and Israeli Army officers when he met in New York last week with Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar.
Gunmen freed three Russians unharmed a month after they and a colleague were kidnapped in Muslim West Beirut. The fourth Russian was found shot dead two days after he was abducted. The Soviet Embassy confirmed the release tonight and said the Russians were safe at the embassy. It gave no details.
The P.L.O. has pledged to King Hussein that it will avoid any repetition of such incidents as the hijacking of the Achille Lauro, Palestinians and Jordanians in Amman said. ”We agreed we should not carry out any act that could hurt the February 11 agreement,” said Hani al-Hassan, an aide to Yasir Arafat after two days of meetings, referring to the accord between Jordan and the P.L.O. on a joint approach to Middle East peace. It was not quite clear what specifically Mr. Arafat had pledged not to do, but the promise appeared to be the sole concrete achievement to come out of his meeting with King Hussein. The Jordanian-P.L.O. alliance thus appeared to have survived King Hussein’s irritation over the Achille Lauro hijacking and the breakdown of a meeting in London between Palestinian representatives and the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe.
President Reagan will not withdraw his proposal to sell arms to Jordan despite agreeing to delay the transfer until March 1, 1986, a State Department official said. Richard W. Murphy, the department’s senior Mideast expert, said, however, that the Administration is sensitive to the strong congressional opposition to the sale of warplanes and anti-aircraft missiles to Jordan and that any action taken will not defy Congress. The Senate blocked the $1.9-billion sale until next year unless meaningful Israeli-Jordanian peace talks take place.
Rebel groups in Afghanistan escorted a reporter in a hazardous 16-day, 280-mile journey around the country. Those who travel on the main supply route used by the insurgents are subjected to almost daily air attacks and ambushes.
President Reagan’s call for direct negotiations between the Soviet Union and Afghan guerrillas is a welcome change in U.S. policy, but Afghan resistance groups have little interest in participating, a representative of seven major guerrilla groups said. In an interview with the Washington Post in New York, Gulbudin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-i-Islami, said: “There is nothing to be discussed. They have invaded our country. The only solution is for them to withdraw their troops.”
The Punjab state government in India today ordered the release of 456 people arrested under federal antiterrorist laws in the Sikh-dominated state. The action brought to 762 the number of detainees ordered released since the Sikhs’ moderate Akali Dal Party came to power in state elections last month. A government statement announcing the latest releases did not say how many of the detainees were Sikhs. Most are believed to be Sikh youths held under the National Security Act, which allows detention without trial for up to two years. Thousands of Sikhs have been jailed in the state since 1981, accused of involvement in a violent campaign for greater political and religious autonomy. Some Sikh extremists demand an independent Sikh nation.
China announced the start of military conscription, ending the tradition of the People’s Liberation Army as an all-volunteer force. Western diplomats in Peking said the 4-million-member military is having increasing difficulty attracting young men because of greater opportunities in civilian life created by economic reforms since 1979. The New China News Agency said that males between 18 and 22 will be subject to call, and each district will have its quota to fill.
President Reagan meets with former Secretary of the Interior William Clark to discuss Mr. Clark’s recent meeting with the President of Taiwan Chiang Ching-kuo.
The Philippines faces ”civil war on a massive scale” within a few years unless the Government of President Ferdinand E. Marcos acts quickly to make drastic internal changes, according to the United States Government. Officials of the State Department and the Defense Department, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that while a Communist insurgency was not close to toppling the Government of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, trends pointed to a military stalemate in as few as three years. In the long run, the officials said, the unwillingness of President Marcos to clean up the political system, professionalize the military and break up business monopolies could lead to a collapse in the Philippines and deal a blow to Western interests. The assessments were made by Paul D. Wolfowitz, an Assistant Secretary of State, and Richard L. Armitage, an Assistant Secretary of Defense, both of whom have been involved in Philippine affairs. They gave the most dire estimates of the situation yet by the United States Government.
Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte left today for a three-day visit to the United States amid reports of American criticism of his handling of the negotiations that led to the release of his kidnapped daughter. Some politicians and diplomats here saw the visit, during which talks are scheduled with President Reagan and Secretary of State George P. Shultz, as an attempt by Mr. Duarte to regain political initiative that was lost during the weeks of talks with the leftist rebels who held his 35-year-old daughter, Ines Guadalupe Duarte, for 44 days. In the view of these politicians and diplomats, the Salvadoran leader now wants to bolster his image at home and abroad. The kidnapping episode, which culminated in a large exchange of prisoners, provoked the most serious crisis of his 16-month-old government. It virtually paralyzed the government and drew wide criticism from among his political supporters, from opponents and from senior military officers.
President Raul Alfonsin said tonight that ”professionals of violence who had been left without a function” in a democratic Argentina were making an ”absurd” attempt to destabilize his Government. ”Even though it is incredible, because it appears absurd, they want to take power,” he said, referring to those accused of involvement in recent bombings and bomb threats.
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said today that ”tremendous progress” had been made in peace talks here between Uganda’s military Government and the country’s main rebel group. President Moi, who has been chairing the intermittent negotiations since they started in August, emerged at the end of the day’s closed-door session and in a jovial mood told reporters: ”I can say it in two words – tremendous progress.”
The House of Representatives decisively approved a $276 billion military spending bill today, but not before the lawmakers sent shock waves through the Administration by voting to eliminate funds for 12 new MX missiles. The first vote on the missiles was 211 to 208, but the Administration and Republican leaders, working feverishly over the next few hours, succeeded in forcing a second vote that reversed the outcome, 214 to 210. The legislation freezes military spending at last year’s level, and is a sharp rebuff to the Administration, which originally requested about $322 billion in military spending. Many lawmakers said the day’s events illustrated the growing pressure on Capitol Hill to cut Pentagon spending in light of Congressional efforts to require a balanced budget by 1991.
President Reagan meets with 37 elected officials who recently switched from the Democratic to the Republican party.
An espionage plea bargain was approved by Attorney General Edwin Meese 2d and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, according to senior Reagan Administration officials. They were angered by Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr.’s sharp criticism of the decision to arrange a plea bargain with John A. Walker Jr. Mr. Lehman said the information Mr. Walker could provide about his spying for the Kremlin would be of little value to the Government.
Two Republican lawmakers opened a drive to halt federal funds for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortion referrals and counseling. New York Rep. Jack Kemp and Utah Senator Orrin G. Hatch said they will introduce amendments that would prohibit the use of such funds under federal family planning programs. Kemp said he will try to attach his amendment to the continuing resolution for fiscal 1986, which is expected to contain about $142.5 million in such funds.
President Reagan’s nomination of former Senator James L. Buckley of New York to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was warmly received by the Senate Judiciary Committee today and was expected to win committee approval tomorrow. Senator Strom Thurmond, a Republican from South Carolina who is chairman of the committee, described Mr. Buckley as ”a man of character, ability and experience.” But Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said he would oppose the nomination when it came to the full Senate. Mr. Dodd, who defeated Mr. Buckley, a Republican, in a 1980 Senate race in Connecticut after he lost his New York seat, said in a statement he had ”profound ideological differences” with Mr. Buckley.
Space shuttle mission STS-61-A begins. Eight astronauts rocketed into orbit aboard the space shuttle Challenger for a week of complex experiments in metallurgy, crystal growth, biology and human physiology. West Germany planned and is directing all the scientific operations from a control center near Munich, and the crew, the largest ever, is comprised of five Americans, two West Germans and a Netherlander. This is Challenger’s ninth and last successful launch.
Fugitive spy suspect Edward L. Howard has not fled to the Soviet Union and has telephoned his wife from abroad, the Washington Post said, quoting officials in the intelligence community. The sources said the call may indicate that Howard, who has been sighted in Finland, may be uncertain about defecting to Moscow. The FBI has alleged that he made a deal to sell secrets to the Soviets after being fired by the CIA for recreational drug use. He had been a case officer in the CIA clandestine service. Howard fled from his family and job in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on September 21 when under FBI surveillance.
U.S. Steel agreed to acquire the Texas Oil and Gas Corporation, one of the nation’s biggest independent natural gas producers, for stock valued at $3.6 billion. United States Steel has been moving to diversify away from a sagging national steel market, beginning with its 1982 purchase of the Marathon Oil Company for nearly $6 billion.
