In a move that angered Conservative party leaders in the decisive week of Britain’s election campaign, Enoch Powell, the party’s controversial maverick, suggested that Britons opposed to the Common Market should vote for the Labor party Thursday. He stopped short of specifically saying, “Vote Labor” to his supporters. But that was the clear meaning of his speech at an anti-market meeting in Birmingham.
The Soviet Union’s fast-breeder nuclear power station BN 350, still undergoing commissioning trials on the shore of the Caspian Sea, has experienced a serious accident, according to rumors in Washington. The rumors, based on satellite observations, say there has been a major failure of the cooling system and a large fire. It is not known whether radioactive material has been released.
A U.N. report said the computer may turn into a mechanical monster threatening the privacy and human rights of the individual if proper safeguards are not set up by the international community. The 112-page report was submitted to the Human Rights Commission. It was prepared by Secretary General Kurt Waldheim with the assistance of a staff of experts at the request of the General Assembly.
A general strike by union employees plunged Iceland into a labor crisis. Employers had agreed to 33% pay increases for Iceland’s 35,000 union employees, but the government approved only 26%. Only doctors and some government employees were exempt from the strike by the Federal Union of Employees. The strike stranded about 200 ships in ports. Most shops were closed.”
Exiled Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn arrived in the snowy interior of Norway and said the country was “just like home in Russia.” The Nobel laureate arrived in Norway by ship from Denmark and immediately left for the interior in search of a permanent home in which to settle his family and renew his literary career. “Beautiful. A wonderful scenery,” he said of the picturesque countryside around Lillehammer, 112 miles north of Oslo.
A group of U.S. airmen jailed in Erdemli, Turkey, on drug charges said that Turkish narcotics agents beat them with rubber pipes until they confessed to taking drugs at a Mediterranean beach party. The claim was made in an interview at the jail with Sgt. Charles Spencer, 21, of Cypress, California, a spokesman for the group of 11. A police spokesman denied the accusation. The 11 will go on trial March 7 and could get up to three years’ imprisonment.
Two Greek demolition experts were killed when a bomb they were attempting to defuse exploded in the American-owned Dow Chemical Co. polystyrene plant at Lavrion, 40 miles southeast of Athens, police said. Earlier, the two men had dismantled three other bombs in the same plant. Police said there were no immediate clues as to who placed the bombs.
An artillery shell fired more than 55 years earlier killed seven people near the Italian town of Asiago. A group of scavengers were looking for war material left during the 1916 Battle of Asiago fought in World War I between the Italian Army and an invading force from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Iceland’s workers began a general strike today that was expected to paralyze the economy and disrupt normal life here by Monday. Almost all unions here joined in the stoppage to back wage demands, after turning down an employers’ offer of an increase of about 12 percent yesterday. One of the biggest unions began a strike last Tuesday, grounding all flights of the two Icelandic air companies and cutting normal air links with the rest of the world.
Egypt’s military delegation at the Geneva peace talks has offered to negotiate with Israel on behalf of Syria, the semiofficial Cairo daily Al Ahram said today. The newspaper’s Washington correspondent reported that Syria had welcomed this proposal as a step towards disengaging her army on the Golan Heights, since Egypt’s War Minister, Field Marshal Ahmed Ismail, is commander of the armies of both countries under a three‐year old federation agreement. The Al Ahram correspondent said that Israel was opposed to Egypt’s proposal, but that the suggestion was being discussed in contacts between American and Soviet officials. Foreign observers here believe that the Egyptian proposal has been offered to get around Israel’s position that there can be no talks with Syria until Damascus lists the Israeli war prisoners it is holding. Under the proposal for indirect talks, observers said, the Syrians would retain the list of prisoners as a trump card and the Israelis would be negotiating with Egypt and not Syria.
Meanwhile, on Egypt’s Suez Canal front, the chairman of the canal authority, Mashour Ahmed Mashour, said that Egyptian soldiers had cleared military obstacles from one part of the canal and that this section was being prepared for navigation. He did not identify the section.
Muslim nations of Asia, Africa and the Middle East denounced United States support of Israel and demanded immediate withdrawal by the Israelis from all occupied territories. The 38 nations meeting in Lahore, Pakistan, in a major Islamic conference also said that the Palestine Liberation Organization was “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian nation in its just struggle,” and urged members of the organization in all Islamic countries to press the struggle for a separate Palestine. The Muslims also declared that “restoration of the holy city of Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty is a paramount and unchangeable perquisite for any solution in the Middle East.”
More than two years after the Bangladeshi war of independence from Pakistan, the leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) made peace with each other. Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, was welcomed to Lahore by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The welcome came the day after Pakistan extended diplomatic recognition to its former province, which had seceded in 1971.
The United States and 24 Latin American and‐ Caribbean countries charted a “new relationship” to be anchored in continuing discussions of practical issues between the rich north and the poor south of this hemisphere. Their intention was reportedly documented in a declaration to be issued by the Mexico City conference of hemisphere foreign Ministers after three days of informal discussions. While the Latin Americans rejected Secretary of State Kissinger’s appeal for the creation of a new “Western Hemisphere community,” they embraced his offer of continuing informal consultations.
Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, in one of his most violently anti-U.S. speeches in months, claimed the United States was still trying to crush the Cuban revolution. He was speaking at a mass meeting in Cienfuegos in honor of visiting East German leader Erich Honecker. “We have resisted the U.S. blockade and acts of aggression for 15 years and we shall go on resisting them victoriously for as many years as necessary,” Castro said.
A plane carrying 34 persons back to the United States from Jamaica was forced to land in Cuba by two Cuban air force jets, the U.S. State Department confirmed. Partner Inc., a missionary organization in Wichita, Kansas, sponsored the flight. A Partner spokesman said the plane and its passengers were being held by Cuba pending payment of money for “services rendered.” He said that $3,500 demanded by Cuba had been paid by the group, but that another $3,300 was demanded later. A State Department spokesman said that between $6,000 and $7,000 had been sent to the Swiss delegation in Havana to cover the demands.
Chile reached basic agreement today with her creditors on renegotiating payments due on a foreign debt of about $4‐billion. The accord, keyed to a Chilean commitment to compensate United States copper companies taken over by the government of Salvador Allende Gossens, gives new breathing space to the current military Government. Chilean sources said that their delegation was “quite satisfied” with the outcome of the talks even though Chile will be obligated to pay more than she had hoped. They said the agreement, reached after a three‐day meeting, allowed them to repay only 5 to 10 percent of the $1‐billion due for 1973.74. This was Chile’s original target but it had also had to agree to repay other outstanding debts on top of this figure. The agreement was endorsed by Chile’s major creditors, which include West Germany, France, Britain and the United States, holder of about half of the Chilean debt.
The leader of Peru’s largest political party urged the nation’s military Government today to hold elections soon and return the country to a constitutional administration. “We hope that the right of the people to elect their own government will be respected soon.” Dr. Victor Rati Haya de la Torre told 35,000 supporters at an annual rally on his birthday. He was 79 years old today. Dr. Haya de la Torre, leader of the APRA party he founded 49 years ago, once was elected president, but the military blocked him from taking office. Peru, a nation of 14½ million people, has been governed for the last five years by a military administration that abolished the congress. President Juan Velasco Alvarado, a general, heads a leftist Government that has undertaken a broad program of social and industrial reforms.
Policemen fired on participants in food riots in Bombay (now Mumbai) late Friday night, killing 7 persons and wounding 25, officials said today. Thousands thronged the streets and marched in processions in several parts of the city to protest food price rises and shortages. The marchers burned shops and public buses, set fire to police vehicles, roughed up police officials and hurled rocks at policemen. One official said that two assistant commissioners of police, four inspectors and 23 policemen were injured in the disturbances.
William Simon, federal energy chief, announced a two-cent-per-gallon increase in the price of gasoline sold by independent retail dealers effective March 1. The action followed a series of meetings with representatives of state dealer organizations, many of whom had threatened a shutdown. Mr. Simon said the price increase applied only to independent stations, not to stations owned by oil companies.
President Nixon announced in a radio address that he was establishing a top priority committee headed by Vice President Ford to forge a “personal shield for every American” against invasions of privacy from any source, including the federal government. He said that he was directing the committee to begin devising within four months a “series of direct, enforceable measures” that could be put into effect immediately, including regulations, executive action, legislation and voluntary restraints. The President, whose administration has been criticized for violating privacy rights through its use of wiretapping and electronic surveillance, concentrated in his talk on the threats to privacy posed by modern technology.
President Nixon personally ordered the White House “plumbers” unit not to seek prosecution of any suspects in the military snooping on the National Security Council in late 1971, sources close to the inquiry said. These sources, some of whom have close White House connections, described the President as being extremely angry about the pilfering of high-level documents not intended for the Pentagon. They said he decided to cancel the proposed prosecutions after consultation with, among others, John Mitchell, former Attorney General.
Senior officials of the Federal Energy Office said that if the Arab oil embargo was not lifted by the end of April, a gasoline drought could hit wide areas of the country by late spring or early summer. The officials, who asked not to be identified, said that the new increases in gas allocations for February announced Friday night would be drawn from gasoline stockpiles that had been built up by the oil companies against a continuation of the Arab oil embargo.
The police in Atlanta recovered almost $700,000 in ransom after arresting and charging an ex-convict and his wife in the abduction of J. Reginald Murphy, editorial-page editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Mr. Murphy was released Friday night after being held for two days by the self-proclaimed “American Revolutionary Army.” Local police and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 33-year-old William H. Williams, a construction contractor, and his 26-year-old wife, Becky Ruth.
Because of the energy shortage many transit lines in the country are experiencing the biggest gains in riders since the postwar boom. In New York, preliminary figures indicate that 3.6 percent more people rode Transit Authority buses last month than in January, 1973. Before the gasoline shortages developed, a decline of 0.5 percent was forecast. On many commuter train routes, the number of riders has increased 4 to 10 percent over a year ago, with some midday trains carrying 20 percent more riders than last year.
