a . ‘Comice, horoscope © ; ” entire, community to learn them al the same time, avoiding ee a Dy Se eel ' j . _ oa, LEGISLATIVE Liman \ } PARLIMENT BUILDINGS ad Victoria, B LS ES . vay. fae - S| oe tye ~ Israel blasts PLO i in Beirut Shells crashed around Lebanon’s presidential palace today and renewed artillery exchanges between Israeli- troops and Palestinian guerrillas rocked areas near Palestinian refugee camps and Beirut’s airport. =; “(Reuters news-agency quoted a Belrut Radio report aa - saying, Lebanese President Elias: shells landed in the palace yard, but the reper could not be confirmed Immediately.) ; Lebanon’s Moslem prime minister, Shafik Wazzan, ‘an- nounced that because of the tight Israeli blockade of Moslem West Beirut, he wauld no longer act a3 a mediator in the effort to arrange a peaceful evacuation of Palestine — Liberation Organization guerrillas from Lebanon. : He said his withdrawal would “inevitably have a negative impact.on the talks." Wazzan charged that the Israeli ‘famine blockade” had cut off water and electricity in the Palestinian-dominated ~ western sector of the Lebanese capital, encircled by Israeli forces. He complained bitterly that trucks bringing In flour were turned away, depriving Moslems of hread during their holy month of Ramadan. Israeli tanks moved up to reinforce the blockade at the checkpoints around West Beirul today. But Israeli military spokesman Col. Paul Kedar “here is no intention ta starve, ~ dry out or black out the city.” Reporters on the scene said trucks with food supplies had " apparently stopped trying to enter the Moslem sector, partly due to the shelling and partly due to the number . turned away by Israeli guards during the weeend. The deterioration of the ceasefire was: vividly. symbolized _ by the shelling of the presidentian palace compound in in the Isrneli-held hills east of Beirut. Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson saw at . least two shells slam into the compound before his view was obscured by smoke and dust. Israeli troops sealed off the . area and kept reporters back. At the time, Sarkis and Lebanese Foreign Minister Fuad Butros were reported conferring about the latest round of © negotiations with U.S. presidential envoy Philip Habib, who had left the compound 20 sninutes earlier. . Elsewhere around Beirut, the artillery exchanges were the heaviest in more than a week. ‘Associated Press correspondent Tom Baldwin reported |. from a vantage point overlooking. the battlefield that the fighting began at dawn in the Haddeth neighborhood, one- | -al€ kilometre north of the airport and just south of the ~ Bour) él Barajneh refugee camp, a PLO stronghold that had heen & an israeli wedllery: target during the. weekend. tome reported offer by Yasser Arafat to pull out most of his "who was: economy minister under a previous military ~* pegime in 1969..He was expected to announce @ devaluation . “INSIDE Classifieds - ey World news All ‘about People a “pages: 485 _ page. 7. ~ pages 889 ~ Page 10 . WHY BUY NEW? - ‘WHEN USEDWILL DO! Da you want parts to fix up your car but your budget . won't aliow it? Beat the high cost of new parts with? suailty used parts from SKB, ATO SALUAGE_| --635- 2333 or 635- 9095 3690 Buhan Custot Hwy..16. E) ¢ ~ about 11 er cent. B.C. { a : on ’ a . ‘a5 cents Established 1908 Columbia aad America’s birthday present : HOUSTON (AP) — Hartsfield relaxed at home today; hailed by President - “Reagan as Fourth of July heroes for a near-flawless shuttle _ voyage that cleared the way for Columbia to begin flying for pay this fall. — Columbia's fourth and final test flight ended in glory on landing at Edwards Alr Force Base, Calif., and a flag- waving, cheering; singing celebration. . The astronauts brought Columbia from space to a dead- centre landing on a concrete runway--while- Reagan. and more than 500,000 other spectactors watched. “Unbelievable, just magnificent,” Reagan said of the landing. Later, he told the astronauts: “You've just given the American People a Fourth of July present to remiem- ber. a” Columbia even provided fireworks —adouble sonle boom swept across the desert valley, heralding. the