An explosive device blew up inside a baggage compartment of a jet after it landed today at the Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport. There were no injuries, and the plane was undamaged, officials said. The 147 passengers and seven crew members aboard American Airlines Flight 203, flying from Austin to San Francisco, were quickly removed from the Boeing 727 about 8 AM after smoke was found inside a baggage compartment, said John Raymond, a spokesman for the airline.
A man who received a human heart after living for 11 days with a Penn State artificial device has an inflamed pancreas, a potentially fatal condition, a spokesman said at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Anthony Mandia, 44, who underwent his heart transplant Monday, was listed in critical condition and was downgraded to unstable. “It’s very serious; it’s unexpected,” Dr. John W. Burnside said of the potentially fatal pancreatitis. Doctors are not sure why the condition developed.
A nursing home operator testified in the federal racketeering trial of Governor Edwin W. Edwards (D-Louisiana) that he paid a close associate of the governor $100,000 in cash for help in getting state certification for two homes. Kevin Gamble said he paid the money to Gus Mijalis after Edwards said he could help obtain certification for facilities that Gamble thought were needed in northern Louisiana.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the jailed leader of an Oregon commune who complained about back pains and his cell mates’ smoking, was examined by the physician for the county jail in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was found to be “in excellent shape.” Rajneesh’s attorneys had requested examinations of the 53-year-old guru by private doctors because in “his physical condition, he should not be detained.” But U.S. Magistrate Barbara Delaney denied the request.
Nearly 200 fires broke out today in Detroit despite increased efforts by the authorities and civilian volunteers to keep arsonists from celebrating the night before Halloween with arson, Mayor Coleman Young said.
John Z. DeLorean’s ex-wife, disputing his contention that her lifestyle causes her to neglect their children, testified in a custody hearing that she gets up at 5:30 AM to cook breakfast for Zachary, 14, and Kathryn, 7, helps with their homework and takes them to video game parlors. But Cristina Ferrare Thomopoulos, now a TV hostess, admitted having had trouble with Zachary and once throwing him out of the house. She and DeLorean are also contesting division of $10 million in assets.
A boy, 2, and a man were killed and eight people were wounded when a young woman dressed in combat fatigues opened fire wildly with a semiautomatic rifle in a suburban Philadelphia mall, according to the police. They said the woman was captured when a young man jumped her from behind and held her while others seized the gun. Chief of the Springfield Township Police Department, George W. Hill, said the woman, whom he identified as Sylvia Seegrist of Swarthmore, in her 20’s, was arraigned in Delaware County Court on charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime and possession of an unregistered firearm. She was taken to the Delaware County prison. The Rev. Allen Hughes of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Springfield said he had known Miss Seegrist for five years. ”She has been hospitalized 12 times in the last 10 years for violent outbreaks,” he said. ”Four years ago she was committed after stabbing an individual and was confined for four months,” Mr. Hughes said. ”Her parents and psychiatrists both wanted her committed presently but we weren’t able to accomplish that.”
Labels listing all ingredients must be affixed to all liquor, beer and wine bottles, under a ruling by Federal District Judge John H. Pratt in Washington. The regulation had been imposed by the Carter Administration and was canceled by the Reagan Administration.
Municipalities are demanding that private developers pay an increased share of the costs of expanding road networks, sewer systems and other public services needed because of the projects. Local governments around the country are increasingly making the demands on developers because of sharp reductions in Federal and state financing.
New York City has begun carrying out New York State’s new rules to combat the spread of AIDS, Mayor Koch announced. Hours earlier, he contended that the rules were so inadequate they defied immediate enforcement. Mayoral aides said that city inspectors, working undercover, would enter bathhouses and other places where homosexuals congregate, and if they found evidence of unsafe sexual activity, the city would seek to close the establishments.
“Rockin’ with the Rhythm” second studio album by The Judds is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1986)
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1375.57 (+6.84)
Born:
Drew Stafford, NHL right wing (Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils), in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Died:
Kirby Grant, 74, American actor (“Rustlers Round-Up”, “Yukon Gold”, “Sky King”), in an auto accident.
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