Representatives of the nine nations of the European Economic Community (the EEC, referred to at the time as the “Common Market”) reached an agreement in Brussels on the restructuring of the European Parliament, whose members would be elected directly for the first time rather than appointed by their nation’s governments. The new, 410-member unicameral body was apportioned by allotting 81 seats apiece to the four largest nations (France, West Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), followed by 25 to the Netherlands, 24 to Belgium, 16 to Denmark, 15 to Ireland and six to Luxembourg. At the time, the appointed assembly had 198 seats (36 each to the “Big Four” nations, 14 each to the Netherlands and Belgium, 10 each to Denmark and Ireland, and 6 for Luxembourg).
More than 12,000 U.S. troops will be flown to West Germany next month to take part in a mammoth air and sea reinforcement exercise, the U.S. European Command announced in Heidelberg. The exercise, codenamed AUTUMN FORGE, for the first time entails the transport of major elements of the 101st U.S. Airborne Division including more than 300 helicopters as well as 2,500 vehicles and trailers, a ranger battalion and several smaller nondivisional units, the command said.
An extreme right-wing group that claimed responsibility for the murder of a Rome judge last weekend threatened to “execute” four more magistrates. A message signed by the New Order fascist group was found as the funeral of Deputy Public Prosecutor Vittorio Occorsio was held. Occorsio, noted for his prosecutions of extreme right-wingers, was instrumental in having the New Order banned in 1973.
Irina McClenan, Soviet-born wife of a U.S. university professor, said she has again been denied permission to leave the Soviet Union to join her husband, Woodford C. McClenan, in the United States. Mrs. McClenan, who married the University of Virginia professor in May, 1974, told Western correspondents in Moscow that the Soviet visa office gave no explanation for the rejection and said her request would not be reconsidered before December.
Strikes paralyzed factories in the industrial city of Bilbao in northern Spain as workers protested the death of a woman shot by police in a weekend demonstration. The demonstration was part of a widespread campaign to force the 5-day-old government of Premier Adolfo Suarez to grant amnesty to an estimated 600 political prisoners. In Madrid, government sources said Suarez was planning to grant the amnesty.
Spanish officials are on notice that they can no longer manage the news with discreet telephone calls to the press. Ricardo de la Cierva, a 49‐year‐old journalist and historian and an official himself a few years ago, put his foot down yesterday as few Spanish journalists have dared to do in the last 40 years. In his weekly column in the Madrid daily El Pais, he reported that three ministers of the present government, in office since last Wednesday, had called newspapers to “interfere” in the publication of news articles. “Gentlemen, this is going to stop because it is intolerable,” he warned. “In each Sunday’s column there will henceforth be published the name and circumstance of each person in power who indulges in interference of this kind.”
“As we leave the shores of the United States, Prince Philip and I send to you and Mrs. Ford our deepest thanks. We have been much moved by the heartwarming welcome we received from yourselves and from the American people,” said the telegram to the White House sent by Queen Elizabeth II as she sailed from Boston on the royal yacht Britannia.
The United States chief delegate to the United Nations, William Scranton, praised Israel’s rescue of hostages from pro-Palestinian hijackers in Uganda at a meeting of the Security Council. He said the rescue was a “combination of guts and brains that has seldom if ever been surpassed.” But he conceded that the Israeli raid “involved a temporary breach of the territorial integrity of Uganda.” He called on the 15‐nation Council to take a firm stand against hijacking by terrorists, which he denounced as “one of the most dangerous threats to peace and security in the world today.” Mr. Scranton spoke after Britain and the United States had introduced a draft resolution that would condemn “hijacking and all other acts” that threaten the lives of airliner passengers and crews. The draft calls on all countries to “take every necessary measure to prevent and punish all such terrorist acts.”
Israeli sources gave further details of the rescue of the hostages at the Entebbe airport a week ago. The Israeli units brought with them a Mercedes limousine carrying an Israeli officer in blackened face impersonating President Idi Amin of Uganda and two Land Rovers full of men dressed as Palestinian bodyguards. The ruse confused the Uganda soldiers at the airport and gave the rescue party a few more precious seconds in which to reach the hostages. More details of this deception and of the extraordinary rescue are emerging only now, more than a week after the commandos succeeded in freeing the 103 hostages and flying them back to Israel. Some of the details are being reported abroad and some have been repeated in the newspapers here, attributed to foreign sources because of the restrictions of Israeli military censorship.
