Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban met with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger proposed that peace talks begin next month. He outlined the U.S. strategy in the Middle East at an earlier news conference, insisting that America’s actions won’t be shaped by Arab blackmail or pressure. If pressure continues unreasonably, the U.S. must consider possible retaliation, he added.
Kissinger refused to fully explain the U.S. military alert as he previously promised.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir claimed that Egypt and Syria have threatened to begin fighting Israel again. Syria announced that it may join the Mideast peace conference.
Defense Department sources reported that some evidence has been discovered of Russian nuclear weapons in Egypt. Leading Senate defense experts doubted that report, and Pentagon sources acknowledge that the information is inconclusive.
The condition of Israel’s former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion improved “rather considerably” but he remains seriously ill from the cerebral hemorrhage which left his right side partially paralyzed, his physician said. A steady stream of the nation’s leaders took time off from the Mideast crisis to visit the 87-year-old statesman. Doctors said he could take food orally but for safety they continued intravenous feeding. He is receiving heavy doses of antibiotics against the danger of infection and pneumonia.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger admitted that serious differences between the United States and our NATO allies existed during the Mideast war. The meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels would be a good time for revitalizing relations. That meeting will include a joint U.S.-European response to the Arab oil embargo. U.S. officials confirmed that the oil boycott has caused a cutback in military training flights.
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s visit to Belgrade has produced an agreement providing crude oil for Yugoslavia, tankers for Libya and joint economic ventures. Under the agreement, announced on the fourth day of Qaddafi’s stay, Libya will supply 2 million tons of crude oil to fill one-fourth of Yugoslavia’s oil needs. The Mideast war brought an end to Yugoslavia’s regular supply of oil through Western companies.
French Foreign Minister Michel Jobert pledged France’s nuclear weapons in the defense of Western Europe and expressed interest in an Anglo-French nuclear force within the Atlantic Alliance at a later date. Jobert, speaking before the assembly of the Western European Union meeting in Paris, called on the European allies to shoulder full defense responsibility and said that the union-grouping Britain and the six original Common Market nations — was best suited to harmonize defense needs.
French labor unions called for a 24-hour general strike on December 6 to protest “the expensive life.” Retailers threatened to repeat last week’s closing of shops and restaurants, and butchers said they might suspend business. Finance Minister Valery Giscard d’Estaing said he would not yield to pressure from shopkeepers to ease government restrictions on profits. Prices are rising at about 10% a year, according to the government.
The chief of the Greek armed forces outlawed and disbanded 28 student organizations, today in the latest move to discourage a revival of the Creek student revolt. All universities decided to remain closed in an effort to discourage student gatherings. The revolt, which led to street fighting last weekend, has so far claimed 13 lives. The latest victim was a 24‐year‐old worker who died today of injuries received during the clashes. The Greek Army disclaimed any responsibility for the deaths. The Government denied rumors that scores had died in the weekend clashes, which led to the imposition of martial law throughout Greece.
Greece’s chief government spokesman charged that former Premier Panayotis Kanellopoulos and other opposition leaders are “politically responsible” for last week’s revolt against the military-backed regime. Spiridon Zournatzis, undersecretary of state for information, said that an investigation was under way to assess “culpability” of the opposition leaders who were placed under house arrest Tuesday night.
Leaders of Britain’s coal miners rejected a government offer to settle their pay dispute and continued the week‐old ban on overtime work that cut coal production by 20 percent last week. The miners’ job action is expected to lead to even deeper cuts in production this week, and coal suppliers reported sporadic panic buying by the public despite estimates of a six‐week supply of the fuel that generates 70 percent of the nation’s electricity and heats 22 per cent of British households.
Political leaders in Northern Ireland reached an agreement on a coalition government with Catholics and Protestants sharing power. A Northern Ireland executive body in which Protestant and Roman Catholic parties will share power for the first time in this century was agreed on tonight. The historic announcement was made at Stormont Castle where for seven weeks Britain’s Secretary of State for Ulster, William Whitelaw, and the leaders of the three parties that will share power have engaged in hard, often agonizing negotiations that threatened to collapse a number of times.
As recently as this morning, in fact, a belligerent remark by a representative of the Catholic grouping, made as he entered Stormont, swung political predictions in Belfast sharply against the chances of success. Patrick Devlin, going into the meeting, angrily said that his party simply would not accept the distribution of executive seats that previously had been reported as the only one that would be acceptable to the Protestants. Like hundreds of other Northern Irish predictions over the last five years, this one was quickly overtaken by events.
