Israeli and Egyptian officials met at Checkpoint 101 to determine which soldiers should return to which cease-fire line. No progress was reported. Israel reported that clashes occurred today along the Suez front and in the Golan Heights.
A Lebanese newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia is on the on verge of establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union for first time. King Faisal has accepted an invitation to visit Russia.
The United States has canceled the military alert for the 60 ships of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea which began shortly after the Arab-Israeli war broke out, the Pentagon said. Now that tensions in the Middle East have eased, many of the ships will be making stops at Mediterranean ports and some will return to the United States. At the same time there has been a significant decline in the number of ships in the Soviet Mediterranean fleet, declining from a high of 95 vessels to more than 70 now, the Pentagon said.
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia told foreign ministers of 40 African countries meeting in Addis Ababa that Israel’s occupation of Arab territory posed a threat to international peace and security. The 81-year-old monarch spoke at the opening of a two-day meeting of the Organization of African Unity. He said there could be no continued peace and progress in independent Africa “until Israel ends its illegal occupation of Egyptian territory.
A Greek military tribunal handed down stiff penalties for violations of martial law in Athens. Mass arrests have occurred there. Students, professors, left-wing members of Parliament and workers are being detained. In Athens, all persons are under surveillance. President Papadopoulos was not happy over the filming of the enforcement of martial law. The violence started at a university over the weekend; the Army and the police now control the universities.
A crucial stage in the effort to find a political solution in Northern Ireland began today as Britain presented a plan for a coalition government to moderate Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders. The plan represents a compromise between the fears and demands of the two sides. Acceptance was still uncertain this evening after a meeting between the leaders and William Whitelaw, Britain’s minister for Northern Ireland. The meeting will resume on Wednesday.
The Unionist party, led by Brian Faulkner and representing the moderate Protestants was reportedly offered six places in the 12‐man executive to be set up under Britain’s constitutional plan. The Catholic Social Democratic and Labor party was to hold four places, and the non‐sectarian Alliance party one place. The 12th seat was to be left vacant, to be filled or not at the discretion of the British Mr. Faulkner, who is battling to hold his place against the opposition of hardline Protestant groups, had insisted that his party be given a majority on the executive.
The Soviet Union favors a considerable reduction of forces in Central Europe, Oleg N. Khlestov, chief Soviet negotiator at the Vienna troop reduction conference, said. He did not deny reports that the Warsaw Pact had proposed a specific timetable for reductions, but declined to detail the Communist proposal. Sources at the conference, however, said that the proposed schedule called for a 20,000-man cutback on both sides in 1975, followed by a mutual 5% reduction in 1976 and 10% reduction in 1977.
Italy’s center-left government coalition appeared to have gained support in early local election returns, although Premier Mariano Rumor’s Christian Democrats lost some votes to their partners. The coalition was boosted with an increased vote for the Marxist Socialists. The Communists appeared to have lost strength in the elections, for municipal and regional governments involving 4.5% of the electorate.
American oil billionaire J. Paul Getty said in London that he is standing by his decision not to pay ransom for the return of his grandson, Paul Getty III, reported kidnapped in Rome four months ago. The 17-year-old’s father, Paul Getty II, said earlier he was prepared to pay ransom to regain his son. A spokesman for the grandfather said, “Mr. Getty has to think of his other sons and daughters-in-law. He also has to think of his other grandchildren. All he can hope for is that his grandson will be returned to his family.”
Cambodian President Lon Nol was the victim of an assassination attempt. A plane dropped bombs on the presidential palace in Phnom Penh, but Nol was uninjured. The Cambodian Air Force fighter plane dropped three or four bombs on the presidential palace today, killing at least three people, blowing holes in roofs, shredding doors and scattering fragments of glass throughout the palace grounds. President Lon Nol was unhurt, according to a government spokesman.
The pilot, said to be an air force lieutenant, apparently escaped by flying his propeller-driven plane, an American T‐28, to an unknown destination, perhaps in a zone controlled by the Communist insurgents. Diplomats here noted that such attacks had been made before — most recently last March — and were hesitant to read significant political meaning into the bombing, although some have observed increasing discontent in both civilian and military quarters with the economic hardships caused by the siege of the capital.
After nearly four weeks in North Vietnam and sections of South Vietnam that are controlled by the Viet Cong, two American antiwar activists said here yesterday that full‐scale war would likely break out if a coalition Government was not formed in Saigon. The activists, Cora Weiss of New York and Don Luce of East Calais, Vermont, said they believed the Viet Cong “are choosing the political route right now.” The Viet Cong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government “wants a coalition government,” Mrs. Weiss said, adding: “But if the Paris agreement is not implemented, they will defend their territory. They are not going to sit idly by and let Saigon take their land.”
