The Senate provisionally approved $18.1 million for expansion of a controversial U.S. naval base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. The action came with the 82-to-3 passage of the $3 billion military construction bill. The Senate separately ratified a provision requiring the President to certify that the expansion of the Indian Ocean facility was in the national interest. Some senators fear that U.S. activities in the Indian Ocean will lead to a similar increase in Soviet naval presence there.
Greece’s decision to pull out of the military structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been accepted as final by the NATO Secretary General, Joseph Luns. After a meeting in Brussels with Foreign Minister George Mavros of Greece, Mr. Luns said that the withdrawal had begun and would be completed before the end of the year. Mr. Mavros said Greece formally withdrew today from NATO’s Defense Planning Committee. This means that the Greek Defense Minister will no longer participate in semiannual policy talks with the other NATO defense ministers
Other steps that Greece might soon take are ending her participation in the standing NATO military committee in Brussels and in the arms planning organization of European NATO members. There are still a few dozen Greek officers in Brospolitical headquarters in Brussels and the alliance’s military command headquarters near Mons, Belgium, who could be withdrawn. Also, a decision must be reached on NATO and American military installations on Greek soil. Neither Mr. Mavros nor Dr. Luns gave details of progress on these problems. Dr. Luns, of the Netherlands, said the atmosphere of the meeting was “very friendly” and that he had not sought to change Greek policy on NATO, but only to clarify certain details of the pullout. Greece decided on August 14 to withdraw her armed forces from NATO, blaming it for not having prevented Turkish military advances on Cyprus. Athens said it would remain a part of the NATO political structure.
Talks between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders got off to a hopeful start today with agreement on the release on both sides of youths, teachers and the sick and wounded who are prisoners. Giafkos Clerides, the acting President of Cyprus and leader of the Greek Cypriot community, and Vice President Rauf Denktaş, leader of the Turkish Cypriots, discussed humanitarian issues for two and a half hours today at a hotel on the line separating Nicosia’s two ethnic communities. It was agreed that all sick and wounded prisoners would be exchanged and that prisoners under the age of 18 would be returned to their families. Teachers and students from universities abroad would also be released. The two leaders plan to meet again on Friday, when the date for the partial release of prisoners is to be announced. A statement by the two men also reported arrangements for dealing with the elderly and infirm on both sides who have been isloated in their villages because of the fighting.
Mr. Clerides wants prisoners transferred back to where they were captured or to their place of origin. But the Turkish side considers this unacceptable because in many cases Turkish Cypriots would have to return to their villages in Greek‐held areas. Mr. Denktaş said that such a move would leave them living in fear of the Greek‐led Cypriot National Guard. Mr. Clerides has ruled out returning them to the northern third of the island held by the Turkish Army. The two leaders also discussed the refugee problem, but the results were not’ disclosed in the communique. There are 190,000 Greek‐Cypriot refugees living in hastily built camps or in the open.
Major national problems, such as stability of democratic government, military interference in political life and the strains of inflation and labor strife in a rapidly industrializing economy are all seen here in a new and more optimistic light. If Mr. Ecevit, a 49‐year‐old political intellectual, can carry the momentum gained in the Cyprus crisis into dealing with these domestic problems, Turkey will be moving closer to Western‐style democracy and social reforms. Three years ago, when the Turkish armed forces toppled the elected Government of Premier Suleiman Demirel and imposed martial law, Mr. Ecevit denounced the coup as a blow to democracy, and he became suspect as a “leftist” to the powerful military. Now, after ordering the intervention in Cyprus, and working very closely with the commanders at all stages of the operation, Mr. Ecevit is sooken of by the military chiefs as a leader and as. “a man you can trust.”
The Senate Finance Committee voted to bar U.S. trade concessions to Czechoslovakia until that nation compensates Americans for property seized during the Communist takeover after World War II. The action also would prohibit release of gold owned by Czechoslovakia but seized by the United States under provisions of the Paris Reparations Agreement of 1946.
Six reserve members of the Parachute Regiment 15th Battalion, all from Scotland, drowned in the Kiel Canal near Osterrade in West Germany. They were part of the largest combined military exercise in the history of NATO up to that time, Exercise Bold Guard, with 40,000 people. The group had undershot their drop zone due to an unforeseen wind from an undetectable temperature inversion. West German army officer Siegfried Mattern, who was on safety duty for the drop, subsequently hanged himself even though his superior had told him he was not to blame for the accident.
