LEAD: The Sun Company, a leading producer and distributor of gasoline and petroleum products, said today that it had agreed to buy the smaller Atlantic Petroleum Corporation for $513 million.

Sun to Buy Atlantic Petroleum

LEAD: As recently as two months ago, farm equipment manufacturers and dealers were confident that their long period of depressed sales and industry consolidation were behind them and that 1988 would be a recovery year.

Farm Equipment Makers Hurt, Too

LEAD: As concern grows about possible terrorist attacks by North Korean agents or the Japanese Red Army before and during the Summer Olympics, this near-fortress city is buttressing its already formidable defenses.

Seoul Pulls Out All the Stops to Pre-empt Terrorism

LEAD: The Times Square of the 1990's is now emerging from gaping, straight-edged concrete canyons that have been excavated north of 42d Street. Also emerging is the clearest picture to date of what this re-created area would look like, with its thousands of hotel rooms and millions of square feet of office space.

From Dust of Demolition, a New Times Square Rises

LEAD: An increase in the $3.35-an-hour Federal minimum wage seems headed for Congressional passage in a form that President Reagan may find impossible to veto, legislative staff aides and interest groups dealing with one of the session's most heavily lobbied issues now say.

BACKING FOR RISE IN MINIMUM WAGE GAINS IN CONGRESS

LEAD: The directors of the Irving Bank Corporation agreed yesterday to accept an improved takeover offer from its friendly suitor, Banca Commerciale Italiana, on the ground that it was superior in their opinion to a counterproposal from the Bank of New York Company.

Irving Takes Improved Bid by Italian Bank

LEAD: Michael S. Dukakis cuts his grass with a simple hand-powered lawn mower, probably the only one left on Perry Street in Brookline. He rarely uses credit cards, and he pays the bill immediately when he does. He owes no money and buys generic grocery products.

More Wealth Than Meets the Eye Lies Behind Frugal Dukakis Image

LEAD: THOUSANDS of people lose tens of thousands of pounds quickly and easily on very-low-calorie liquid diets. Within three years most of them put the weight back on, and so far no one has figured out how to improve that success rate.

Diet Formulas: Losing the Weight Is the Easy Part

LEAD: Quirks in the United States patent laws and the persistence of a Maryland lawyer could create a bonanza of royalties for an obscure British equipment maker if it wins an important patent infringement lawsuit.

Patent Suit Angers Toolmakers

LEAD: THE presence of a tall, elegant Frenchman caused little commotion at the first International Pinot Noir Celebration in nearby McMinnville in the summer of 1987. Quite a few Burgundians had already found their way into the Willamette Valley.

A New Home for the Pinot Noir

LEAD: When he came to Washington to be counselor to the President at the start of the Reagan Administration, Edwin Meese 3d appeared to embody much of the Reagan promise.

A Tarnished Symbol

LEAD: Mario M. Cuomo - who at various times has called reporters stupid, ingrates, spoiled, incompetent, arrogant and thin-skinned - took up pen and notebook today, working as a reporter to get a taste of the job and, just perhaps, to show the Albany press corps a thing or two.

Yes, It's the Governor, And Get Him Rewrite!

LEAD:  THE ECONOMY  The Federal minimum wage seems likely to be raised, and in a form that President Reagan may find impossible to veto. The minimum wage, now $3.35 an hour, is expected to be raised 30 to 40 cents in each of the next three years. [ Page A1. ] A former Unisys executive told military contractors they should raise money for Florida charities to influence decisions by Representative William V.

BUSINESS DIGEST

LEAD: Led by blue-chip oils and industrial stocks, all the major market averages climbed yesterday to their highest levels since October's stock market crash.

Dow, Up 27, Is Highest Since Crash

INSIDE

LEAD: Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d announced today that he would resign later this summer, asserting that he had been ''vindicated'' by an independent prosecutor's final report on his conduct.

MEESE SAYS HE'LL STEP DOWN, CONTENDING HE IS VINDICATED BY THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

LEAD: IT was to be a June wedding. The caterer was hired, the band was booked, the guests had sent in their R.S.V.P.'s. Two days before the ceremony, as the bride was having a pedicure, the bridegroom put his foot down. Sign the premarital contract, he told her, or be jilted.

Prenuptial Stress Over the Contract

LEAD: New York area Congressmen have emerged as dominant figures in the increasingly vociferous debate here over drug policy. But the legislators have also turned out to be sharply divided among themselves, a development likely to diminish the tri-state region's influence over the escalating national anti-drug campaign.

Region's Lawmakers at Odds Over How to Combat Drugs

LEAD: It is midday at Gem Pawnbrokers, the self-proclaimed ''Money Stop'' at 608 Eighth Avenue. A man shuffles in with a duffle bag and proceeds to extract a conga drum, displaying it as if it were pure gold. He hints he might condescend to pawn it for $75. Bill Galindez, who owns the place, squints and says $35.

About New York; The Insolvent Find a Tradition Is Dwindling

LEAD: Secretary of State George P. Shultz said today that before an Iranian airliner was mistakenly shot down Sunday, Iranian officials had sent messages through third parties indicating a desire to open a direct dialogue with the United States and the United States had responded positively.

Shultz Says Iran Made Overtures

LEAD: Since immigration officials began full enforcement of the 1986 immigration law on June 1, many aliens who did not qualify for amnesty are finding themselves pushed deeper into an illegal subclass as they seek employment in the United States.

Aliens Who Are Still Illegal Find Life Is Getting Tougher

LEAD: Navy briefers acknowledged to Congressional leaders today that the American warship that shot down a civilian jetliner may have picked up a distant identification signal used by a military plane and mistakenly concluded that the signal was emanating from the Iranian airliner shot down moments later.

AMERICAN WARSHIP MAY HAVE REACTED TO DISTANT SIGNAL

LEAD: The Reagan Administration has begun to review whether the United States should offer to pay compensation to the families of those killed when an Iran Air jetliner was shot down Sunday, Administration officials said today.

U.S. Considers Compensation In Airbus Case

LEAD: Louisiana will offer tax-free shopping to foreign visitors under a bill approved by the Legislature and sent to Gov. Buddy Roemer. He is expected to sign the bill, to be effective Jan. 1.

Tax-Free Shopping Planned For Foreigners in Louisiana

LEAD: ''I have determined over the course of a few weeks here that it would be advantageous for me to return to private life before the administration ends.''  - Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d.  [ A1:6. ]

Quotation of the Day

Kevin Fickentscher is a Swiss professional footballer who plays for Sion II as a goalkeeper.

Kevin Fickentscher, Swiss footballer

Kevin_Fickentscher

Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea about 120 miles (190 km) north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in December 1976, initially as an oil-only platform, but later converted to add gas production.

The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.

July 6, 1988

Headlines from July 6, 1988

Sun to Buy Atlantic Petroleum

Farm Equipment Makers Hurt, Too

Seoul Pulls Out All the Stops to Pre-empt Terrorism

From Dust of Demolition, a New Times Square Rises

BACKING FOR RISE IN MINIMUM WAGE GAINS IN CONGRESS

Billboard 200

OU812

Hysteria

Faith

Dirty Dancing

Scenes From The Southside

Notable Births

Historical Events

Historical Context for July 6, 1988