The mass circulation West German newspaper Bild said that extortionists had threatened to kidnap government members and spread deadly bacteria throughout the country unless they received the equivalent of $8.5 million. Police earlier admitted they had placed a coded ad in Bild in reply to an anonymous letter which threatened to attack cars on highways unless the author received $400,000. Police said that they did not think the two threats were connected. Investigators in Bonn declined to comment on the kidnap-bacteria threat.
A West Germany honorary consul in Venezuela, Kurt Nagel, 35, was presumed kidnapped by three men who forced him into his own car outside Zulia University, the Zulia state lieutenant governor said. Venezuelan-born, Nagel lectured in law at the university. If the kidnapping has political ramifications, it will be the first such since a wave of terrorism in the country in the early 1960s. Nagel’s family declined to talk with the press.
Jewish ballet dancer Valery Panov ended a 21-day hunger strike in the Soviet Union after being warned by a doctor his condition was dangerous, his wife reported. Mrs. Panov said in Leningrad that her husband would begin another fast if their applications to emigrate to Israel remained blocked by Soviet authorities.
Argentine President Juan Peron allegedly suffered a mild heart attack. His wife, Isabel Peron, is now running the government. The sources said that Mr. Perón had a seizure that lasted about five minutes shortly after 2 A.M. at the suburban home where he lives with his wife, Isabel, the nation’s Vice President. His doctors were summoned, but his condition had stabilized before they arrived, the sources said. Mr. Perón remained at the home and was reported improved. Mrs. Perón presided today over a regular Cabinet meeting for the first time since she and her husband were inaugurated on October 12. Later she returned home to be with the President. She is next in line for the presidency.
Mildew discovered on the air-conditioning garments the Skylab 4 astronauts wear under their spacesuits threatened to postpone today’s space walk, officials said. Commander Gerald P. Carr reported that he and crewmates Edward G. Gibson and William R. Pogue found the mildew when the water-cooled clothing was unpacked. Carr said the garments were drying quickly but there was some fear the fabric might be damaged. A Mission Control official said that if the clothing was not in condition the six-hour walk would have to be postponed, although shorter trips would be possible by cooling the spacesuits with oxygen. The walk was intended to repair a jammed antenna and replace film in the telescope cameras.
U.S. President Richard Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed that an 18½-minute gap existed in one of the White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal. Another Watergate “bomb” went off in Judge John Sirica’s courtroom today. Presidential counsel Fred Buzhardt announced that an 18-minute portion of the White House tapes which have been subpoenaed by the court contains no audible words. The conversation in question took place between President Nixon and former White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman on June 20. Assistant prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste demanded that the matter must be investigated thoroughly and he stated that the potential for obstruction of justice charges exists. Buzhardt was asked about the President Nixon’s knowledge of the inaudible tape. Buzhardt stated that he is unsure when the President learned about it, but he doesn’t believe the President knew the tape was on the subpoena list. Secret Service technician Raymond Zumwalt answered questions regarding another missing conversation of June 20 between former Attorney General John Mitchell and President Nixon.
The Senate Judiciary Committee sent legislation regarding the special Watergate prosecutor to the full Senate. The Senate Judiciary, Committee sent to the Senate floor without recommendation two bills calling for the appointment of a special Watergate prosecutor. One provides for appointment by the courts, the other for appointment by the Attorney General.
The White House said today that President Nixon had no plans to release his 1970 and 1971 personal income tax returns in connection with his efforts to clear up Watergate-related matters. The President said Saturday at a news conference with the Associated Press Managing Editors Association in Florida that he paid “nominal amounts” in taxes for those years, but he did not specify the amounts.
Administration officials raised the possibility of scheduled electrical “brownouts” and temporary “blackouts,” particularly along the Eastern Seaboard this winter. President Nixon reportedly ruled out a ban on Sunday driving as a means of coping with the fuel shortage. However, he is expected to prohibit “gas” sales on Sundays. No concrete decisions have been made regarding plans to combat oil shortages. Energy adviser John Love revealed that a committee has discussed a wide range of alternatives to help ease the energy crisis. Budget director Roy Ash stated that gasoline rationing is under consideration. A Sunday driving ban is not being considered, but Sunday closings of gas stations is. Interior Secretary Rogers Morton said that if the energy crisis is outlined fully to the American people, voluntary conservation would follow. But if the public is apathetic, brownouts and blackouts during the winter are likely.