The Israeli Premier, Yitzhak Rabin, after the first of a round of talks with Secretary of State Kissinger, told Washington newsmen he was confident that the United States would meet Israel’s security requirements as part of an overall effort to insure peace in the Middle East. Prime Minister Rabin was given assurances of more American military hardware to match recent Soviet arms shipments to Syria. The amount of arms promised by the Ford Administration was less than the $1.5 billion commitment over the next five years that Rabin was reported to have sought, but the Israeli appeared satisfied. He said that meetings with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger convinced him that U.S. promises of support would “be translated into deeds.”
The United States will supply 100,000 tons of wheat to Egypt in the first quarter of 1975, the Cairo government said. The wheat is worth $16 million, which is to be repaid over 20 years at 3% interest, and is part of the Food for Peace program, the announcement said.
Already stripped of much of his power, Emperor Haile Selassie lost the support of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which called for a blessing on the military revolutionary movement that has all but taken over control of Ethiopia. The 82-year-old Emperor was also denounced anew by military leaders who sent troops to seize the palace of his daughter. In Addis Ababa, soldiers arrested Selassie’s only surviving daughter as the armed forces accused the monarch of refusing to bring home billions of dollars deposited abroad.
Three Americans and a Canadian held by Ethiopian guerrillas since last March have been released unharmed, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said. The release was negotiated by Tenneco Oil Co. of Houston, Texas, which employed three of the men. They were identified as Powers Cayce and Matte Tavels, Americans, and Clifford James, Canadian. The fourth man was identified as William Rogers, an American working for the United Nations.
South Korean riot police broke up a stone-hurling demonstration by 500 war veterans at the Seoul offices of Japan Air Lines and the Tokyo Bank as anti-Japanese protests continued throughout the country. Police said two men carrying sticks of dynamite near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul were arrested. Meanwhile, U.S., Japanese and South Korean officials held emergency sessions aimed at improving relations between Tokyo and Seoul, strained since a Korean living in Japan assassinated the wife of President Park Chung Hee.
Philippine dissident Jose W. Diokno, a former Senator and Secretary of Justice in the Philippine government, was released from imprisonment almost two years after having been arrested on September 23, 1972.
The Omega 7 anti-Castro terrorist group was created by Cuban exiles in the U.S. and based in Miami. Despite having no more than 20 members, the group was responsible for at least 55 bombings and other attacks over an eight-year period.
Chile’s military Government marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of President Salvador Allende Gossens today by announcing the ending of some of the absolute martial powers it has been exercising. The chief of state, General Augusto Pinochet, said in speech that the declared state of internal war that had existed for the last year would be reduced to a state of siege. He said, however, that the night curfew would remain in effect and that military courts would continue to administer justice “for a considerable time to come.” The general, who heads the four‐man military junta, also announced that “with the exception of some especially serious cases,” the Government was ready to allow all political prisoners who wish to leave the country to do so. Those who stay, he said, would be subject to prosecution. But he appeared to make this offer conditional on agreement by Cuba and the Soviet Union to release an equal number of political prisoners under the supervision of the International Red Cross.
She wants to be U.S. ambassador to Ghana because of a personal interest in developing countries, Shirley Temple Black told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is examining her nomination. Mrs. Black, 46, who was a U.S. representative to the U.N. General Assembly in 1969, told the panel, “When I went to the United Nations, I made a personal promise to myself to learn as much as possible about the Third-World nations” and she has many friends in Togo, Upper Volta, Mali, and Chad. She also pointed out that she would have a staff of 33 foreign service officers in Ghana who could furnish detailed expertise. And in discussing Ghana’s trade, she added with a smile, her audience should have remembered from 40 movies and 50 television shows, “Cocoa is their main export. I’m a great fan of cocoa.”
Violence and rioting appeared to subside in Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) today as the Portuguese territory of Mozambique moved nearer to self‐government under black leadership. Dr. Antmilo Paulino, Mozambique’s Secretary for Health, said 47 civilians, about nine of them white, had arrived dead or had died in the capital’s largest hospital. He said that 170 injured people had been admitted to the hospital and 200 others had been treated for minor wounds.
Sharply reversing their position, White House spokesmen said President Ford was not giving consideration to blanket amnesty or pardons for the Watergate defendants. The change in course was made known by several sources after widespread opposition was expressed to an official White House statement Tuesday that “the entire matter” of possible pardons had been put under study by the President.
A special Gallup Poll indicates that President Ford’s decision to pardon former President Nixon and to consider pardons for alleged Watergate conspirators sapped his support among the general public. The survey, conducted for the New York Times after the White House announced that pardons for all Watergate defendants were under study, showed that 32 percent of those polled believed Mr. Ford was doing a good job as President, 33 percent felt he was doing a fair job and 25 percent a poor job. Ten percent had no opinion.
The crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashed and killed 72 of the 82 people on board, while conducting an instrument approach in dense ground fog into Douglas Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina after departing Charleston, South Carolina with a final scheduled destination of Chicago. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was a “lack of altitude awareness critical points during the approach at critical points during the approach due to poor cockpit discipline in that the crew did not follow prescribed procedures.” Sixty-nine of the 82 persons aboard an Eastern Airlines DC-9 jet were killed when the plane crashed into a woods while attempting to land at Charlotte. Some of the 13 survivors were thrown clear and escaped with minor injuries on impact, but others were seriously injured, with 3 of those dying within a month.
The Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee recommended unanimously that President Ford’s three-month delay of a 5.5% raise for 3.6 million federal employees be overturned by the full Senate and that the originally scheduled date of October 1 be kept. Mr. Ford ordered a postponement until January 1 of the increase affecting 1.4 million civilians and 2.2 million military employees in an effort to trim $700 million from the payroll as an anti-inflation measure.
Defense and government attorneys closed their arguments in the eight-month trial in St. Paul, Minnesota, of Indian militants charged in last year’s takeover at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Russell Means and Dennis Banks, two American Indian Movement leaders, are charged in the seizure of the Oglala Sioux Indian reservation hamlet for 71 days in 1973.
Alabama Governor George C. Wallace has raised and spent slightly more than $1 million this year to develop fund-raising lists for a possible campaign for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination, documents showed. Wallace filed a campaign finance report of raising $422,000 in the last three months alone. Another Democrat, Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington, has raised $102,000 in the last two months for an embryonic presidential campaign committee which he says is supposed to help him decide whether to run for the nomination.
Spurred on by Governor Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, Southern governors voted 7 to 2 against the use of state wiretapping as a tool to fight organized crime., The vote came in the last hour of the four-day meeting in Austin, Texas, soon after FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley urged the governors to push for state laws permitting court-ordered wiretaps. Kelley said wiretapping by the FBI since 1969 had led to more than 1,200 gambling convictions. But Bumpers, a Democratic nominee for U.S. senator, said existing federal wiretap laws should be sufficient without the addition of state laws, too.
U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica rejected an attempt by H.R. Haldeman to put off the Watergate coverup trial in Washington until the Supreme Court can rule on the validity of his indictment. Still apparently determined to start the trial on schedule September 30, Sirica refused a postponement in a one-line order saying that he saw no merit in the protests of the former White House chief of staff over the legality of the grand jury.
Walter Washington, the appointed incumbent, won a narrow victory in the first primary election for District of Columbia mayor in 104 years. A computer failure slowed the count of ballots but with about 83% of the vote recorded, Washington had a lead of 34,804 to 30,715 for Clifford Alexander, a former head of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, in the Democratic primary.
A twin-engine private plane exploded and crashed 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Austin, Minnesota, killing a minister who was flying the plane and five members of his congregation.
Governor Malcolm Wilson of New York, the incumbent Republican who has already gained conservative support for his election campaign, sought to rule out Watergate as an issue in the state gubernatorial debate. He repeatedly declined to offer his personal opinion of the pardon extended by President Ford to former President Richard Nixon, declaring: “It would not serve a useful purpose to express a personal judgment.”
The NBC television drama “Little House on the Prairie,” based on the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder, began the first of 204 episodes over nine seasons, following a successful pilot that had been broadcast on March 30. It would continue until March 21, 1983.
The New York Yankees wound up losing nothing but weight this morning as they completed a double‐header with the Baltimore Orioles with a 5–1 decision after bowing, 3–2, in a 17‐inning opener. Actually, the Bombers are in better shape than they were when they began what turned into the American League’s longest game in innings this campaign. They gained a half‐game on the Boston Red Sox, who lost, and maintained a two-game edge atop the Eastern Division over the Orioles, with only 19 games remaining. The marathon opener ended when Boog Powell, the long‐time favorite playing out the string as a sometime pinchhitter, belted a smash down memory lane that drove home Paul Blair from second base. Larry Gura saved the second game for the New Yorkers. The pitcher, who came out of nowhere less than a month ago, turned in a five‐hitter as he lowered his earned‐run average to 1.47 and gained his third straight victory since coming up from the minors.
Dick Allen calls in sick, despite not having seen a doctor, and the Chicago White Sox lose their third straight game, as the Texas Rangers’ Jim Bibby shuts them out, 6–0. A tearful Allen, who last played on the 8th, will announce his retirement on the 14th. He will still lead the American League in homers this year with 32. Allen will change his mind about retirement and the Sox will trade him to the Atlanta Braves in December. Bibby gives up just four hits tonight and strikes out eight.