[Ed: Amazing how dumb some “peace” activists can be.]
The Soviet Union accused China of having tried to promote a Russian-U.S. war over the Middle East. The charge was published by the government newspaper Izvestia in a long article that offered no direct substantiation. “From the very first shots of the new Arab-Israeli war, the most important objective of the Chinese leaders consisted of involving the Soviet Union and the United States, thus achieving a sharpening of tension between these countries and, if they could manage it, even a direct military clash,” the paper said.
The Rio de la Plata Treaty was signed between the foreign ministers of both nations to settle their dispute over the boundary on the Rio de la Plata, the river that separates the two nations.
Elections in Suriname, premier Sedney’s PNP doesn’t win a chair.
Lieutenant Colonel William R. Pogue of the Air Force successfully filled the Skylab’s vital equipment cooling system with a fresh supply of fluid today after a series of delays caused by faulty repair equipment. While his fellow crewmen, Lieutenant Colonel Gerald P. Carr of the Marines and Edward G. Gibson, a scientist‐astronaut, completed most of the housekeeping chores to prepare the spaceship for orbital research, Colonel Pogue struggled much of the afternoon with the vital cooling system. Without the system, much of the electronic equipment used for scientific experiments would be useless and there would be no point in keeping the astronauts in space. Colonel Pogue found after several hours of tests on the equipment that apparently there were pressure leaks in a short piece of hose feeding cooling fluid from a tank into the system through a special valve.
The Nixon administration raised the possibility of a ban on Sunday driving; four European nations have already instituted such a ban. The Senate today passed emergency legislation giving the President broad powers to deal with the energy crisis. Amendments to curtail school busing for integration and to exempt commercial vehicles from obeying the new speed limit regulations were defeated, however. The bill which was passed authorizes the President to impose rationing but it must be passed by House next.
Presidential assistant for fuel policy Charles DiBona appeared on Capitol Hill and outlined possible prohibitions for aircraft and boat fuels. Other plans to counteract the energy crisis include gasoline reduction plans. Joint Economic Committee chairman William Proxmire asked about a Sunday driving ban; DiBona replied that it is a real possibility. However, administration energy czar John Love stated that although having gas stations be closed on Sundays is possible, no plans for a driving ban is in the works.
Postmaster General Elmer Klassen reported that air flight cutbacks could hinder mail delivery. The Environmental Defense Fund urged that intercity buses be exempt from the 50-m.p.h. speed limit. Agriculture Secretary Butz said that wheat sales to Arab countries shouldn’t be stopped in retaliation for their oil embargo. West Germany and Denmark announced a ban on Sunday driving.
During President Nixon’s latest offensive regarding Watergate, he aimed barbs at Congress; resentment was obvious today on Capitol Hill. Democrats were particularly angered by the President’s attack on Congress during last Saturday night’s speech to the convention of Associated Press editors.
President Nixon will meet with Republican governors at their conference in Memphis.
A Gallup poll reveals that Republicans are being affected by Watergate, and the prospects for re-election of Republican members of Congress would be dim if the election were held now. Allegiance to the Republican party has dwindled throughout the country. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller stated that the Watergate scandal may help the country get back to basic, fundamental values. California Governor Ronald Reagan believes that the drop in Republican popularity could just reflect people’s disillusionment with politics and politicians.
No member of Congress may take another government post at a higher salary; Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Robert Byrd declared that Attorney General nominee William Saxbe can’t accept the nomination because of that law.
President Nixon was to have surrendered the White House tapes by tomorrow, but Judge John Sirica has delayed that action because presidential lawyer Samuel Powers is ill.
The Senate Watergate committee suspended staff investigator Scott Armstrong for leaking information to Rolling Stone magazine.
The press reported an incident of President Nixon “slapping” or patting admirer Sgt. Edward Kleizo in Orlando, Florida. The White House said that the story constitutes twisted, unethical and unprofessional reporting. Kleizo confirmed that the President did not slap him, but affectionately tapped him on the cheek.
The Supreme Court agreed to rule on a Detroit school desegregation case, and will also hear the case of a law student who claims that a university turned down his application for admission because he is white.
The United Auto Workers reached an agreement with General Motors on a new contract. The United Auto Workers and General Motors reached tentative agreement on a three-year contract covering 415,000 auto workers. The agreement came two hours before a deadline for the start of a series of “ministrikes” against individual plants. The settlement concludes the union’s 1973 national negotiations with the Big Three automakers. All the settlements were mainly the same and included wage boosts of 3% and retirement after 30 years with full pension.