Republican political strength among voters for the Congressional elections this fall remains at the lowest level in the 38‐year history the Gallup Poll has taken such readings. The survey shows that the Democratic party currently holds a 2 to 1 lead, 58 percent to 29 percent, over the Republican party in a comparative measurement of national Congressional appeal, with 13 per cent undecided. According to Gallup, these results indicate a Republican loss of House seats this year far in excess of the normal average loss of 29 seats suffered during an off‐year election by the President’s party. The national nature of the survey makes impossible breakdown of how many House seats each party might occupy next session. But Gallup estimated that the division of seats would be greater than the 295-to-140 Democratic majority that accompanied Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide presidential victory in 1964.
Randolph A. Hearst waited today for a response from the kidnappers of his 20‐year‐old daughter to a counterproposal he made yesterday. The radical underground leftist group, calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army, abducted Patricia Hearst three weeks ago and has demanded that her father establish a $6‐million free food program for the poor. The program has already been set up by the newspaper executive with a $2‐million contribution by him. Mr. Hearst had called that a “goodwill gesture” to the group. However, in a message delivered late Wednesday, the kidnappers said that they had determined that Mr. Hearst could afford a larger contribution and demanded that he put up $4‐million more.
In a meeting with reporters outside his Hillsborough home yesterday, Mr. Hearst said that he could not meet the new demand. “The size of the latest demand of the SLA is far beyond my financial capability,” he said. “Therefore, the matter is now out of my hands.” However, the additional $4‐million demanded by the group was offered by the Hearst Corporation. But Charles Gould, a spokesman for the corporation, said that the funds would be available only if Mr. Hearst’s daughter was released immediately.
In the meantime, the food program was suspended yesterday after distribution efforts resulted in confusion, violence and arrests. The violence erupted in East Oakland, where more than 5,000 people sought free food. Fights broke out, windows were smashed and at least 16 persons were injured. Apparently, the trouble was a result of the long wait for distribution. The problem was compounded when it was found that the food had not been delivered to the supply centers. The free food distribution, known as People in Need, was attempted in San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, and the predominantly black community of East Palo Alto. About 5,000 persons showed up for food in San Francisco, 2,000 in East Palo Alto and 800 in Richmond. Most of the trouble occurred at two distribution centers in Oakland when food supplies were late in arriving.
The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to reject a U.S. appeals court decision ordering desegregation of Detroit schools by busing across district lines into suburbs. U.S. Solicitor General Robert H. Bork argued the case should be returned to the district court for presentation of evidence on whether any constitutional violations had occurred within the 53 surrounding districts ordered to participate in the plan. The desegregation plan called for 15 school clusters, each containing part of the Detroit system. The case is to be argued before the Supreme Court Wednesday.
An outbreak of Reye’s Syndrome, a rare and often fatal disease affecting children from birth to the age of 17 years, has spurred medical researchers to seek means of preventing and curing the ailment, which destroys the liver, brain and other organs. Researchers in several hospitals across the country, held meetings last week as they hurriedly designed scientific blueprints for studying the growing number of Reye’s Syndrome cases that pediatricians have diagnosed in the wake of a national outbreak of influenza type B. In the last eight weeks, health officials in 15 states have reported to the Federal Center for Disease Control 79 Reye’s Syndrome cases affecting children at an average age of 11.
Heavy snows, swept along in winds gusting to 40 and 60 m.p.h, hit the Central Plains and Northeast, bringing travelers’ warnings in several states. Winds clocked at 35 and 40 m.p.h. ranged from the eastern slopes of the Rockies to the plains. Another storm moved into the Northeast from Canada, battering states from Maine to Pennsylvania and Maryland. Dozens of high school basketball games were postponed and electricity was out in three states.
Future Governor Jeb Bush (21) weds Columba Bush (20) in Austin, Texas
Teri Garr appears on “The Bob Newhart Show” in the episode “Confessions of an Orthodontist.”
The California Angels send veteran outfielder Vada Pinson to Kansas City for minor leaguer Barry Raziano and cash. Pinson will call it quits at the end of the 1975 season, having rung up 2,757 hits, the most ever for a player not in the Hall of Fame.
Born:
Kenyon Cotton, NFL fullback (Baltimore Ravens), in Bossier City, Louisiana (d. 2010 from complications resulting from Achilles tendon surgery).
Died:
William Knowland, 65, U.S. Senator for California from 1945 to 1959 and Senate Majority Leader 1953-1955 and 1956-1957, publisher of the Oakland Tribune newspaper, committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death came two days after the Oakland Tribune celebrated the 100th anniversary of its 1874 founding.
Florence Rice, 67, American actress (“Fast Company”, “Double Wedding”, “Riding on Air”), from lung cancer.
George Van Biesbroeck, 94, Belgian-born American astronomer.
J. W. B. Barns, 61, British Egyptologist.
History Diaries 