October 26, 1985

Argentina's civilian President, Raul Alfonsin, today imposed a 60-day state of siege on the country. The action was seen as a move to free the Government's hand to combat a sharp increase in violence widely attributed to right-wing terrorists. The decision to impose the state of siege came after a judge rejected as unconstitutional a presidential decree Tuesday ordering the arrest of 12 people suspected of being involved in a wave of bombings around the country. Human rights groups have linked the bombings to a rightist campaign to compel the Government to grant amnesty to former military leaders accused of murder and torture during military rule in the 1970's, when at least 9,000 people disappeared.

Fall is the season when new nightspots usually pop up like goldenrod. But this year is different. There is a blight on the Elysian fields of Lower Manhattan's clubland. Gone is 8 B.C. Gone too are the Peppermint Lounge and Darinka. The Limbo Lounge has stopped serving liquor and has metamorphosed into the Limbo Gallery and Theater. Danceteria, which prided itself on being open all week, has just announced it will be open only four days a week. The reasons for the nightclubs' problems vary. Darinka, 8 B.C. and the Limbo Lounge fell victim to the tangled web of city regulations governing the operation of nightclubs. The owners of King Tut's Wah-Wah Hut, another Lower East Side club (on Avenue A at Seventh Street) that featured performances one night a week, have given up their quest for a cabaret license. They say they have been defeated by the cost of conforming to building codes and obtaining a zoning variance.

John A. Walker Jr. will plead guilty to espionage charges in exchange for a shorter prison sentence for his son, a seaman who has also been charged in the Navy spy case, law-enforcement and military officials said today. Under the plea bargain, the officials said, Mr. Walker has agreed to testify against Jerry A. Whitworth, a retired Navy radioman who has been accused of joining a Soviet spy ring purportedly formed by Mr. Walker nearly 20 years ago. Mr. Walker is expected to be sentenced to life in prison, the officials said. The agreement with prosecutors calls for leniency for Mr. Walker's son, Michael, formerly a yeoman aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, who also will plead guilty to espionage charges, officials said. Shorter Sentence for Son One law-enforcement source said Michael Walker, who was accused of giving secret documents from the Nimitz to his father, would receive a prison term substantially shorter than a life sentence, which he might have faced if convicted.

President P. W. Botha declared a state of emergency today in and around this city, South Africa's second largest, and seven other areas. In the last two months, more than 65 people have died in the Western Cape area in violent protests against apartheid. In Cape Town and its environs, at least 30 people have been killed in the last 12 days. The declaration extends to this area an emergency rule imposed on July 21 in 36 of the nation's 265 magisterial districts. The extension was announced a day after Mr. Botha said that the emergency regulations would be lifted in 6 of the original 36 areas because they had effectively insured a ''return to stability.''

Secretary of State George P. Shultz announced today that he would confer with Soviet leaders in Moscow on Nov. 4 and 5. He said the sessions would be aimed at stepping up preparations for the meeting between President Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, later in the month in Geneva. Mr. Shultz met today for two hours with the Soviet Foreign Minister, Eduard A. Shevardnadze. Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Shultz said he would confer in Moscow not only with Mr. Shevardnadze but with Mr. Gorbachev as well.