The British Government said today that there was little doubt that Dora Bloch, the 75-year-old hijacking hostage who disappeared in Uganda, was dead. The Foreign Office official responsible for African affairs Edward Rowlands, told the House of Commons that Mrs. Bloch, who had British and Israeli nationality, was probably taken from Mulago Hospital in Kampala at about 9:30 PM on July 4. He indicated that the Government was uncertain about the circumstances of her death. “In whatever circumstances Mrs. Bloch’s death took place,” Mr. Rowlands said, “the Uganda Government must bring those responsible to justice.” At another point he said: “We are in a very confused and potentially dangerous situation. We can’t do anything to jeopardize the situation of over 500 British citizens in Uganda.”
Right-wing Christian forces advancing in northern Lebanon were reported today to have reached the southern outskirts of leftist-held Tripoli, the nation’s second largest city. Here in Beirut, Christian militiamen again were unable to break through the defenses of the Palestinian camp of Tell Zaatar, which has been under constant attack for 21 days. The camp, an enclave in Christian‐held southeastern neighborhoods, is cut off from the main forces of the alliance of Palestinians and Lebanese leftists in western and southern Beirut. Christian forces, which have been able to open an offensive since the large Syrian intervention at the beginning of June tipped the balance in their favor, entered Bahsas, a southern suburb of Tripoli, today, according to a broadcast by the Christian‐controlled radio. Palestinian officials conceded that their troops had been driven back south of Tripoli and accused Syrian forces again of taking part in the Christian rightist drive in northern Lebanon. They also charged that Syrian artillery in the mountains outside Tripoli had been shelling two Palestinian refugee camps, Nailer el Barad and Baddawi, for the last three days, causing heavy casualties and pinning down Palestinian and leftist forces. The Syrians have denied the charge.
The Indian Government has lifted the passport of Srikumar Poddar, a wealthy Michigan businessman and publisher of Indian birth, who has been critical of recent policies of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Mr. Poddar, who is an Indian citizen permanently resident in the United States, was notified of the action in a letter he received yesterday signed by P. H. Desai, first secretary of the Indian Embassy in Washington. No reason was given. In Washington, a press spokesman for the Indian Embassy said that it had received instructions from New Delhi to have Mr. Poddar surrender his passport “in the public interest.” The spokesman said that “to the best of my knowledge” this was the first time that his Government had invalidated the passport of an Indian resident of the United States.
Newly unified Vietnam took a major step to improve relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors by agreeing to establish diplomatic ties with the Philippines and to receive a delegation from Thailand next month for discussion of relations. Until a month ago Hanoi — now capital of north and south — had assailed the Philippines, Thailand and other members of the Association of Asian Nations for being part of a “neo-colonialist” organization controlled by the United States.
Up to 22 inches of rain in recent hours have caused floods and scores of landslides that have isolated thousands of residents and tourists in the historic Izu Peninsula near Tokyo.Communications with the scenic area remained severed, following the torrential downpour that lasted all day Sunday. But sketchy reports put the rising death toll at nine, with many other people feared lost under tons of mud, rocks and water that covered many, communities. Half a dozen naval ships and a convoy of military trucks were sent to the area. The economic impact was expected to run into millions of dollars in property damages with substantial added business losses. The storm came just before Japan’s peak vacation season.
Some two million workers throughout Australia today joined in what was described as the first national strike in the country’s history, bringing to a halt all public transport, closing most industrial plants and severely disrupting commercial life in the cities for 24 hours.
Earth tremors shook the island of Guadeloupe for the fifth straight day, spreading new fears among 24,000 refugees evacuated from their mudand-ash-covered homes that Mt. Soufriere might erupt again. The volcano, which rises 4,886 feet above sea level and is the highest in the eastern Caribbean, has forced many to flee to the island tourist city of Pointe-aPitre, swelling the population there to more than 100,000. Authorities said at least 89 earthquakes had shaken the island since the volcano eruption began. Guadeloupe is part of the Lesser Antilles island chain.
A strong aftershock rumbled through the isolated jungle area in southern Panama that was hit by four major earthquakes Sunday. There were no reports of injuries.
