The government of French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing easily survived its first challenge in parliament — a censure motion by the opposition. The motion, for which only affirmative votes are counted, gathered only 183 ballots, 63 short of the necessary majority. During debate Socialist leader François Mitterrand said the government was placing the country on a fatal slide and lacked the nation’s confidence.
Turkish Cypriot refugees forced Archbishop Makarios to retreat today when he attempted to visit their camps inside the British base area at Episkopi. Eight armed Greek Cypriot bodyguards surrounded his limousine as the rioters hurled abuse at the Archbishop. He heads the ethnic Greek majority of 500,000 on Cyprus. There are about 140,000 Turkish Cypriots, many in the 40 per cent of Cyprus captured by Turkish invasion forces in July after the Archbishop was ousted and forced into exile, by forces favoring union with Greece. He returned two weeks ago and resumed the presidency. In today’s incident, the Turks stood across a dirt track leading to the Paramali refugee camp to prevent the motorcade from reaching it, despite appeals from the administrator of the British base. Archbishop Makarios remained in his bullet‐proof limousine for five minutes while the Turks booed, whistled and yelled curses at him. His car then turned around and sped off.
The Ford Administration and members of a Senate‐House conference committee have worked out a compromise foreign‐aid package that would allow the United States to resume military assistance to Turkey through February 5 while efforts continue for a Cyprus settlement. The revised bill, which would authorize $2.69‐billion in foreign aid in the fiscal year ending next June 30, was adppted by the Senate late today by vote of 49 to 41. Approval by the House of Representatives is expected tomorrow, and President Ford has said he will sign the measure. Mr. Kissinger contended that failure to extend aid would ruin his chances to persuade the Turks to take the steps necessary to begin talks for Cyprus settlement.
Bombs exploded tonight outside three telephone exchanges in central London, killing a man and injuring at least five persons, including policemen. The first explosion, outside an exchange in Chelsea, was preceded by a warning telephoned to The Daily Mirror. A woman, reportedly speaking with an Irish accent, told switchboard operator: “A bomb is in the telephone exchange in Draycott Avenue and will go off any time.” The police hurried to the scene and spotted a carryall fastened to a motor scooter. They were clearing the area when an explosion shattered glass and started a small fire. Three policemen were injured and taken to a hospital.
British motorists as of Friday will pay as much as 23 cents more for a gallon of gasoline than they do now. Energy Secretary Eric Varley said in a statement to Parliament that the new prices, which bring motor fuel to the equivalent of about $1.33 per gallon, are necessary because of the increased cost of imported crude oil, the abolition of retail price controls and a higher rate of value-added tax imposed in the nation’s new budget.
The United States has decided to boycott a special fund for emergency relief and development aid to countries in the worst economic straits, created at the special General Assembly session in April. Earlier the United States had expressed deep misgivings about the fund. The decision is the United States’ first refusal to take part in a major new United Nations undertaking. It was clearly a reaction to votes by what it regards as a tyrannical majority in the General Assembly. A U.N. list contains 32 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean that need aid to meet growing crises in their balance of payments. Ferguson said the U.S. contribution to the fund would have been $500,000 but added, “We do not believe the fund is needed.”
A U.S. Army special court-martial in West Berlin convicted Pvt. Robert Nuchow, 19, of Leonia, New Jersey, of refusing to get a haircut. Sentencing was scheduled for Thursday. The maximum term is six months’ hard labor. Nuchow is one of six enlisted men in Berlin charged with refusing to obey haircut orders. A seventh soldier, a first lieutenant, is being tried in Frankfurt on a similar charge.
Russian dissident academician Andrei D. Sakharov charged the Soviet internal security agency, KGB, with blocking transfer of funds sent from abroad to an imprisoned Leningrad writer, Vladimir Maramzin. Sakharov said in a statement made available to Western newsmen that money sent to Maramzin’s wife failed to arrive and she was told by officials that it was being held by the KGB and probably would be confiscated. Maramzin is under investigation for alleged anti-Soviet activity.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
An Israeli army patrol searching for Arab terrorists blew up six houses in a border village in southern Lebanon that Israel said were used by Palestinian guerrillas. The Israeli command said that the houses were evacuated before they were blown up and that there were no casualties. Military sources said the operation took place in Majdal Zoun, five miles north of the Israeli border town of Adamit. It was the second time in two months the Israelis had attacked the village.
