The United States told the 25-nation disarmament conference in Geneva that it still favors a ban on all nuclear tests and the outlawing of chemical weapons. U.S. chief negotiator Joseph Martin Jr. outlined the U.S. position at the opening of the 1974 session of the talks, which reconvened after a seven-month break.
Leaders of seven East European Communist states assembling in Warsaw for a top-level review of bloc strategy may call for a European security pact, informed sources said in Moscow. The possibility of such a move, to follow from the European security conference, has been a theme of advance Soviet press comment on the Warsaw meeting.
The Pentagon has found an accounting error that will allow it to provide an extra $266 million in military aid to South Vietnam in the fiscal year ending June 30. The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the method of getting around a spending ceiling imposed by Congress, and the House Armed Services Committee has also reportedly agreed to go along with the procedure.
The United Nations Children’s Fund announced plans today for aid to North Vietnam and to areas held by the Việt Cộng in the South. The three‐year program was described in a report by Henry Labouisse, the fund’s director, who called for $18‐million to be spent in the North to help rebuild destroyed schools and $4.5‐million to be spent in the South. Mr. Labouisse has asked the agency’s 30‐member board for $8‐million for the program. The balance will come largely from special contributions by governments. More than $12‐million already has been given by European countries, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Algeria. Initial approaches to North Vietnam were made through the North Vietnamese Red Cross and were followed by visits by fund representatives to consult members of the Government on working out a program.
The South Vietnamese Government said today that a member of the Polish delegation to the International Commission of Control and Supervision had asked for asylum in South Vietnam. The Polish delegation had no comment on the announcement. A government spokesman, Bùi Bảo Trúc, said the Polish official took refuge Sunday at the American Embassy. He said South Vietnam was considering the refugee’s request. An American Embassy spokesman would confirm only that a member of the Polish delegation, was “in the hands of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam.” South Vietnamese military sources identified the Pole as Holub Mikolai, a political officer.
The Soviet Union and Syria jointly asserted today that any disengagement of Syrian and Israeli forces in the Golan Heights “must be part and parcel” of an over‐all Middle East peace settlement. The assertion, which appeared intended as a rebuff to the peace‐making efforts of Secretary” of State Kissinger, was made as President Hafez al-Assad of Syria ended a six‐day visit here with Soviet promises of further military and economic assistance and Soviet expressions of hope for a more conspicuous role at the Middle East peace talks in Geneva. A joint statement made public in Moscow and Damascus said that the two countries had, “discussed and outlined steps for further strengthening, the defense capacity of the Syrians. It went on to affirm Syria’s “inalienable right to use all effective means for liberation of her occupied lands.” The joint statement further underscored “the importance of the Soviet Union’s participation in all the stages and areas” of a future peace settlement.
The leadership of Israel’s ruling Labor party decided tonight not to move for new elections. It resolved instead to try to set up a new coalition Cabinet to replace the Government of Premier Golda Meir, who resigned last week. The prospects, however, were acknowledged to be uncertain. The decisions were made at a caucus of the party’s executive and its representatives in Parliament. It was also decided to convene the 615‐member central committee Sunday to elect a leader to succeed Mrs. Meir. The competition is still wide open. The outgoing Cabinet, a coalition of the Labor alignment, the National Religious party and the Independent Liberals, will remain in power until a successor group receives a vote of confidence.
Mrs. Meir’s administration fell after one month in office because of, dissension within the Labor party. The direct issue was whether ministerial responsibility for shortcomings in the armed services during the recent war should be borne only by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan or by all the ministers who had shared in security decisions. Mrs. Meir and Mr. Dayan were absent from tonight meeting. Mr. Dayan’s associates backed a proposal to introduce legislation to dissolve Parliament, which was chosen December 31, and hold immediate. elections. It was defeated 29 to 14. A motion to schedule new elections in the autumn and to try to form a new government to serve in the interim was also beaten, 24 to 17.
Shots fired from a speeding truck killed a Northern Ireland policeman who was guarding workers repairing a bomb-damaged police station in Newtonhamilton, 35 miles southwest of Belfast. In the same village, thousands of young Protestants paraded under the watchful eyes of British troops as a precaution against possible clashes with Roman Catholics. The annual march is put on by junior Orangemen organizations as a counter to Catholic parades. No incidents were reported.