Hugo Blanco, the Peruvian leftist leader, said today that he had been arrested by Peru’s military Government and expelled from his home country with no explanation. He said at a news conference here that the Peruvian authorities had imprisoned and interrogated him during a state of emergency. On Saturday, they gave him a one‐way ticket to Sweden and put him on a plane at Lima Airport. “The political climate in Peru is hardening, there is oppression, living costs are rising and the workers are protesting,” said Mr. Blanco, who returned to Peru nine months ago after living in exile for many years.
French authorities in Djibouti said 15 persons were killed and 65 injured in weekend clashes between rival tribal and political factions in the Territory of the Afars and the Issas. The 6,000-man French military contingent was on round-the-clock alert to prevent further bloodshed. African leaders are concerned that tensions in the territory could escalate into battles between Ethiopia and Somalia, each accusing the other of trying to gain control of the territory from which France is planning to withdraw.
In a public “confession,” former Colonel Mohamed Nour Saeed, the accused leader of a coup against Sudan President Jaafar Numeiri, said the attempt failed partly because the conspirators were not able to operate the national radio. He also blamed the lack of reinforcements from Libya for the failure. “We expected the masses would welcome a change in the regime,” he said, “but we received no public support.”
The United States has sent a warship and a Navy patrol plane to Kenya in a symbolic show of support for the East African country in its dispute with neighboring Uganda. A Pentagon spokesman said that the frigate Beary arrived at the Kenya port of Mombasa. A Navy P-3 Orion, an anti-submarine-warfare plane, landed Saturday at the Nairobi airport, where it is expected to stay a few days.
In a sprawling white‐brick home in a southern suburb of Salisbury, Rhodesia, a pregnant woman sat the other night at dinner idly picking over her food. “I could leave tomorrow, I could just pack up and leave,” she said, staring at her husband, a local businessman and prominent moderate here. “I want to have the baby and get out. I really do.” He looked at her and said evenly: “We just built this house. Where on earth can we go? England? South Africa? Look, what can we do?” “What we can do is leave,” she said. “Look, I’m just frightened. I’m scared.” It is an anxious and melancholy time for white moderates in Rhodesia, a minority within a minority, a resilient group that seeks, almost poignantly, to face the future with a tremor of optimism.
Strong attacks were made on the Republicans at the opening of the 37th Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden. Robert Strauss, the party’s national chairman, called for an end to “eight years of Nixon-Ford, eight long years of Kissinger, Simon, Morton and Butz.” The keynote speeches were delivered by Senator John Glenn of Ohio and Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas. Barbara Jordan became the first African-American to be a keynote speaker at a major political convention.
Jimmy Carter completed his interviews with possible vice-presidential running mates. He said he might reach a decision tomorrow night. Mr. Carter gave no sign of his preference, but it seemed that Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota and Senator Edmund Muskie were at the top of the list, followed by Senator John Glenn of Ohio. However, political sources said that Mr. Glenn’s prospects might be fading.
A negotiating team of leading Democratic feminists won commitments from Jimmy Carter concerning the future role of women in the Democratic Party and in a Carter administration that they said were acceptable. A caucus of all the women delegates to the convention was scheduled for tomorrow morning, when a decision will be made on whether to accept the commitments as the best arrangement that women can get at this time. That was the course that was being urged by the most prominent and politically successful women in the party, both those who had been members of the negotiating committee, such as Representative Bella S. Abzug, Democrat of Manhattan, and those who had not, such as Representative Shirley Chisholm, Democrat of Brooklyn.
Seven people were killed, and two others were wounded in a mass shooting in the library at California State University in Fullerton. The killer, a mentally-ill custodian at the university, walked into the library, shot nine employees, fled the campus and called police. He would be found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of his life in state hospitals.
President Ford, reportedly concerned that he is suffering politically because his accomplishments have not been adequately communicated to the public, reshuffled his public information staff today in an effort to strengthen it. Ron Nessen, the White House press secretary, announced that Mr. Ford had appointed David R. Gergen, now special counsel to the President, as director of the White House Office of Communications. He also disclosed that the communications office would be expanded and given additional duties. In response to questions at today’s regular news briefing, Mr. Nessen denied that the communications office was being reshuffled to enhance Mr. Ford’s campaign efforts, saying the changes were intended as “a service to the press.”