A serious rift has developed between Egypt and Syria over United States proposals for a second step in the disengagement of Arab and Israeli armies. Syria has warned Egypt against another agreement for a limited withdrawal in the Sinai, unless it provides for a total pullback of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights. President Sadat of Egypt would give immediate support to the Syrians if they were attacked by Israel, but reportedly has refused a commitment of support if Syria strikes Israel without having received his consent.
Saudi Arabia and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development jointly announced that Saudi Arabia will lend it $750 million for loans to dozens of less developed nations, Robert McNamara said this means a big addition to the World Bank’s lending resources and will help “recycle” money from oil-producing countries to invest in less developed areas.
Communist forces overran a district town in the rice-rich Mekong Delta and opened their biggest offensive on the approaches to Saigon since the cease-fire nearly a year ago. The government command said the town of Hùng Long, 130 miles southwest of Saigon, fell to the Communists with heavy casualties on both sides. Meanwhile the Cambodian high command reported in Phnom Penh that its forces killed 100 Communist-led insurgents in the first major battle of the dry season.
Communist attacks, shifting in intensity from province to province in the last 12 days, have pushed government troops out of two district capitals, isolated a border province capital, and sharply reduced security on several important roads. The attacks in the southern part of the country, which some analysts believe are the opening moves of a protracted winter‐spring campaign, have also inflicted significant losses on the Saigon Government’s regular and regional forces. Today the Saigon military command confirmed the fall of Hùng Long, district town in Chương Thiện Province in the lower Mekong Delta. In the seesaw fighiing for Hùng Long, which was little more than a military sector headquarters but which lies astride a Communist infiltration corridor from Cambodia, the Saigon command reported suffering 140 casualties, but the actual figure is believed to have been considerably higher.
One more significant struggle is for the control of Bà Đen Mountain, which lies 10 miles northeast of Tây Ninh city. According to one military source, Communist units have gained a toehold on the top of the mountain, which is held by about 80 battered Government soldiers. If the Communists could take the mountain top — they already ring its base — they would pose an immediate potential threat to Tây Ninh city below and score a psychological victory as well. The mountain is sacred to the Cao Đài sect, which dominates Tây Ninh province. Route 22 in Tây Ninh Province has lately been rendered unsafe by Communist rocket and machine‐gun attacks on military convoys, buses and private vehicles, similarly, the road leading from Saigon to Đà Lạt has recently been cut several times and buses have been shot up. Even the usually secure road to the seaside resort of Vũng Tàu was recently cut for a day, and some military observers believe it is only a matter of time before the Communists will begin to harass traffic on Route 4 from the Mekong Delta to Saigon.
A mission sent by the United Nations Children’s Fund has completed a week’s visit to Hanoi during which it discussed delivery of 20 Swiss-made prefabricated schools to North Vietnam.
Cambodian Government forces today killed more than 100 Communist‐led insurgents as a temple was recaptured near here in the first major offensive of the dry season, the Cambodian command reported.
General Augusto Pinochet, the de facto head of state of the Republic of Chile as chairman of the ruling Chilean military junta since the coup d’etat of September 11, 1973, was formally appointed as President of the Republic and commander of the Chilean Army by the junta’s Decree-Law Number 806. Pinochet had previously been designated the nation’s “Supreme Chief” (“Jefe Supremo de la Nación”) on June 17 by Decree Law No. 527. His appointment would be ratified by the public in a constitutional referendum on the seventh anniversary of the coup, approved on September 11, 1980, and he would continue in office as leader of an oppressive regime until 1990.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 366, terminating South Africa’s mandate over Namibia (at the time, South-West Africa), was approved by a unanimous vote. South Africa ignored the resolution and continued its control over the former German colony.