French and American narcotics agents have seized 44 pounds of pure heroin destined for the United States. Police in Paris said they had arrested three alleged French drug bosses, dealing the weakened French connection another serious blow. Agents seized 20 plastic sacks of heroin in a travel bag at a Paris railroad station. Police said the haul had a wholesale value of $800,000 but could have been worth more than $8 million in U.S. street sales.
Art dealer Fernard Legros was declared out of danger in the Fresnes Prison hospital in Paris where he is awaiting trial on charges of selling forged paintings. Legros was carried unconscious from a Brazilian plane after he arrived Monday from Rio de Janeiro where he was arrested on a French warrant and jailed a year ago. He is accused of selling $600,000 in faked art treasures to Texas oilman Algur H. Meadows.
Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will begin two days of talks in Washington today with 24 Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers seeking to give substance to the economic and other issues they discussed in Mexico City two months ago. President Nixon will address the foreign ministers tonight at a White House dinner. After a final conference Thursday, Kissinger and his guests will adjourn to Atlanta for a larger, more formal meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States that will last through May 1.
The news agency Latin was ordered by the military government in Lima to cease operations in Peru and the agency’s chief correspondent in Lima was taken to security headquarters for questioning. The new agency was accused of waging a “persistent and insidious” campaign against the military government.
India, a democracy in anguish, is immersed in a deepening economic and political crisis, marked by agitation, self-questioning and drift. What makes the crisis especially painful to critics as well as supporters of the government is that the nation is a genuine democracy — a rarity in Asia — and its myriad problems are in part a result of an open system that combines free-wheeling politics and government accountability with tough economic choices.
Students in the black African nation of Niger were reported celebrating in the streets of Naimey, the capital, after a military coup replaced the civilian government. The reports were from Senegal to the west. Word from Niger was still limited to official broadcasts and the Naimey airport remained closed.
The Watergate special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, asked the Federal District Court in Washington to issue a subpoena directing President Nixon to turn over tape recordings and other documents relating to 64 conversations between President Nixon and four of his former top aides. It was the first step in what could be another major confrontation between the President and the Watergate prosecution.
Richard Kleindienst, former Attorney General, took the stand on behalf of John Mitchell — “one of the closest, most intimate friends I ever had in my life” — in an attempt to refute the testimony of John Dean. But the defense effort was not entirely successful, since almost all that Mr. Kleindienst could swear to was that he did not recall conversations Mr. Dean testified he had had with him about this case. Mr. Kleindienst would not deny them flatly.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that Donald DeFreeze, an escaped convict, was among the band of terrorists it believes may have forced Patricia Hearst to take part in a daring bank robbery in San Francisco Monday. Mr. DeFreeze was identified by the FBI from surveillance photographs taken while the bank was being held up.
The Secretary of the Army halved the 20-year sentence imposed on Lieutenant William Calley for the murder of 22 South Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in 1968. Although the action concludes the case as far as the military is concerned, President Nixon has said that he would make a final review of the matter in his capacity as Commander in Chief. A complete record of the trial and all papers associated with the case have been delivered to the White House, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The United States volunteer military forces, nine months after the end of the draft, are in a period of transition marked by manifold problems and some encouraging successes. The long-term problem facing all the services, particularly the Army, is recruiting, not only finding enough men and women, but also finding the right ones.
The United States, West Germany and Britain, in an effort to overcome one of the military weaknesses of the Western alliance, have agreed upon competitive selection of a common gun for their tanks. United States Defense officials have also made clear to the European allies that they were prepared to go a significant step further in standardizing weapons by considering competitive development of a tank that would be used by all members of the alliance.
The disclosure by United States officials that the United States, West Germany and Britain yesterday signed an agreement for competitive development of a standard tank gun came as the American Defense Secretary, James R. Schlesinger, arrived here on what he describes as a “revivalist mission” to reweave some of the strands holding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization together. During his six‐day visit to West Germany, Mr. Schlesinger is to meet with Defense Minister Georg Leber, inspect United States Army and Air Force units and visit with NATO military commanders. Competitive development of a common tank gun is designed to reassure European allies that the United States is ready to put aside some of the admittedly nationalistic pressures that have dominated weapons programs by showing a willingness to buy a tank gun developed in Europe.
In the U.S., a federal law took effect requiring that nearly all prescription medicines from pharmacies would be distributed in bottles with “child-proof” caps. The law made exceptions, including for medicines that needed to be used quickly. The legislation followed reports.