The Agriculture Department said that the nation’s largest corn crop would be harvested this year and that there would be a bumper wheat crop. The department forecast a total yield of 6.55 billion bushels of corn, up 14 percent from last year’s record 5.77 billion bushels. The total winter and spring wheat crop is expected to be 2.04 billion bushels, 4 percent below last year.
Pat Nixon has started rehabilitation exercises to help her damaged muscles and may achieve “total recovery” from her paralyzing stroke, but it will take a long time, her physician reported today. Mrs. Nixon, 64 years old, will be released from Long Beach Memorial Hospital in a week to 10 days, barring a relapse or complications, said the physician, Dr. John Lungren. Mrs. Nixon was described as “an excellent patient” and “a very independent individual” but “very cooperative.” She suffered the cerebral stroke last Wednesday at the family home in San Clemente. Her husband, former President Richard M. Nixon, was not aware of the stroke until the next morning. Dr. Lungren said to reporters this morning: “Though Mrs. Nixon’s condition remains serious, she appears to be stabilizing satisfactorily. She still is experiencing some motor weakness in the left arm, left leg and left side of the face. However, there has been some improvement in speech and her elevated blood pressure remains under control.”
A last-minute decision by Patricia Hearst to “go along for the ride” with William amd Emily Harris on a shopping trip on May 16, 1974, saved her from being killed along with six revolutionaries in a gun battle with policemen 24 hours later, Mrs. Harris said today. In an opening statement to the jury trying her, Mrs. Harris described Miss Hearst as the newest member of the so‐called Symbionese Liberation Army, not quite a revolutionary, when she suddenly took the place of Patricia (Mismoon) Soltysik on the shopping trip. Miss Hearst wanted to get outdoors. Mrs. Harris said, “after having spent weeks inside.” “She felt it was time to try moving around the city with the ease of any other person” and wanted to “develop confidence” in disguising herself, Mrs. Harris added. That was her reason for going with the Harrises on their errands, the defendant said. “That chance decision cost ‘Mizmoon’ her life and saved Patricia Hearst’s life.” Mrs. Harris told the jurors. Her delivery was calm until certain parts of her 40‐minute statement prompted the prosecutor to object and left the 29‐year-old school teacher in tears.
A Salt Lake City judge denied a series of defense motions to dismiss a misdemeanor sex-soliciting charge against Rep. Allan T. Howe (D-Utah). Howe, who is scheduled to stand trial Monday, has pleaded innocent to a charge of offering two police decoy prostitutes $20 for sex. Lawyer Dean Mitchell argued before City Court Judge Raymond Uno that Howe’s constitutional rights were violated by police entrapment when he was arrested June 12. Uno ruled, however, that the police decoy program was constitutional.
Two men were in custody in Detroit after the slayings of three reputed Mafia figures in the basement of the home of one victim. Police said they were looking for a motive in the shooting of Frank (Rah-Rah) Randazzo, 62, Joseph Seragusa, 66, and Nick Ditta, 69. Police found the bodies of Randazzo and Seragusa in the basement of Randazzo’s home. Both were shot in the chest. Ditta, although wounded, managed to call police. He died a short time later in a hospital. Police said the suspects, who were not identified, were arrested when they went to a hospital for treatment of minor stab wounds.
One of Westinghouse Electric Corp.’s four major unions has rejected a contract extension agreed to by the other unions and approved a strike of its 13,000 members. Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers walked off the job at several plants around the nation. An IBEW official in Pittsburgh said the locals were free to strike, but all did not necessarily have to strike, so it was not immediately known how many workers were out. Contracts covering 55,000 members of the four unions expired Sunday. Westinghouse employees currently average a little more than $5 an hour.
Two California women received serious injuries when their plane crashed during the final lap of the Powder Puff Derby. The women were identified as Gloria Huffman, the pilot, and copilot Luana Greer, both of Riverside. They received multiple fractures but were in “stable” condition. They were taken to Camden-Clark Hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia, after coming down in a residential area about five miles from the downtown district. An airport tower spokesman for Wood County Airport said the women had radioed they were out of fuel just moments before their Cessna 182-L crashed. The airport was the final refueling stop on the 2,916-mile race from Sacramento, California, to Wilmington, Delaware.
