LEAD: At an emotional service today for 37 sailors killed in an Iraqi attack, President Reagan defended the United States military presence in the Persian Gulf, saying the sailors had understood ''their obligations'' and the importance of their jobs.

REAGAN, AT SERVICE FOR SAILORS, BACKS PRESENCE IN GULF

LEAD: California took a major step today toward replacing gasoline with methanol as a fuel for motor vehicles. State officials predicted the move could help lead to nationwide use of methanol, a form of alcohol that is abundant and less polluting than gasoline.

CALIFORNIA ACTS TO PROMOTE SWITCH FROM GASOLINE TO METHANOL FUEL

LEAD: Pushing past the milestones of the last two months, scientists yesterday reported the loss of electrical resistance in new materials at the temperature of ordinary dry ice, far warmer than ever before.

BIG LEAP REPORTED IN THE CONDUCTIVITY OF ELECTRIC CURRENT

LEAD: New Patrols for Brooklyn  After years of tension, blacks and Jews will form an integrated security patrol in Brooklyn to replace an all-white patrol run by Hasidim. Page 31.

INSIDE

LEAD: The Western allies are moving toward accepting, with conditions, a Soviet disarmament offer on medium-range and short-range missiles, according to officials from several NATO countries.

SOVIET ARMS PLAN IS GAINING IN NATO

LEAD: A former senior Israeli diplomat who negotiated the sale of American weapons to Iran is leaving the United States without testifying before a grand jury but has agreed to return if ordered by a Federal court, Israeli and American officials said today.

AN ISRAELI TIED TO CONTRA AID CAN GO HOME

LEAD: A judge began considering a mistrial yesterday in the fraud case of former Labor Secretary Raymond J. Donovan after a juror became distraught during deliberations and was dragged from a Bronx courtroom shouting, ''The Lord is my shepherd,'' and ''Help me, God, these people are crazy.''

MISTRIAL WEIGHED AFTER BREAKDOWN OF DONOVAN JUROR

LEAD: The Consumer Price Index, the most widely followed inflation gauge, rose four-tenths of 1 percent in April to post its third straight increase, the Labor Department reported today.

FORECASTS ON '87 INFLATION RAISED

LEAD: ''Were a hostile power ever to dominate this strategic region and its resources, it would become a choke point for freedom - that of our allies and our own. The fallen sailors of the U.S.S. Stark understood their obligations - they knew the importance of their job.'' - President Reagan.  [ 1:6. ]

Quotation of the Day

LEAD: A 29-year-old paraplegic completed a wheelchair tour of the world today, returning to the Vancouver shopping plaza he left 26 months ago. ''It's an incredible feeling to travel this far for so long and to finish off on a positive note,'' said Rick Hansen, who visited 34 countries and logged 25,000 miles.

Canadian Completes Tour

LEAD: INTERNATIONAL   2-5, 28   2,5.1,q>U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf was defended by President Reagan at a memorial service for the sailors killed in an Iraqi attack on the frigate Stark.   Page 1   Iraq will permit U.S. investigators to interview the pilot whose warplane attacked the frigate Stark and the military officers who prepared the mission, American officials said.

NEWS SUMMARY SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1987

LEAD: The police went to Winnie Mandela's home today and shut off the electricity because the anti-apartheid campaigner has joined a rent boycott, her lawyer said.

Mandela Is Penalized For Her Role in Boycott

LEAD: Senator Edward M. Kennedy sought today to bridge the divisions of Polish society as he and 13 members of his family met with Government officials, prayed with the parents of a priest who was murdered by the secret police and awarded a human-rights medal to two formerly imprisoned opposition leaders.

KENNEDY SEES OFFICIALS IN POLAND AND HONORS OPPOSITION LEADERS

LEAD: A report yesterday in the Scouting column of Sports Pages misidentified the shortstop who broke the 35-year-old Duke University record for hits in a season. He is Doug Eastman.