Abbie Hoffman was declared a fugitive yesterday after he failed to appear for the third time at a court hearing in connection with his indictment on charges of selling cocaine. The police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have made Mr. Hoffman the object of a nationwide search. Mr. Hoffman’s absence cost him $10,000 in cash, as Mary Johnson Lowe, an acting State Supreme Court justice, ordered his bail forfeited. She also put into effect a bench warrant for his immediate arrest. Mr. Hoffman, one of the “Chicago Seven,” a group of antiwar figures charged with conspiracy and the crossing of state lines with intent to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic convention, was arrested in New York on August 28, 1973, for allegedly selling three pounds of cocaine to an undercover police officer.
Another death and an additional $10 million in damages were added to the toll of devastation as falling floodwaters disclosed the extent of destruction in south Mississippi. Officials put the number of deaths at eight and damages at $60 million — excluding agricultural losses — and the homeless at 8,000 to 10,000. A stalled weather front has dumped huge quantities of water over the state’s southern section in almost four days and water stood 15 feet deep in some areas. Meanwhile, Governor William Waller was awaiting word from President Nixon on whether 34 counties will be declared a federal disaster area.
Superintendent James Rochford announced massive changes in the Chicago Police Department hierarchy, switching all but two of the present 21 district commanders and naming a new deputy. It was one of the biggest shake-ups in the department’s history and one that Rochford promised when he was named head of the department in February. Michael Spiotto, 60, was promoted to first deputy superintendent. Rochford said that nine of the district commander moves were demotions, another nine were transferred to different districts and one vacancy was filled. The shakeup comes after a series of scandals leading to the convictions of scores of policemen on extortion charges.
A federal appeals court in Denver upheld a lower court ruling that the national Jaycees are not guilty of sex discrimination by limiting membership to men. The suit, brought by the Jaycee club in Rochester, New York, had charged the national Jaycees’ governing body in Tulsa with violating the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act by banning women. The appeals court added a footnote to its opinion: “Why the defendant Jaycees would so adamantly oppose members of the feminine sex in its organization is most difficult to understand. It may well be that they fear the competition.”
Dr. William T. Summerlin, who a year ago. reported advances in transplant research, has been suspended by the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York City while the validity of his research is checked, the institute said. Summerlin, 35, had reported finding a way to treat tissue so it would not be rejected by genetically incompatible organisms. His findings could make medical transplants easier and answer some questions involved in cancer control. His research reportedly was called into question after other scientists were unable to duplicate his work.
Carla Anderson Hills took office as assistant attorney general for civil rights, the highest Justice Department position held by a woman since the Wilson administration. Mrs. Hills, 40, formerly assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was sworn in at a Washington ceremony as her husband, Roderick, their four children, aged 3 to 12, and family and friends watched. She is only the third woman to be an assistant attorney general. Mrs. Hills was educated at Oxford and Stanford universities and the Yale law school.
Victor De Costa, a cowboy from Rhode Island, has won a court judgment against the Columbia Broadcasting System, claiming that he, not CBS, created the character Paladin and essential ideas CBS used in its successful television series “Have Gun, Will Travel.”
“Words & Music” opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 127 performances
The British rock band Queen played their first concert in the United States, appearing at the auditorium at Regis University in Denver.
The World Football League snared its 25th National Football League player yesterday by persuading Daryle Lamonica to leave the Oakland Raiders after his option year is finished this coming season. Thus the Raiders in a week lost their top two quarterbacks. Earlier, Ken Stabler, No. 1 last season, agreed to join Birmingham in 1976. Lamonica, who threw more touchdown passes between 1967 and 1972 than any other N.F.L. quarterback, signed a multiyear pact with the Southern California Sun. The Sun will play its home games in Anaheim Stadium.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 861.23 (+17.44, +2.07%).
Born:
Mattias Timander, Swedish NHL defenseman (Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers), in Solleftea, Sweden.
Harry York, Canadian NHL centre (St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks), in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
Rashid Gayle, NFL defensive back (Jacksonville Jaguars), in Harlem, New York, New York.
Mat Devine, American singer (Kill Hannah), in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Valarie Rae Miller, American actress, in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Xu Jinglei, Chinese film actress and director, known for starring in “Spring Subway” and directing “My Father and I”; in Beijing.
Died:
Johnston Murray, 71, the first Native American to be elected a Governor of U.S. state as the son of a mother from the Chickasaw Nation and a father who was a Chickasaw citizen, having governed Oklahoma from 1951 to 1955
Gustave Daladier, 86, French flying ace who had 12 shootdowns in aerial combat in World War I
History Diaries 