News In Brief

Senior government officials said yesterday that Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite has been refused a visa to visit Kuwait in connection with his efforts to free Americans held hostage in Lebanon. The kidnappers of the Americans, said to be members of a Shiite Muslim fundamentalist organization, Islamic Jihad, have demanded the 17 be freed by Kuwait as a condition for releasing their captives.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Waite would not comment on the Kuwaiti decision.

Meanwhile, in an interview with the newspaper Akhbar al-Khaleeh, Waite was quoted as repeating his desire to meet Kuwaiti authorities to discuss the hostage problem on ``purely humanitarian grounds.''

Polish sailor asks asylum after jumping ship in Ohio

Polish sailor Leszek Kapsa has applied for political asylum in the United States, days after he deserted his ship while it was unloading steel here. Mr. Kapsa had been a member of Solidarity, the outlawed union in Poland, and had thought about jumping ship during earlier trips to the US, said the Rev. Marian M. Kencik, himself a Polish 'emigr'e, who translated for Kapsa.

Bonner may need further help in Italy after US visit

The eye doctor treating Soviet dissident Yelena Bonner said that her problem was stable but that after her return from heart treatment in the US she will need a further operation. He said Miss Bonner would probably seek an extension of her three-month stay in the West. Italian government sources said yesterday that Bonner had requested to see Prime Minister Bettino Craxi.

No meeting time was scheduled, but it was expected that Mr. Craxi would see Bonner sometime today.

Some South African blacks to get right to own property

The government announced plans to give about one-sixth of South Africa's 24 million blacks the right to own property for the first time since 1913, but restrictions on where blacks may live will remain in force. A prominent white opponent of apartheid said the change was important to whites because some part of apartheid has been abolished, but she added that the majority of blacks still cannot buy land where they choose to live.

House seeks $10.6 billion for college aid next year

The House proposed $10.6 billion for college aid next year, including financial help for a new generation of older, ``nontraditional'' students such as mothers returning to school. The move is seen as a rebuff to President Reagan's fiscal 1986 budget proposal, to slash federal aid to college students by 25 percent and to eliminate Pell Grants for more than 800,000 students.

A five-year extension of a wide variety of federal aid programs for students, colleges, and universities through fiscal 1991 was passed and sent to the Senate on a 350-to-67 roll-call vote. Senate action is expected early next year.

AMA to weigh a call for ban on all cigarette advertising

The American Medical Association said the organization will meet in Washington next week to consider a resolution calling for a total ban on cigarette advertising. Cigarette companies are already prohibited from television and radio advertising. Meanwhile, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that restricts smoking in most restaurants, grocery stores, and banks, ending more than a year of debate.

Reclassification of US land, including mining, overruled

A US district judge has ruled that Interior Department reclassification of 170 million acres of federal land over the past five years, including the opening of 30 million acres to mining and mineral exploration, was unlawful. The judge ruled that the Bureau of Land Management failed to give the public a chance to review the reclassifications. The suit was filed by the National Wildlife Federation.

Israel President asks USSR to restore diplomatic ties

Israeli President Chaim Herzog appealed to the Soviet Union to reestablish ties with Israel in the latest move by the Jewish state to restore the diplomatic links severed by the East bloc 18 years ago. Mr. Herzog addressed the opening of the Israeli Communist Party's 20th annual convention in Haifa, the first time Israel's ceremonial head of state has taken part in a conference of the pro-Moscow party.

Britain joins US in UNESCO exit

Britain, calling UNESCO badly managed and biased against the West, officially withdrew from the UN agency, the second Western nation to do so after the US, government sources said yesterday.

Ex-German chancellor off to Poland to improve ties

Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt travels to Poland today for a visit to further Warsaw's normalization with the West. Mr. Brandt is under fire from government officials for not scheduling a meeting with Lech Walesa, head of the outlawed Solidarity trade union. His meeting follows a highly controversial visit to Paris by Poland's leader, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Weinberger: US may have `star wars' by mid-1990s

US Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger told a German-American seminar yesterday that the US may have the ability to deploy a ``star wars'' antimissile shield using ground-based laser weapons as early as the mid-1990s. On Wednesday Mr. Weinberger told servicemen at the Ramstein Air Base that a treaty with the Soviet Union on arms reductions was possible, following the Geneva summit, but it was likely to require much patience.

Navy extends sub bidding; `competition' given as reason

The Navy extended a nuclear attack submarine contract with General Dynamic, despite the defense contractor's temporary suspension following indictments on fraud charges. Navy officials denied the move was intended to keep the way open for General Dynamics. The Navy said the only other company that builds the attack subs is the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company and that its decision was to maintain competition, saying it was in the public interest, as bidding could keep costs down.

US and Britain conduct large A-test in Nevada

The United States and Britain conducted a large underground nuclear test in the Nevada desert yesterday, the Department of Energy announced. A British embassy spokesman in Washington said only that it was staged to maintain the credibility of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent force.

A brief Department of Energy statement said the explosion was between 20 and 150 kilotons -- 20,000 to 150,000 tons of dynamite.