CORRECTION

LEAD: Elie Wiesel, chronicler of one of the century's great horrors, today viewed the legacy here of another enduring agony and left speaking grimly of the ''biblical malediction'' he had observed.

IN HIROSHIMA, WIESEL FINDS NEW HORROR

LEAD: The court trying Klaus Barbie, which often echoes with whispers, was still and silent today as Simone Lagrange recounted how, as a 13-year-old, she was beaten senseless by Mr. Barbie, who was trying to force her to disclose the whereabouts of her brother and sister.

TORTURE RECOUNTED AT THE BARBIE TRIAL

LEAD: The daily stock market article in Business Day on Wednesday misidentified the rate that was increased by the Royal Bank of Canada. The lending rate based on the American dollar was raised, to 8 3/4 percent, from 8 1/2 percent. The prime rate remains unchanged.

LEAD: Secretary of State George P. Shultz told a senior Mozambican official today that President Reagan had no intention of abandoning support for Mozambique's Government in favor of an anti-Communist insurgency.

SHULTZ ASSURES MOZAMBIQUE AIDE U.S. WON'T WITHDRAW ITS SUPPORT

LEAD: Because of an editing error, an article yesterday about Juan Perez, the 11-year-old boy who was killed by polar bears in the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, misstated his family's address. It is 162 East 19th Street in the Flatbush section.

LEAD: A table on Thursday listing third-world loans of several major banks, with an article analyzing the effect of a Citicorp decision on the debt situation, included several incorrect figures supplied by Bear, Stearns, for Mellon Bank. Mellon's assets were $34,499 million; its loan loss reserve was $494 million; its third world loans as a percentage of capital were 37 percent.

Correction

LEAD: Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich was seated in a white T-shirt eating lunch when a young priest walked up to him with a newspaper folded open to the letters column and began to read.

PRIESTS ARE TARGETS AS THEY STAND UP FOR CHANGE

LEAD: David Kimche, the Israeli who put the White House in touch with the Iranians, is a veteran spy with an infectious delight in using military and economic power to influence the internal politics of third-world countries.

AN URBANE SECRET AGENT

LEAD: Insurgents backed by the United States have been pushed from a part of northern Nicaragua where they were openly operating, according to diplomats and military officers.

ATTACK SAID TO PUSH CONTRAS FROM AREA OF NICARAGUA WHERE THEY OPERATED OPENLY

LEAD: Following are excerpts from President Reagan's remarks today at a memorial service for the victims of the attack on the frigate Stark:

EXCERPTS FROM REAGAN TALK AT SERVICE FOR 37 SAILORS

LEAD: The Speaker of Iran's Parliament said today that the Persian Gulf war had become a superpower conflict and that the Soviet Union could have ordered Iraqi pilots to attack the United States Navy frigate Stark.

IRAN CALLS GULF CONFLICT A WAR OF SUPERPOWERS

Gracie Otto is an Australian filmmaker and actress. She made her feature-length directing debut with the 2013 documentary The Last Impresario about prolific British theatre impresario and film producer Michael White. She has also directed a variety of screen content such as television commercial videos (TCVs), shorts, television series, feature films and documentaries.

Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter

Gracie_Otto

Windham Lawrence Rotunda, better known by his ring name Bray Wyatt, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in WWE from 2009 until his death in 2023.

May 23, 1987

Headlines from May 23, 1987

REAGAN, AT SERVICE FOR SAILORS, BACKS PRESENCE IN GULF

CALIFORNIA ACTS TO PROMOTE SWITCH FROM GASOLINE TO METHANOL FUEL

BIG LEAP REPORTED IN THE CONDUCTIVITY OF ELECTRIC CURRENT

INSIDE

SOVIET ARMS PLAN IS GAINING IN NATO

Billboard 200

The Joshua Tree

Slippery When Wet

Look What The Cat Dragged In

Licensed To Ill

Graceland

Notable Births

Historical Context for May 23, 1987