The official leader of Rhodesia’s 5.5 million blacks said today that a constitutional conference with the Rhodesian Government could not begin until agreement was reached on majority rule. Bishop Abel Muzorewa, head of the African National Council, said blacks were prepared to hold such a conference as soon. as Rhodesia released all political detainees, as promised hut that an agreement on majority rule was a precondition. “We Africans have got it clear in our minds what we want and, what we will ask for,” the Bishop said, “and at all costs, that is what we are going for.” Premier Ian D. Smith last week announced a cease‐fire in his country’s guerrilla war and promised to release all black political detainees in advance of a proposed constitutional conference.
President Ford ordered the Council on Wage and Price Stability to obtain immediately from the United States Steel Corporation its justification for price increases averaging 8 to 10 percent on about two thirds of its product line. He was described as “concerned and very disappointed.” Mr. Ford’s press secretary acknowledged that the Council had no authority to delay or roll back the increases. The company had no direct comment on the move. Ron Nessen, the White House press secretary, acknowledged that the council had no authority to delay or roll back the price increases, most of which take effect tomorrow. However, the council could hold public hearings on the matter, Mr. Nessen noted. In Pittsburgh, a spokesman for United States Steel said the company had no direct comment on Mr. Ford’s directive, but he sought to justify the price increases on the ground that big companies had been subjected to more stringent price controls than smaller concerns and that when controls were lifted April 30, other companies “raised their prices more than we did.”
Senate and House conferees agreed on legislation to provide 375,000 public service jobs in 1975 and to pay cash benefits to up to 3 million workers who lack unemployment compensation coverage, It may clear both houses tomorrow. The Senate approved a “work bonus” bill for direct cash payments to working families with incomes under $5,600 a year, but its future in the House was uncertain.
Former President Richard Nixon and his neighbors on Bay Lane in Key Biscayne, Fla., lost a move to have it declared a private drive to keep tourists off the road in front of his two houses. Attorneys for Mr. Nixon and his close friend and neighbor said they had become “objects of curiosity to visitors and tourists.” The Dade County Board of Commissioners rejected the petition 5 to 3.
The White House announced the resignation of Roy Ash as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He will leave after the new budget is completed in late January or early February. James Lynn,. now Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is scheduled to succeed him. The Secretary of Transportation, Claude Brinegar, will probably be next to leave the cabinet, according to administration officials, with a former Under Secretary, John Robson, his likely successor.
James Earl Ray was framed for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King and has been the victim of a Watergate-type coverup to hide the facts, Ray’s lawyers said in a brief filed in U.S. district court in Memphis. A ruling as to whether Ray should be granted a new trial is expected in January. The state, in its brief, said Ray’s guilty plea on March 10, 1969, was the “reasoned and reasonable” decision of an intelligent, hardened criminal who chose a 99-year sentence to possible death in the electric chair.
A National Council of Churches Conference on world hunger ended a two-day session today by adopting a broad statement that includes an appeal to its constituent denominations to double their food aid next year.
Claiming that it had evidence of deliberate plutonium spills, the Kerr-McGee Corp. announced that its Cimarron nuclear plant at Crescent, Oklahoma, would be closed temporarily. A company spokesman said that the spills were “contrived” and that the evidence was turned over to the FBI. The contamination occurred when a piece of unused equipment developed a leak. About a gallon of liquid containing plutonium drained on the floor. None of the employees exposed required hospital treatment and they were expected to return to work Tuesday night.
John J. Hoellen, the only Republican on the 50-member Chicago City Council, was selected unanimously by the Chicago GOP Central Committee as its candidate for mayor. Hoellen, 60, will have the support of the party organization in the February 25 primary, for which three others have announced. The winner likely will face Democrat Richard J. Daley, seeking his sixth term.
Striking mine construction workers defied court orders to cease the picketing that has idled thousands of miners and virtually halted coal production. A meeting between the United Mine Workers and the Assn. of Bituminous Contractors, called in Washington by the government, got off to a late start because the two groups held separate meetings first. Normal coal production has been crippled since the UMW went on strike November 12. The miners began returning to work December 9 after ratifying a three-year contract but construction workers then began their strike.