The Bahamian foreign minister, Paul Adderley, ruled that the extradition treaty being used against American financier Robert L. Vesco is valid. His ruling came on the request of Bahamian Magistrate Emmanuel Osadebay, who is to decide if Vesco should be sent to face federal fraud charges in the United States. Vesco is specifically charged with defrauding a New Jersey firm he formerly headed of $50,000. He also is named in two other federal indictments.
The Maryland Salute to Ted Agnew Committee was fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to having falsified financial reports of the 1972 gala for the former Vice President. Annapolis Judge James L. Wray imposed the fine after the committee changed its plea from not guilty to guilty of reporting a $50,000 loan from President Nixon’s reelection committee as donations from 32 individuals.
Authorities were searching for three men in their 30s in connection with the shotgun slayings of four Sioux Falls, South Dakota, youths in Gitchie Manitou Park. Authorities said they had no motive for the Sunday slayings. The youths were identified as Dana Baade, 14, his brother, Stewart, 18, Roger Essem, 17, and Mike Hadrath, 15.
All 13 crewmen of a leaking 125-foot schooner were reported safe after rowing to shore at an isolated area on the Gulf Coast in northern Mexico. Their wooden hulled vessel, the Fair Morse, struck a sunken object and went down near the edge of a desolate section of Gulf of Mexico beach about 30 miles south of Brownsville late Thursday night while en route from Port Isabel, Texas, to Tampico, Mexico. Duane Denny, of Wilmington, California, one of the owners of the former fishing vessel, said the crewmen telephoned from Mexico to report they were safe.
The two pandas from China were moved into new living quarters at the Washington National Zoo. A new dividing wall received no approval from either panda. Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling are upset over the new living arrangements.
The Laserium, the first regular laser show was launched by Ivan Dryer, who leased a laser from the California Institute of Technology for shows at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, followed by a tour of 46 cities in North America.
NFL Monday Night Football:
The Atlanta Falcons, a team that had stood still for most of its six years in the National Football League, said “Hey, look at us,” tonight to a nationwide television audience and upset the Minnesota Vikings, 20—14. It was the Vikings’ first defeat after nine straight triumphs and the sixth victory in a row for the Falcons, who never have won more than seven games in a season. Tonight’s was their seventh victory this season with four games to play. For three periods of an exciting contest the Falcons displayed almost perfect football. Their quarterback, Bob Lee, who had played five seasons for Minnesota, made two big plays — one by improvisation — for touchdowns in the second quarter. More significantly the Falcon defense held the Minnesota runners to a mere 40 yards through the third quarter (82 in all) and did as well as one could expect in containing Fran Tarkenton, the Viking quarterback. Tarkenton, one of Atlanta’s leading citizens, needed a lot of containing as he came close to making a defeat a victory in the hectic last quarter.
Atlanta led at half‐time, 17—7, after Lee had completed touchdown passes of 19 and 39 yards to Dave Hampton and Eddie Ray, his running backs. The first was flare pass to Hampton, who zipped past the Viking defenders. The second was the improvisation. Lee, seemingly trapped at midfield, scrambled away from Carl Eller, almost tripped, and then let fly to Ray, who was alone on the 2‐yard line. The Falcon defense held the Vikings to 13 yards rushing in the first half and opened up only once when Tarkenton completed a 39‐yard touchdown pass to John Gilliam. Nick Mike‐Mayer’s 49‐yard field goal in the third quarter gave Atlanta a 13‐point cushion as the final period began. Tarkenton went to work on that margin and took his team in for a touchdown with the quarter half over. Bill Brown, the seasoned fullback, caught Tarkenton’s pass from the 2 in the end zone.
Needing another touchdown to win, Minnesota had two more chances. But Gilliam, hit hard after catching a pass at the Atlanta 35, fumbled and the Falcons recovered. Another fumble, by Atlanta’s Lee, was recovered by Alan Page with 76 seconds left and Tarkenton had four more plays from midfield. He called four pass plays and got two off but they were incomplete. He was dropped for a loss on second down and then scrambled for a 12‐yard gain, a yard short of a first down.
Minnesota Vikings 14, Atlanta Falcons 20
The New York stock market takes its sharpest drop in 19 years.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 862.66 (-28.67, -3.22%).
Born:
Jamir Miller, NFL linebacker (Pro Bowl, 2001; Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dean Melanson, Canadian NHL defenseman (Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals), in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Nim Chimpsky, chimpanzee later used in an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University (d. 2000)
The new #1 song in the U.S. this week in 1973: Ringo Starr — “Photograph”
History Diaries 