News In Brief

Sakharov relative calls USSR 'ruthless as ever' on rights

The Kremlin's effort to ''exterminate'' the human-rights movement in the Soviet Union ''has never before been so ruthless,'' said Tatiana Yankelevich, the stepdaughter of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Addressing the annual meeting of the American Jewish Committee here on Saturday, she said ''We are approaching a new age of silence in the Soviet Union. A new iron curtain is falling on the Soviet border.''

She said the Soviet government practices anti-Semitism and has practically cut off all Jewish emigration. This year, only about 1,000 visas will be granted to Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate - the lowest ever, she said.