Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s main domestic initiative, the revitalization of the Soviet economy, is off to a rocky start, according to Soviet officials and Western diplomats. Although many economic indexes have gained since Mr. Gorbachev became Soviet leader last year, some key sectors of the economy remain flat and bureaucratic resistance to change has exceeded the leadership’s expectations, the diplomats and officials said. Mr. Gorbachev has grown increasingly testy in his public comments in recent weeks, excoriating unresponsive officials and exhorting workers to carry out the changes endorsed by the Communist Party congress earlier this year. “The turnaround toward quality, efficiency and new methods of management is progressing painfully and with difficulty,” Mr. Gorbachev told the party’s Central Committee in June.
Western diplomats said Mr. Gorbachev, with so much of his credibility invested in the economic program, could face problems if he is unable to deliver on his promise to modernize the economy and improve the standard of living. Under Mr. Gorbachev’s prodding, the party and Government this year approved a five-year plan for 1986-1990 that calls for sharp increases in investments, industrial production, labor productivity and dozens of other areas. The plan, incorporating a special consumer goods program approved by the Politburo in 1985, envisioned improving the quality and more than doubling the output of numerous products, including clothing, furniture, televisions and video players. Growth rates have been impressive in some areas. Industrial output, for instance, increased 5.6 percent during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 1985, and labor productivity in industry was up 5.2 percent. But the oil industry, while partly recovering from a production decline in recent years, has fallen short of growth targets. Serious agricultural problems persist, and the manufacture of machine tools, a key element in the Gorbachev program, has not advanced as rapidly as predicted.
The mother and brother of Anatoly B. Shcharansky, the Soviet human rights activist who was freed in February after nine years in prison and labor camps, have received permission to join him in Israel, the brother said today. The brother, Leonid, said he was told last Monday by Soviet authorities that he and his mother, Ida P. Milgrom, were free to leave the Soviet Union and must depart no later than August 23. Leonid Shcharansky said his wife, Iraida, and their two sons, Aleksandr, 15 years old, and Boris, 1, also received permission to emigrate. The approval was granted almost four months after Leonid Shcharansky, an engineer, and his mother applied for exit visas, and two weeks after Miss Milgrom sent an open letter to the Supreme Soviet, the nominal Parliament, appealing for permission to be reunited with Anatoly.
Two New York peace activists and a member of a Soviet dissident organization, “Group of Trust,” were held by Soviet police for an hour after attempting to stage an anti-nuclear protest in Moscow’s Gorky Park, the Americans said. Bob McGlynn, 29, and Anne-Marie Hendrickson, 30, told reporters they and Moscow artist Nina Kovalenko were released after questioning. The Americans said they had been trying to distribute Russian language leaflets about the dangers of nuclear radiation but that Kovalenko had not participated.
Leading Polish opposition activist Bogdan Lis, newly released from jail by the Communist authorities, called for legalization of the banned Solidarity trade union. He told chanting supporters after a church service in Gdansk: “We don’t want to act in conspiracy, we I want to act legally, and we want the authorities to make that possible.” Lis also said that all of Poland’s estimated 350 political prisoners should be released under a clemency law announced last month.
Three of the nine suspected Red Army Faction members sought in a hunt for the killers of a nuclear physicist have been arrested by the police, who took them by surprise in an ice cream parlor in Russelsheim, about 15 miles southwest of Frankfurt, officials said today. West German Interior Minister Friedrich Zimmermann said a tip led to the arrests of the two women and a man Saturday. The Federal Criminal Office identified the three as Eva Haule-Frimpong, 32 years old, considered one of the leaders of the Red Army Faction; Luitgard Hornstein, 23, who was arrested three years ago for taking part in a violent demonstration against Vice President Bush, and Christian Kluth, 26. The physicist, Karl-Heinz Beckurts, 56, director of research and technology at the Siemens electronic company, was killed July 9 in a Munich suburb.