Mental patients at the state hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida, are subjected to frequent physical and sexual abuse by employees and other inmates, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. The newspaper said that in a recent period of a few days at least six elderly patients unable to cry out or defend themselves had been burned by heated keys. The Democrat also said drugs and liquor frequently turn up in the hospital, particularly in the forensic unit for criminal patients. A state health official, Charles Kimber said: “In a large situation like that, I’d say abuses would occur.”
New York City’s precipitous population losses over the last few years may be coming to an end, according to new figures of the Census Bureau. Manhattan is gaining new people and the departure from the Bronx and Brooklyn is now only a trickle. Fred Cavanaugh of the bureau’s population division said, “The decrease has tapered off significantly — we were very surprised.” However, he cautioned that the new figures were still provisional and subject to some later correction.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a detailed safety review of Exxon Nuclear Co.’s application to build a nuclear fuel processing plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn. The proposed plant would be on a 200-acre site in a 2,500-acre tract at the Energy Research and Development Administration’s reservation at Oak Ridge.
The quality of water in Lake Michigan, especially at the southern end, has improved over the past 10 years, according to Robert J. Bowden, head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s central region laboratory. He told reporters in Chicago that he hoped the pollution of the lake had been reversed. The news conference was aboard the research vessel Roger R. Simon, which has embarked on a two-year sampling program to determine how fast the water quality is improving.
The game show “Family Feud” debuted in the United States on ABC-TV at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, with British actor and comedian Richard Dawson as its host. The format required contestants to guess the most popular results of audience survey questions, and became the highest-rated daytime-TV game show within a year. Other than the years 1986-1987 and 1996-1998, Family Feud has been a staple of American network and syndicated television.
JoAnne Carner won the United States Golf Association Open championship today by beating Sandra Palmer, last year’s champion, in an 18-hole playoff that included a swing of eight strokes over the last five holes. It was Mrs. Carner’s second victory in the Open. She had triumphed in 1971.
Major League Baseball:
No games today; it’s the all-star break.
The Major League Baseball Players Association entered a new collective bargaining agreement with the owners of baseball’s National League and American League teams that effectively gave away the unlimited free agency that had been won in December with the Seitz decision, but guaranteeing that the reserve clause would not be restored to player contracts. Baseball’s owners and players reached agreement on a four-year pact that for the first time gives the players freedom of movement from one team to another. The agreement replaces the so-called reserve system, which traditionally has restricted a player to one club until that club traded, sold or released him. The 24 club owners and the 630 players must ratify the agreement. The formal agreement will be announced August 9th.
Propelled by the lingering effects of last week’s positive economic news, the stock market pushed its way yesterday to both a 41-month high and a 1976 record. Despite a retreat at lunch-time, the Dow Jones industrial average, which opened with a rise of more than 3 points. closed at 1,011.21, a gain of 8.10 and the fourth consecutive increase. This put the market at its highest level since January 23, 1973, when it closed at 1.018.66, and above this year’s high of 1,011.02, reached on April 21.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1011.21 (+8.10, +0.81%)
Born:
Kyrsten Sinema, former U.S. Representative and (since 2019) the first woman U.S. Senator for Arizona; in Tucson, Arizona.
Major General Prince C. Johnson III, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia since 2018; in Monrovia, Liberia.
Nabor Vargas Garcia, Mexican drug lord and co-founder of the criminal enterprise Los Zetas; in Pachuca, Hidalgo state, Mexico.
Dan Boyle, Canadian NHL defenseman (NHL champions, Stanley Cup-Lightning, 2004; NHL All-star, 2009, 2011; Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning. San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers), in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Craig Millar, Canadian NHL defenseman (Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning), in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Donnie Spragan, NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins), in Oakland, California.
Dan Reichert, MLB pitcher (Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays), in Monterey, California.
Anna Friel, British TV and film actress (“Pushing Daisies”) and BAFTA Award winner; in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom.
Tracie Spencer, American pop and R&B singer (“This House”), born in Waterloo, Iowa.
Died:
James Wong Howe, 76, Chinese-born American cinematographer and winner of two Academy Awards.
Lewis Deschler, 71, legislative official who had served as the parliamentary procedure adviser to the Speaker of the House of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1928 to 1974.
James Stout, 62, American horse-racing jockey and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame enshrinee.
Guillermo Tolentino, 85, Philippine sculptor.
History Diaries 