approach of the speeding craft on its graceful descent to Earth. The perfect touchdown ended a seven-day 112-orbit © mission. The craft will be taken to Florida; reconditioned _ and launched again in October or: November with 4 four- man crew and will deploy two satellites. ' , Reagan used the occasion to call for “establishing 4 more permanent presence in space,” The White House issued a _ directive favoring: deployment of an anti-satellite weapon and improvements in. systems giving early warning of nuclear threats. - _ The message stopped short, however, of endorsing ex- pansion of. the space shuttle fleet or construction of & manned space station, moves. favored by tie space agency and by the air force. As the President spoke, Columbia, still warm after its million, sank in.the. Atlantic Ocean after the. apparent _ : return from space, sat on the desert runway Challenger, : The renewed fighting came after ‘Israel - rejected a Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas from Lebanon, leaving behind a -token military force and a _ holitical mission. ; ; ~" Iatdel,! whken-thvinted: bebsiioi Ga Juste 6 ta evo the PLO, has trapped an estimated 8,000 guerrillas and 500,000 - i" civilians in ‘predominantly-Moslem West Beirut, sealed off since Saturday by an Israeli blockade ‘of access routes across: the Green Line frontier to, Christian ‘held East Beirut; - . While israeli artillery fire poured i in on » Haddeth from the * hillg today, guerrillas.in the rubble launched a:barrage of -rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and. small-arms fire, Baldwin said. The Palestinians also fired Katyusha rockets from deep inside thelr West Beirut redoubt, striking Israeli. positions east of the aiport, he reported. ; — Official Lebanese sources said Sunday Arafat agreed in a. signed. document to. evacuate most ‘of his guerrillas, but insisted on leaving behind two brigades, a total of 500 men, who would be stationed with the Lebanese army in northern and eastern Lebanon. The PLO chief. also demanded a political’ and diplomatic, mission in Beirut following an . evacuation, the sources sald, The destination ‘of.. the bulk of the guerrillas _— presumably to another Arab state — would be decided in negatiations among the United States, Lebanon. and other ™ Middle East states, they. said. ‘The Lebanese sources said the document was 8s negotiated by Arafat and Lebanese leaders and delivered to U.S. _ presidential envoy Philip Habib; who. passed it on to the Israelis. Habib has been leading an intensive round of peace talks but so farhas been unable to resolve the differences between ‘Israel and the PLO. 7h Minister Allan MacEachen may be wishing his party hadn't. pulled the plug-on the short-lived Clark. . governmient and forced the election that returned the _ > Liberals to power in 1980.00” . Bot opposition parties now smell blood and have pounced on MacEachen to try,to finish the job they . Started with last fall’s budget, when they called. for. _ his resignation. They got fresh ammunition Thursday when the . Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that Canada’s competitive position is likely to worsen further because of the large gap between Canadian and U.S. interest rates. . MacEachen also may have committed an un- pardornable blunder with “his decision ‘to limit in- creases in old age security payments to six per cent in 1983 — about half what they likely would. have been — _ and to increase personal income taxes by $1.3 billion ditring the next two taxation years. ‘tions. government pension cheques, willeach. get $55 tess in 1983 than previously expected. The government has also taken’ the ‘calculated - gamble of taking on the public service unions by limiting their wage increases to six per cent in the next year although inflation iscurrently 11.8 per cént. To balance that, ithas imposed the same ceiling on Banks close. - BUENOS AIRES (AP) — The Argentine government shut: down banks, foreign exchanges and the stock market today ~to-avoid “creation of false hopes or speculation’’ pending: -annoincement of major. changes in economic policy.’ . _ «88 § telecomm: mications. 