Three men who appeared to be Arabs fired rocket and mortar rounds into the British air base at Akrotiri in southwest Cyprus, slightly injuring two British women and a Cypriot bystander, British and Cypriot police sources said. The rounds landed near the windsurfing club and living quarters for married airmen, they said. The attackers are believed to have fled in a car. Security had been tightened at the base following threats by Arab terrorist groups that they would attack British installations in the wake of the U.S. air raid against Libya on April 15. Some of the American planes on that mission were based in Britain.
Vice President Bush visited multinational peacekeeping forces serving in the Sinai Desert today and said he believed peace would “certainly” come to the Middle East within a decade. Mr. Bush’s view, expressed to about 100 troops from the United States and 10 other nations, contrasted sharply with a bleak assessment of peace prospects offered by officials in Jordan on Saturday. Mr. Bush said he had noted a “marked change in the mood of the region” on his visit, which began in Israel and ends in Egypt on Tuesday.
The 13 ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed at their meeting in Geneva to consult their governments about fresh proposals for a compromise on cutting the cartel’s market-glutting production of oil. The ministers met for an hour on what delegation sources described as new approaches toward ending a policy deadlock, and members of some delegations said there was cautious optimism.
Islamic Holy War leaders denied in a statement purporting to come from their organization and issued in Beirut that they had given a freed American hostage messages to carry to President Reagan, Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The organization also repeated its threat to kill the other American hostages it says it is holding unless its demands are met, and rejected any negotiations with the Reagan Administration.
President Habib Bourguiba, who turned 83 years old on Sunday, has presided unchallenged over Tunisia for three decades, and although he suffers from arteriosclerosis, his power as President for Life is undiminished. This became most evident recently when his handpicked successor, Prime Minister Mohammed Mzali, was unceremoniously dumped and replaced by Rachid Sfar, the former Finance Minister. The announcement on July 8 was so terse that it touched off more speculation than usual in the coffeehouses lining the boulevard in downtown Tunis. One rumor said Mr. Mzali, after six years as Prime Minister, had fallen afoul of Mr. Bourguiba’s niece, Saida Sassi, who has nursed the President through heart attacks and other illnesses.
Pakistan’s opposition alliance insisted that the government act by September 20 to set a date for new elections, which it said should be held no later than December 31. The 10-member Movement for the Restoration of Democracy also said that it will join with Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party in national protests on August 14, the country’s independence day. President Zia ul-Haq and Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo have rejected calls for an election, saying the National Assembly, elected last year without participation by political parties, should complete its five-year term.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda has accepted an offer from four parties to stay in office for a third term, The Nation newspaper reported today. The parties, which agreed after elections on July 27 to form a new coalition government, nominated General Prem as Prime Minister on Thursday. The Nation quoted General Prem’s secretary, Lieut. Gen. Chantarakupt Sirisuth, as saying the Prime Minister notified the National Assembly president Friday that he was accepting the offer.
Floods have killed 233 people in the southwest China province of Yunnan over the past few days, the China Daily reported today. The newspaper gave no further details of the Yunnan floods but said recent flooding in the northeast province of Jilin had affected nearly two million people and 2.5 million acres of farmland. It said air force planes had been sent to rescue 60,000 people cut off by floodwaters in Inner Mongolia. More than 20,000 had been taken to safety, it added.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed’s multiracial coalition was returned to power by a landslide margin in parliamentary elections over the weekend, the Elections Commission announced. Mahathir’s National Front coalition won 148 seats in the 177-seat Parliament. The opposition Democratic Action Party won 24 seats, and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party won just one, the Elections Commission said. Mahathir’s coalition also was returned to power in all 11 state assemblies, capturing more than two-thirds of the seats in each, the commission said.
The Philippines’ economic crisis is played out in stark and personal terms on the island of Negros, south of Manila, where the crumbling sugar industry symbolizes the collapse of the agricultural system, and malnutrition is endemic.
Nicaraguan troops killed 2,745 U.S.-backed contras from January through June, Deputy Defense Minister Joaquin Cuadra told Barricada, the official newspaper of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front. No report of government casualties was given.
President Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Nicaragua returned to Managua today, ending a weeklong trip to the United States As the last stop of his trip, Mr. Ortega spent Saturday in Chicago as the guest of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who said he was seeking to create a discussion to help bring about peace. At a dinner with representatives of news organizations, Mr. Jackson and several members of Congress Saturday night, the Sandinista leader attacked the Nicaraguan rebels. He also defended his decision to close La Prensa, the opposition newspaper.
Britain warned its Commonwealth, seven of whose leaders are meeting in London to discuss sanctions against South Africa, of the danger of “economic warfare” in southern Africa. The warning was contained in a report by Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary, on a diplomatic mission he undertook in the region for the European Community. Sir Geoffrey’s arguments for the release of political prisoners in South Africa and the unbanning of black nationalist movements there were brusquely rejected by President P.W. Botha when the two men met in Pretoria last week. But Sir Geoffrey told the London conference he did not regard his mission as ended.
The Justice Department is expected to formally respond by late Monday or early Tuesday to the latest request from senators to see legal opinions written by William H. Rehnquist when he was Assistant Attorney General in the Nixon Administration, governmental officials said today. Reagan Administration officials said there was no reason, however, to believe they would drop their opposition to releasing the papers to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering the nomination of Associate Justice Rehnquist to be Chief Justice of the United States. Staff members of the committee said the senators who are seeking the information would await a formal response before considering whether to issue a subpoena to the Justice Department.
In the city of Phoenix where William H. Rehnquist began the legal career that took him to the United States Supreme Court, there is little dispute that he played a major role in resisting Democratic efforts to attract black and Hispanic voters to the polls in the early 1960’s. At the time, it is said, he was one of many Republican conservatives who battled with Democrats for control of Arizona, a state that had many of the racial traditions of the Deep South. In Washington Friday, four witnesses told the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering President Reagan’s nomination of Associate Justice Rehnquist to Chief Justice of the United States, that they had seen him personally challenge minority-group voters at polling places in Phoenix in 1962 and 1964. These accounts were denied by Justice Rehnquist and other witnesses.
Drug dealers deserve the death penalty, but their customers should be helped, not punished, President Reagan said in an interview with Newsweek magazine. Reagan also blamed rock musicians and the film industry for glorifying drug use and said he had suggested that Cabinet officers submit to voluntary drug testing. Asked if the United States should institute capital punishment for drug dealers, as Malaysia has, Reagan said: “While we haven’t come to final decisions on this… I know they deserve it.”
The President and First Lady return to the White House from their trip to Camp David.
President Reagan receives a call from Rev. William F. “Billy” Graham, Jr.
About half the felony cases in a dozen largely urban areas were disposed of within 3 ½ months, the Justice Department said, an indication that much of the judicial system is coping with court backlogs. It took slightly less than five months on the average to dispose of felonies resulting in indictment or that were bound over for trial, says the new study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Cases resulting in trials took slightly more than seven months to dispose of, about twice as long as those that ended in guilty pleas or dismissal. The report is based on more than 100,000 felony arrests made in 1981.
Increased concern by pilots, air traffic controllers and airline operators over thunderstorms and wind shears has caused more delays on landings and takeoffs, the New York Times reported. Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Line Pilots Association said pilots are now more inclined to fly around storms. The caution follows a crash last year of a Delta Air Lines jet that ran into a wind shear at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The crash killed 136 people. Citing FAA statistics, the newspaper said the number of flights between January and June of this year rose 4.6%, to 4.5 million, from 1985. Delays were up 29.9% over last year.
Striking municipal workers in Detroit ratified a new contract tonight, and their president said that the strike, which had stopped buses and garbage trucks for 19 days, was over. The agreement calls for salary increases of at least 13.6 percent over three years, said James Glass, president of Michigan Council 25 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We feel we got the best contract that we could at this time,” said Mr. Glass, who ordered the union’s 7,000 members to return to their jobs on Monday. The agreement was approved by a vote of 1,298 to 956. Phil Sparks, a union spokesman, said the turnout was low, apparently because members who assumed the proposal would pass did not bother to vote.