The fuel shortage seems to have made no substantial difference in the amount of holiday travel.
A former oil company executive who had been expected to describe petroleum industry political contributions has invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify before staff investigators of the Senate Watergate committee.
Consumer prices continued to rise rapidly in October despite a leveling off of food prices, the Government reported. The government reported that the cost of living for October rose 0.8%, the biggest increase in seven months. Reasons included rising fuel and oil prices, and food prices. The consumer price index is up almost 8% over one year ago.
Airline fares will increase 5% next month. Critics insist that the hike is unnecessary; the Civil Aeronautics Board disagrees with the critics.
Talk of presidential politics began today. Barry Goldwater stated that Senator Charles Percy has little chance of getting the ’76 Republican nomination. Governor Nelson Rockefeller may resign to head a new national policy commission to keep him available to run for president. Senator Edward Kennedy said that his decision to run remains open.
Ralph Nader joined yesterday with a Boston‐area professional group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, in an attack on President Nixon’s proposed speed‐up of nuclear power development to ease the energy crisis. “Utter folly,” Mr. Nader, the consumerism advocate, said of the proposal that Mr. Nixon disclosed in his address Nov. 7 on energy. Mr. Nader and the scientists held a news conference at the Biltmore Hotel. Mr. Nader released a report by the scientists, “The Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” which maintained that because of the problems of safety, waste disposal, production and security, nuclear power was unsafe and unreliable. Investment should be concentrated on system improvements rather than on building additional plants, the study contended.
Government and industry; spokesmen replied immediately. “Another of their scare statements,” said Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. She said nuclear plants “have an excellent record of reliability.” Commonwealth Edison of Chicago, the largest nuclear power producer, reports it has had more operating hours from its large nuclear plants than from comparable fossil fuel plants, she pointed out. Another reaction came from W. Donham Crawford, president of the Edison Electric Institute, who said that “public safety has never been affected by any malfunction in a licensed nuclear power plant.” And Carl Walske, president of the Atomic Industrial Forum, said that half of the chapters in the scientists’ report had discussed outmoded operating methods. The other chapters were based on misinformation, he contended.
The Food Fair supermarket chain reported to stockholders that one of its executives repaid the firm for food which was sent regularly without cost to former Vice President Spiro Agnew.
Vice President-designate Gerald Ford reported that John Mitchell’s Justice Department gave Ford tips about impeaching Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Ford revealed that information at his confirmation hearing.
Improved income tax forms to make filing easier and faster have been announced by Internal Revenue Commissioner Donald C. Alexander. And Mr. Alexander has urged employers to distribute W2 withholding statements as early as possible to enable employes to file early. Taxpayers who file for refunds in January usually receive them within four to five weeks, while persons filing later may have to wait up to eight weeks because of the greater volume of returns being processed, Mr. Alexander said. He noted that at any rate W2 forms generally must be distributed by January 31.
Ten years after the assassination of President Kennedy, scholars are in dispute over his place in history. While many praise his idealism, strength and style, others have expressed doubts about his role in the cold war, his political achievements and the thrust he gave to what many now regard as a dangerous Presidential cult.
In one of the stranger qualification games for soccer football’s the FIFA World Cup, the Chilean national football team showed up, as scheduled, for the match in Santiago against the Soviet Union, which was boycotting because the game was being played in the Estadio Nacional, where political prisoners had been tortured and executed after the September 11 coup d’état. With 15,000 fans in the stands and the scoreboard activated, the Chilean team took the field and worked their way down to the empty goal in the next 30 seconds, and team captain Francisco Valdés kicked the ball into the net to make the victory official. FIFA referee Erich Linemayr then signaled a victory for Chile.
Pete Rose wins the National League MVP in a controversial vote, edging out Willie Stargell. Rose led the league with 230 hits and won his 3rd batting crown with a .338 mark. Stargell led with 44 home runs, 119 RBI, and a .646 slugging average while batting .299.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 854.98 (+10.08, +1.19%).
Born:
Danny Kanell, NFL quarterback (New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos), in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Brent Smith, NFL guard and tackle (Miami Dolphins, New York Jets), in Dallas, Texas.
Brook Kerr, American actress (“Passions”), in Indianapolis, Indiana.
History Diaries 