9). —~ Argentine newspapers, news agencies and broadcasters. — ee . . " predicted the new economy minister, Jase Maria Dagnino .. : Pastore, -would announce the measures today or tonight. ‘The government réfused to comment. — Dagning Pastore is a moderately conservative economist of the Argentine peso, now pegged at 15,700 to the-U.S. ~ dollar at the official exchange and at 27,000 to the dollar on the black market. ° The devaluation, almed at ‘topping a decline in exports, ~ may be accompanied by import restrictions. ' Dagnino Pastore also was expected to announce pay increases. for Argentine workers to stimulate. Internal — - demand. Wages have been controlled by the government ° ‘since. the military. came.to. power, by’ toppling . civilian. President Isabel Peron in 1976, - .. The Economy Ministry announced Sunday that a ~“bankirig and. exchange | holiday" would be in effect today * Ahiroughout this nation of 28 million: °~ “The order was designed to “harmonize the ineasiires that are (o-be. implemented and, ‘fandamentally,, to allow the -~ border, = = _ ¢ The American greenback was worth ‘up to $1.40 in _ devalued Canadian currency for .bargain-conscious tourists . “during the long U.S. Independence Day weekend, adding a needed boost,to the flagging tourism industry. - their. slay. "40 per cent more enjoyable” with a 40-cent . ‘ prernium“on the. U.S, ‘dollar for gasoline purchases... .. -A weekend stay at the Sheraton Centre hotel in Toronto: that costs: $149in Canadian funds, was worth about $120 U.S. and: an $90-dinner for. two at ‘The: Cannery in. Vancouver : would, have cost’ $64 U.S. "8 ‘Exchange Lid. in Windsor, said U.S, tourists are surprised: © possible ‘reation’ af false hopes or speculation, the and delighted by:the ‘amount of. Canadian. maney they ministry sald. : - _. Receive for their dollars. | ~ Reynaldo Bigione, : a retired general wha assumed the “They know the U.S. dollar is worth more, but not this presidency last-Thureday, has pledged to Feturn Argentina much more," she said. to civillan rule by March, 1984, and to change..the free-_ ‘Our business is up at least 50 per cent over a year Ago, " market-economic policies of his military predecessors. - a ” and there have been lineups out the door.” : -Most: Argentines blame those-policies..for the. country’s: - ---Susan-Lauff, a travel counsellor. with the Ontaric Tourismn .. ~ steady decline’ in production, real wages and domestic and Recreation Department in_Sault. Ste. Marie, said consumption and a 10-year-high. unemployment Fale of _ visitors “crossing from Michigan were- ‘astonished and | Pleated by the i purghasing power of their U. 5. funds. feted the ra Booey Both measures are. achieved by limiting cost-of- living indexing of pensions and income tax exemp- The budget has riade special provisions for the nearly 1.3 million pensioners who receive the federal guaranteed income supplement, which-goes to those who have little ot no: inéome aside from their — Astronauts Ken Mattingly and Henry second craft in the U.S, space fleet, was perched atop a 747, ” preparing for a ferry ride to Florida and an eventual space _ Voyage néxt year. And Enterprise, the-non-orbiting test “ship and first of the line, formed a presidential backdrop. _ Mattingly and Hartsfield later boarded a NASA Gulf- stream jet and flew to Ellington Air Force Base near the : the 206th birthday. of tha United. States_witha_pinpéint___ Johnson Space. Centre here..They. arrived. minutes before_..__| the ferry craft landed for an overnight refuelling stop. : Officials estimated that 500,000 people gathered te . . welcome home the astronauts and to look at the Challenger. Mattingly, speaking to a gathering that. included fellow _ astronauts and Mission Control flight controllers, declared the day ‘‘a first-class way_to go" on. duly 4... “It was a hard choice to make whether to come home," Mattingly said of space. “That’s a great place. ” Hartsfield, who waited 16 years to: make his Mest. . spaceflight, said: “It was worth the walt,” On Tuesday, the spacemen start the paperwork. They’I spend the next few: weeks preparing.a report. on thelr mission. But to many experts the results of the fourth and ., final test. flight of Columbia are already: in. Lt.