The Rhode Island Blood Center announced it will notify medical facilities in at least five states that they may have received blood supplies possibly contaminated with an AIDS antibody. About 100 components of blood suspected of containing the HTLV-III antibody were distributed to 19 hospitals in Rhode Island and medical centers in several other states, said Dr. Ronald Yankee, director of the center. He declined to identify the states other than Rhode Island that received the blood supplies.
More than $1 million in public donations to Shrine children’s hospitals was used to finance long-term, low-interest loans for Shrine employees, the Orlando, Florida, Sentinel reported. The 868,000-member national fraternity provided loans at 6% interest to 13 people to build or buy homes when the organization moved its headquarters from Chicago to Tampa, Florida, in 1978, Shrine auditor James Hendrix was quoted as telling the Orlando paper. Nine of the employees paid no interest on the loans for up to 20 months, Hendrix said. The newspaper said the Shrine broke no law in issuing the loans. But experts on charities told the Sentinel that such loans are unusual.
An avalanche buried four climbers on Mount Baker today. Rescuers freed two of the victims within two hours, then suspended a search for the others because further avalanches were feared. Extremely warm weather probably caused the avalanche, at the 8,000-foot level, said Kevin Kennedy, spokesman for the Glacier Public Service Center. Temperatures at the base of the 10,778-foot mountain in northwest Washington reached 86 degrees Saturday, Mr. Kennedy said. The two climbers were dug from the snow by a group from the North Vancouver mountain rescue team.
Radical politician Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. and his network of organizations have been accused of racketeering and fraud in a federal suit by a New Jersey bank that contends it was bilked of hundreds of thousands of dollars through unauthorized credit card charges. First Fidelity Bank was the bank used by LaRouche’s political campaign committees in 1984 to make deposits of its credit card charges from individuals around the country, until the bank closed the accounts because of the large number of contested charges. Organizations tied to LaRouche have been the object of a federal grand jury investigation in Boston, where prosecutors have said they are investigating a massive pattern of credit card fraud.
Places to store grain are running out in the Middle West, which will soon be overflowing with the bounty of successive bumper harvests. Farmers, already beset by heavy debts and low prices, face a grain-storage squeeze of historic proportions, an agricultural consultant said.
More Americans seem to be traveling in the United States this summer than last, but their numbers are falling short of predictions. Reporters’ inquiries around the nation found some longtime tourist attractions enjoying moderate to substantial increases in attendance and others recording disappointing crowds.
The future of Federal lands in Alaska has deeply divided Alaskans. Interviews with Alaskans from the Panhandle to the Arctic coast find that they are uncertain whether the 102 million acres placed under Federal protection by Congress in 1980 should be developed, strictly protected or something in between.
Detroit city employees ratified a tentative contract and the president of their union said their strike that halted bus service and garbage collections for 19 days was over. The agreement calls for wage increases of at least 13.6 percent over three years. The union told the 7,000 employees to return to work today.
Arson is rising in Houston, caused by people trying to burn their way out of financial problems, the authorities say. Layoffs, bankruptcies, business failures and home foreclosures are at record levels in Texas, Louisiana and other energy-producing areas, a result of the near collapse of the American oil and gas industry. Insurance and fire officials say the Houston area has become the nation’s worst spot for arson-for-profit.
First NFL “American Bowl” exhibition game at London’s Wembley Stadium; Chicago Bears defeat Dallas Cowboys 17-6.
Major League Baseball:
Willie McCovey, Bobby Doerr, and Ernie Lombardi are inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Wade Boggs broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning and Jim Rice drove in two runs with a homer and sacrifice fly today, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 5–3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Boggs also had a first-inning double and scored a run in helping Al Nipper (6–7) to victory with ninth-inning help from Calvin Schiraldi, who posted his first major-league save. Nipper allowed seven hits, including singles by George Brett and Jorge Orta to start the ninth. Schiraldi came on and struck out Frank White and Steve Balboni, then retired Mike Kingery on a grounder to end the game.