Gaylord Perry kept the Cleveland Indians in contention last night, as the 35‐year‐old right‐hander stopped the slumping Boston Red Sox on five hits in a 3–1 victory. It was the Indians’ fourth straight and they remained within striking distance in the Eastern Division race. Perry, who set the American League ablaze with 15 straight victories earlier this year after an opening‐day loss, struck out four of the pressing Boston batters and walked four. He has beaten the Red Sox 12 times and lost to them only once in his career. Boston led the division by seven games on August 23. Since then the Sox have fizzled, having lost 14 of their last 18 games.
Harmon Killebrew hit a two‐run homer that gave the Minnesota Twins a 10‐inning, 5–3 victory over the Oakland A’s. It was the second time in three games that the 38‐year‐old Killebrew had homered to lead the Twins to a victory. The blow came with one out off Darold Knowles, the fifth Oakland pitcher.
The Milwaukee Brewers shut out the Detroit Tigers, 3–0, as Jim Slaton (12-14) hurled a five-hitter. Don Money singles home Tim Johnson with the first run in the third. Luke Walker (5-4) takes the loss for the Tigers.
The California Angels edge the Kansas City Royals, 3–2, in ten innings. Nolan Ryan goes the distance, striking out 15, and looking even faster than his last start when he was clocked at 100.8 MPH. Ryan won his 19th of the year.
The New York Mets lose a marathon night game after 7 hours 4 minutes, and 25 innings, the longest game to a decision in Major League history. Ken Reitz’s two-strike, two-out home run ties the game in the 9th. Two Mets errors lead to the St. Louis Cardinals’ winning run in the 25th inning, starting with an errant pickoff throw that allows Bake McBride to scamper all the way around from first base. St. Louis wins, 4–3. The Mets go to the plate 103 times, the only time the century mark has been reached in a Major League game; the Cards are not far behind with 99 plate appearances. Félix Millán & John Milner come to bat 12 times each. All told, a record 175 official at-bats are recorded, with a since-tied Major League record 45 runners stranded. The previous record of 44 runners stranded was set by the Cubs and Reds on August 9, 1942. Only a thousand fans are on hand at Shea Stadium when the game finally ends at 3:13 AM.
Willie Davis’ two-run homer highlighted a four-run first inning outburst that started the Montreal Expos on their way to a 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs and a sweep of their twinight doubleheader Wednesday. Mike Jorgensen belted a pair of two-run homers to pace the Expos to a 6-1 victory in the opener.
The Philadelphia Phillies top the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8–5, to cut Pittsburgh’s National League East lead to 2½ games. Bill Robinson hit a three‐run homer in the eighth to give the Phillies the triumph at Philadelphia. Robinson connected after Ollie Brown, a pinch‐hitter, had doubled and Mike Anderson, another pinch‐hitter, had been intentionally, walked. A line drive by Willie Montanez fractures the hand of Pirate pitcher Dock Ellis, who will miss the rest of the season. Ellis is 12–9.
In San Francisco, Garry Maddox made a two‐out error on Ron Cey’s line drive in the sixth inning, allowing the Los Angeles Dodgers to get a pair of unearned runs, break a 2–2 tie and score a 5–4 victory over the Giants. Andy Messersmith won his 17th game, scattering six hits and striking out five. The Dodgers now lead the Natonal League West by four games with 20 left to play.
San Diego rookie Mike Ivie hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning and rookie righthander Dan Spillner hurled a three-hitter to lead the San Diego Padres past the Houston Astros, 2–0.
The game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds was called due to rain in the fifth inning with the score tied at 1–1. They’ll play a doubleheader tomorrow.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 654.72 (-3.45, -0.52%).
Born:
DeLisha Milton-Jones, Team USA and WNBA forward (Olympic gold medals, 2000, 2008; WNBA Champions-Sparks, 2001, 2002; WNBA All-Star, 2000, 2007; Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, San Antonio Silver Stars, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream), in Jessup, Georgia.
Orlando Duque, Colombian high diver, winner of the first gold medal in the sport (at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships), FINA High Diver of the Year 2013 and 2014; in Cali.
Donovan Greer, NFL defensive abck (Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions), in Houston, Texas.
Derrick Barnes, NFL linebacker (New Orleans Saints), in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Died:
James W. Colbert Jr., 53, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina, and his sons Paul and Peter, father and brothers of Stephen Colbert, died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212.
Víctor Olea Alegría, 22, Chilean Socialist Party member, arrested by Pinochet’s National Intelligence Directorate and afterwards disappeared.
Lois Lenski, 80, American children’s author and illustrator, winner of the Newbery Medal for “Strawberry Girl.”
History Diaries 