News In Brief

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi led more than a million people in chanting ``Indira Gandhi is immortal'' on the first anniversary of her assassination. But Sikh militants in Amritsar hailed her killers as heroes and demolished part of a building in the holy Golden Temple. Indian President Zail Singh, a Sikh, was conspicuous by his absence from the podium here, although he paid tribute to Mrs. Gandhi earlier at her cremation site and memorial and released a book about her. His office said he was represented by Vice-President Ramaswamy Venkataraman, declining further comment.

Juan storm heads for Florida with new burst of strength

Tropical storm Juan returned to the Gulf of Mexico and spun back up to near hurricane strength Thursday, heading for rain-soaked Florida. It caused more than $1 billion damage in Louisiana. Florida Gov. Bob Graham urged coastal residents to be ready to evacuate, as they did before hurricane Elena over the Labor Day weekend.

Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace declared a state of emergency, and the Emergency Management Agency opened shelters in coastal cities.

Dutch decline Soviets talks; missile decision due today

The Netherlands yesterday rejected a Soviet offer of direct arms talks if the Dutch put off a decision due today in favor of deploying cruise missiles. Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers told parliament he received an invitation from the Kremlin Wednesday proposing talks on cruises, provided his Cabinet deferred the deployment decision.

After a long delay and heated discussion among the public and in parliament, the center-right Dutch government is due to announce today that it will accept siting of 48 cruise missiles planned by NATO.

USSR long-range warheads up 37% in 3 years, study says

The Soviet Union has increased the number of long-range nuclear warheads by 37 percent in the past three years and is actively researching strategic defense technologies (also called ``star wars''), a prestigious research institute said Friday. The Soviets have a substantial edge over the US in the number of ground- and submarine-launched missile warheads and in their overall destructive capacity, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said.

IISS is an independent institute financed by Western foundations, membership fees, and sales of its publications.

South Africans fired in strike must regain jobs, court rules

The National Union of Mineworkers said the Industrial Court yesterday decided that workers fired at Marievale gold mine during a legal strike last month must get their jobs back. General Mining Union Corporation fired about 1,060 of its 1,200-strong black work force at Marievale, east of Johannesburg, when the workers struck as part of a wider work stoppage by the union over wages. The company said the workers had since been replaced and the mine was operating normally.

US ambassador to Manila reports killings of 15 GIs

US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth said yesterday that 15 Americans have been killed in the Philippines in the past two years, including four alleged killings by security forces. In one of his strongest speeches about the Philippines, the ambassador also criticized the alleged human rights violations here and warned that ``a society incapable of delivering basic justice'' could slip under ``the rule of terror.''

Khomeini sounds damper on nationalization, rifts

Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, told the nation's new Cabinet yesterday not to ``nationalize everything'' and suggested its members play down their ideological differences. ``Give the committed merchants -- those who want to serve the country -- a free hand to serve,'' he said.

Iranian officials say privately a deep ideological gap separates radical reformers like Prime Minister Hossein Mussavi, who want a strong public sector, and traditionalist politicians like President Ali Khamenei, who lean more toward private enterprise.

Rockwell International to pay up to $1.2 million in US fines

Rockwell International Corporation, the nation's second-largest defense contractor, has agreed to pay up to $1.2 million in fines for overcharging the government in what one prosecutor said was a company effort to ``inflate bids on spare parts.'' The agreement with Rockwell filed in US district court in Dallas Wednesday does not bar the government from pursuing charges against any individuals with the company.

Mexico shifting oil prices in new marketing strategy

Mexico, the biggest foreign oil supplier to the US, will cut the price of heavy crude and raise the price of its light crude today. The result, said Dan Lundberg, author of the Lundberg Letter, an oil industry survey, is that most nations buying oil are willing to pay for the light crude they need.

``Mexico's action very cleverly allows them to make the heavy crude more desirable (for sale to the US), and other nations which want the sweet, light crudes will bear the brunt of the price increase for the light crude,'' he said.

Bidding brisk on project for English Channel link

At least six competing groups formally bid yesterday to build a multibillion-dollar fixed link between Britain and France across the English Channel. The British and French governments agreed to the idea in principle, provided they did not have to provide any cash. They are expected to select one of the plans early next year setting a target date for completion by the mid-1990s.

Brock urges business changes to assist two-worker families

Labor Secretary William Brock says American business should adopt flexible work schedules, provide child care, and make other changes in response to the influx of two-income families into the work force. ``What we must deal with in management and government, as well as in union circles, is the distressing fact that our employment system continues to operate largely as though workers had no families at all, and that's crazy. It doesn't make sense,'' Mr. Brock told the 16th biennial AFL-CIO convention Wednesday.

Senate Democrats unveil plan on trade to ease tariff issue

Senate Democrats are presenting a five-point, ``consensus'' trade package designed to avert wrangling over tariffs and quotas and focus instead on moderate steps that could win broad support. The outline unveiled by the Democrats joins an array of omnibus packages placed before Congress in recent months as concern increases over the nation's projected $150 billion trade deficit. (Related story, Page 7.)

It would create a Cabinet-level National Trade Council in the White House and spur the Reagan administration to consult with Congress before embarking on a new round of talks involving the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

New York court averts vote on Staten Island Navy base

The State Court of Appeals has ruled that a referendum on a Navy base in New York City would violate state law and cannot appear on the ballot. Antinuclear groups sponsoring the referendum have not decided whether to appeal Wednesday's decision to the United States Supreme Court. The base for seven warships able to carry nuclear weapons would be built on city-owned land in the Stapleton area of Staten Island.