At Comiskey Park, Russ Morman homers and singles in the 4th inning in his first Major League game as the Sox beat the Tigers, 10–1. He ties Billy Martin’s Major League record debut with his 2 hits in one inning. Gibson homer is the only score for Detroit, while Baines and Fisk add homers for Chicago.
At Cleveland, the Yankees set a Major League record by scoring 10 runs in the 5th inning. They have 5 walks, a HBP, and 6 hits including 2 homers to score. Cleveland counters with 6 runs in the frame, but New York wins, 12–8. Rickey Henderson has a single, double and 3-run homer for the Bombers.
Orel Hershiser and Ken Howell combined on a four-hitter and Bill Madlock singled home the tie-breaking run in the sixth inning today as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2–1, for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers’ three-game sweep sent Cincinnati to its sixth consecutive loss. The victory evened Los Angeles’ record at 52–52, and the Dodgers have not been over .500 since the third game of the season. Hershiser (11–7) yielded four hits over seven innings as Los Angeles matched its longest winning streak of the season. Howell finished up for his 11th save. Bill Gullickson (7–7) pitched a four-hitter in his third complete game. He struck out four and walked none.
The Texas Rangers edged the Milwaukee Brewers, 7–6. Pete O’Brien drove in three runs with a homer and double, pacing Texas to a victory over Milwaukee despite two home runs by the Brewers’ Rob Deer. In his last five games, O’Brien has three homers and 10 RBIs. Jeff Russell (3–1) pitched two and one-third scoreless innings to get the victory in relief of Mike Loynd, who walked five and gave up three hits and three runs in three and two-thirds innings in his third major-league start. Greg Harris was tagged for three runs in two and two-thirds innings, including Deer’s bases-empty homer in the eighth and Ernest Riles’s two-run shot in the ninth, before Dale Mohorcic came on to strike out Deer for his third save.
The Oakland Athletics nipped the Minnesota Twins, 5–4. Jose Canseco, who earlier hit his first home run in 17 games, doubled home Bruce Bochte with two out in the 11th to end a four-game Oakland losing streak. Minnesota’s Keith Atherton (5–4) who came in to start the 10th after four and one-third innings of one-hit relief by Roy Lee Jackson, walked Bochte to open the 11th. Two outs later, Canseco hit Atherton’s 0–1 pitch down the right-field line to score Bochte. Oakland’s Doug Bair (2–2) pitched three hitless inning for the victory. Jay Howell pitched the 11th for his seventh save.
It was another wild performance by the Mets before another sellout crowd of 47,167 fans in Shea Stadium, and they played it with almost outrageous flair: Bob Ojeda pitched no-hit ball into the seventh inning, Ray Knight broke a 1–1 tie with a two-run double in the eighth and then broke a 3–3 tie with a single in the 10th. So the Mets snatched it, 4–3, and swept three games from the Expos and even knocked them out of second place in the National League’s East. It probably doesn’t matter who holds second place in this one-team race now, but the new tenant is the Philadelphia Phillies, 17 ½ games behind the Mets with 61 left to play.
Mike Schmidt’s three-run homer broke an eighth-inning tie and gave Philadelphia a three-game sweep as the Phillies downed the Cubs, 6–2. Schmidt connected for his 24th homer of the season after Jeff Stone and Juan Samuel singled with one out against the reliever, Frank DiPino (1–6). With two outs, Glenn Wilson hit his 12th homer. Steve Bedrosian (8–3) pitched one and two-thirds innings for the victory.
