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.

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