-Gen:;' James Abrahamson, head of NASA’s shuttle program, said the craft was in excellent condition and ready for operational missions. He said the heat-resistant - tiles covering Columbia’s bull “fared: much, much better. than on earlier flights.” , NASA officials said Mattingly and Hartsfield completed virtually every jot assigned them and a flight director called their mission ‘the cleanest flight we've had to date."' The only major problem was the loss, just-after launch, of two solid rocket booster hulls. The boosters, worth about $38 failure. of parachutes... : - Did Clark win the. election? iihied OER iCP) — After thé purfimeling he'd taken ~ for his third budget in less than two years, Finance U6 ras ape “But within amysrat Cee budget, Conimuntestions” °” Minister Francis Fox was saying he didn’t think that ~ - ‘ should apply lo Bell Canada, which has applied for a - 25-per-cent Therese in residential service charges in. Ontario and Quebec. . However, despite all their troubles, the Liberals have discovered two. new glimmers of hope on the horizon. One:-of the more interesting ~ ‘and politically . valuable — portions of last week's budget is in a white paper proposing the use of tax incentives to create a. new pool of low-interest money for new-home buyers, farmers, fishermen and small businessmen, — A blue-ribbon committee led by Plerre Lortle, president of the Montreal Stock Exchange, has been set up to study the idea and report by Sept. 30 — in time for the proposals to be incorporated into yet another budget this fall. . The committee holds its first: meeting in Ottawa today. Amazingly, Prime Minister Trudeau also appears to have at least temporarily mollified virtually all the premiers -- including such adversaries. as Newfoundland’s Brian Peckford and Quebec's 6 Rene vesque, . ; *” Although Trudeau told the premiers he is sticking — ‘' with policies. they have blamed for deepening the But that still leaves 1.1 million pensioners wha now ‘Canadian recession, he seems to have swayed them . with promises of greater consultation: and co- operation before the fail budget. ~ The first ministers also agreed they must restrain the cost of government, particularly public service wages, a8 an example for the private sector. ; Nova Scotia’s John Buchanan added Friday that ~~ price increases in Tederally-regulated industries such his’ province will foliow the six-per-cent ‘limit “Proposed by ‘Trudeau. -U. S. tourists gain on dollar — The faltering Cariadian dollar may be a bust:to Canadian 7 -eonsiimers bul-it's a boon to. visitors from south of the- “Bul some say they feel Sorry for us,” she said. .- Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau,. said she had - from-New York to Seattle who travelled north in droves _ A Fort Erle, Ont., service station invited visitors to make ™ “Vira-Pupulin, general manager af Bluewater Currency “never seen 50 many Americans.” more than the bank exchange rate of about 29 per-ceént. Major department ‘stores. were all within a few per- centage points of current bank rates and. most, theatres ™ offered 15 to 22 per cent. But asurvey of restaurants turned up ‘rates of 10 to 35 per cent and some. cab drivers refused to even accept American money. an 7 a a Ganadian ¢ customs officials: reported. delays and. heavy. traffic at most major border crossings during the weekend. : _A spokesman for the Buffalo-Fort Erie’ Peace Bridge Authority said about 18,000 vehicles crossed the bridge from ; New York state into Canada. on Friday.. In Fort Erie, there were five extra Canada Customs af- ficers on duty to handle the steady stream’ of traffic . - Saturday. Bridges at Si, Stephen, NB., Windsor, Out: “gad ‘the Michelle Master, a tourlst ‘counsellor for the cate . -But it was buyer beware in Vancouver, where exchange nips ‘rates provided at stares and theatres ranged from par.to a Douglas crossing betwee B.C; ane, ‘Washingtotr alate were _ all busier than usual, - “There's 4 lineup an the International Bridge as ter as [- can see," said a ‘customs official in St. Stephen.