The Pittsburgh Pirates blanked the St. Louis Cardinals, 3–0. Rick Reuschel pitched a six-hitter and Johnny Ray hit a run-scoring double in a three-run first inning to lead Pittsburgh. The victory was the third in the last four decisions for Reuschel (7–12), who also recorded his second shutout this year. He struck out five and walked one as the Pirates defeated Danny Cox for only the second time in his 10 career decisions against them. Joe Orsulak singled and stole second to open the game against Cox (5–9), who had beaten the Pirates seven consecutive times. Barry Bonds followed with a run-scoring single to right and also stole second. Ray doubled to right field to make it 2–0 before moving to third on a grounder and scoring on R. J. Reynolds’s sacrifice fly. Reuschel, who lost seven of eight decisions at one point this season, did not allow a runner past second base.
The San Diego Padres defeated the Houston Astros, 5–1. Graig Nettles and Steve Garvey hit consecutive home runs during a three-run second inning to lead San Diego and help end Houston’s three-game winning streak. Andy Hawkins (8–7) shut out Houston on five singles before Dickie Thon led off the eighth inning with his second homer. Rich Gossage relieved Hawkins and pitched the final one and two-thirds innings for his 18th save. Kevin McReynolds opened the San Diego second with a single against Mark Knudson (1–5). Nettles followed with his 15th homer into the right-field seats, the 383rd of his career. The home run gave Nettles sole possession of 24th place on the career list, one ahead of Frank Howard. Four pitches later, Garvey hit his 15th homer, also into the right-field seats.
Alvin Davis hit a two-run single in a four-run Seattle first inning against Ray Chadwick and the Mariners held on to defeat California, 6–3. Pete Ladd (6-2) the fourth Seattle pitcher, hurled three and two-thirds innings of one-hit relief for his third straight victory.
David Palmer and Gene Garber combined on a six-hitter and Ozzie Virgil hit a home run as Atlanta snapped its four-game losing streak, beating the San Francisco Giants, 4–2. Dale Murphy added a pair of run-scoring singles as Atlanta ended the Giants’ three-game winning streak. Palmer (8–8) gave up four hits in seven-plus innings and won his third straight decision. He walked six batters in the first three innings but escaped bases-loaded situations in the first and third innings.
Tony Fernandez hit a two-run homer and George Bell added a bases-empty shot to lead Toronto over Baltimore, 6–4. With the score tied at 4–4, Buck Martinez opened the seventh with a walk and one out later Fernandez hit the first pitch from Mike Flanagan (5–7) over the left-field fence for his sixth home run of the season. It was only the third setback in the last 10 games for the second-place Orioles and dropped them four and a half games behind Boston in the American League East. John Cerutti (6–3) who took over from Dave Stieb in the fifth, was the winner by pitching three and one-third innings of one-hit relief. Tom Henke worked the ninth for his 16th save.
Kansas City Royals 3, Boston Red Sox 5
Detroit Tigers 1, Chicago White Sox 10
New York Yankees 12, Cleveland Indians 8
Cincinnati Reds 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Texas Rangers 7, Milwaukee Brewers 6
Oakland Athletics 5, Minnesota Twins 4
Montreal Expos 3, New York Mets 4
Chicago Cubs 2, Philadelphia Phillies 6
St. Louis Cardinals 0, Pittsburgh Pirates 3
Houston Astros 1, San Diego Padres 5
California Angels 3, Seattle Mariners 6
Atlanta Braves 4, San Francisco Giants 2
Baltimore Orioles 4, Toronto Blue Jays 6
Born:
Charlotte Casiraghi, Daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, in Princess Grace Hospital Centre, La Colle, Monaco.
Landon Cohen, NFL defensive tackle (Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks), in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Died:
Beryl Markham (née Clutterbuck), 83, British-Kenyan; racehorse trainer, aviator, and memoirist.
William B. Williams, 62, American DJ (WNEW — “Make Believe Ballroom”), and TV announcer/second banana (“Sammy and Company”), of acute anemia and respiratory failure.
Joe Thomas, 77, American jazz tenor saxophonist, vocalist (Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra), bandleader, and undertaker.
Paul de Groot, 87, Dutch communist politician (CPN) and editor (“The Truth”).
History Diaries 