Two Boston high schools that have been a center of racial turmoil will remain closed until January 2, after the Christmas holidays, because of the threat of further trouble, school officials said today.
New test data show that antiperspirants with zirconium do not cause human lung lesions, representatives of Procter & Gamble Co. told a federal safety panel. Last month the panel of scientists and physicians took the unusual step of issuing an interim report saying that zirconium should not be used in underarm sprays until its safety was assured. Procter & Gamble markets two antiperspirants, Sure and Secret, which contain zirconium. “The ingredient was shown to be stable, nonallergenic and nontoxic,” the spokesman said. “It does not break down in the body into other compounds.”
An 11th hour effort by Administration forces to abolish rice growing restrictions was killed by the House. The present allotment and support system will remain in effect, but the White House said another effort would be made in the 94th Congress convening January 14 to change it. The Administration said the measure would produce more rice for export and help the U.S. balance of payments deficit.
A conference on the health effects of smog was concluded at UC Riverside with a warning by one of 120 scientists attending that recent tests showed persons exposed to smog have less resistance against disease. Dr. John Knelson, director of the Human Studies Laboratory at the National Environmental Research Center, said tests on volunteers showed that after breathing oxidants, a person’s white blood cells do not consume bacteria as well as white cells of persons who are not exposed to smog. The two-day conference was sponsored by UC Riverside and the state Air Resources Board.
Failure to comply with regulations at a nuclear power plant will cost Commonwealth Edison $25,500, the Atomic Energy Commission said. AEC officials fined the Illinois utility company for dumping radioactive water into the Illinois River and for failing to comply with other regulations at its Dresden plant about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. A utility spokesman said no health hazard was involved, and that plans are to pay the fines. An AEC official said that the violations”… could in another instance be a health hazard.”
Legislation to create a Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area in the Pacific Northwest was buried by the House Interior Committee. The controversial proposal for putting about 100 miles of the Snake River into a recreational area would have blocked construction of a huge dam between Oregon and Idaho and repealed authorization for another dam in Washington. The legislation died when an Interior Committee meeting to consider it was canceled. The fight against the bill was led by lame duck Rep. Craig Hosmer (R-California). Environmentalists strongly supported the bill, which was opposed by the electrical utility industry.
Nearly one-third of those who have joined Alcoholics Anonymous during the last three years are women, according to a survey announced today by the chairman of the board of trustees of the organization.
Society should consider a moratorium on use of the poor as subjects of medical experimentation, a doctor suggested today. The idea was put forward by Dr. Henry W. Foster, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Meharry Medical College, in an advance discussion of a two‐day forum on human experimentation to be held in February by the National Academy of Sciences.
Charles O. Finley, owner of the Oakland A’s, plans to seek a restraining order against Jim Hunter tomorrow in Alameda County Court here, preventing the pitcher from negotiating with any other team. He will also ask the court to overturn the arbitrator’s decision that made Hunter a free agent.
In a move that had been expected, Abe Gibron was dismissed today as coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. No replacement was named. The Bears finished 4–10 this year.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 597.54 (+10.71, +1.83%).
Born:
Sarah Paulson, American TV actress, Emmy Award and Golden Globe award winner for “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story”; in Tampa, Florida.
Giovanni Ribisi and his twin sister Marissa Ribisi, American actors; in Los Angeles, California.
Paul Briggs, American film animator for Disney Animation, known for “Frozen”; in San Antonio, Texas.
Sam Loeffler, American rock drummer (Chevelle – “The Red”; “Jar”), in Grayslake, Illinois.
Died:
Bing Slamet (stage name for Ahmad Syech Albar), 47, popular Indonesian singer and film actor, died of cancer of the liver.
Ray Sorensen, 52, American Olympic gymnast and 1948 NCAA champion in all-around competition, was killed in a motorcycle accident.
British commercial diver Jeremy L. Howard-Phillips, 30, was sucked into a 20 cm (7.9 in) pipeline valve opening and killed while working from a jet barge at Scapa Flow in the North Sea.
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