President Ford said he had ordered a review of U.S. nuclear policy, especially concerning the export and reprocessing of nuclear fuel and equipment and the disposal of nuclear wastes. Ford acted after congressional hearings focused attention on nuclear policy and India’s use of enriched uranium and foreign technology to set off an atomic explosion. The review, which Ford said probably would be completed by early fall, will be directed by Robert W. Fri, deputy administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration.
Former Turkish Premier Bulent Ecevit, who ordered Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, said he would like to drop charges against a man who allegedly attempted to assassinate him Monday night in New York. The man was identified as Stavros Sykopetritis, 40, a Cypriot living in New York. According to police, he pointed a pistol at Ecevit but was seized by a security agent before he could fire. Justice Department officials said he had been charged with assaulting a foreign official. But Ecevit said he planned to consult officials about getting the charge dropped.
Spain’s King Juan Carlos intends to grant a wide-ranging amnesty for political prisoners, but it will not include those convicted of crimes causing bodily harm, government sources said in Madrid. Last November, shortly after the death of General Francisco Franco, the king announced an amnesty for some prisoners. But since then, there have been widespread demonstrations demanding it be extended.
Italy’s Christian Democratic leadership authorized the premier-designate. Giulio Andreotti, to seek parliamentary approval of a minority Christian Democratic government. Andreotti is expected to present such a government to Parliament for a vote of confidence next week. The Christian Democrats can succeed only if the Communists, who hold 228 seats in the 630-seat Chamber of Deputies, abstain. The Communists said Sunday they would vote against a Christian Democratic minority government unless there was a public appeal for their support. The Christian Democrats did not make such an appeal. merely stating that an abstention by the Communists would “render a service” to the country.
General Fred C. Weyand, the last U.S. commander in Vietnam is expected to retire this fall as Army chief of staff. Pentagon officials said. General Bernard W. Rogers, a onetime Rhodes scholar who heads the Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia, is reported to be the leading candidate to replace Weyand.
Five American citizens are being held in Yugoslav prisons, two for political offenses, one for war crimes, one for murder and one for narcotics offenses, American consular officials said today. Interest in Americans in jail in Yugoslavia has been sharpened by the case of Laszlo Toth, jailed in Yugoslavia year ago on espionage charges and released Friday. On his return to his home in Colorado, Mr. Toth told of his special concern for a fellow American prisoner at the Sremska Mitrovica Prison in Yugoslavia. He said he hoped strong efforts would be made to free Michael Sedmak of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, who was arrested in Yugoslavia in September 1974 on spying charges and has been imprisoned since then. He is 60 years old.
Soviet chess grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi defected to the West while in Amsterdam, where he received political asylum from the Netherlands government. Korchnoi had competed in a tournament while in the Dutch capital and was scheduled to fly to Frankfurt in West Germany and then to return to the Soviet Union.
The United States Navy evacuated 308 Americans and other foreigners from Beirut without incident. Units of the Palestine Liberation Army and Al Fatah, the main guerrilla group, provided protection. The USS Coronado, a 16,000‐ton amphibious transport of the Sixth Fleet, took the evacuees aboard and left for Greece, where it is due to arrive on Thursday. The Coronado, which evacuated Americans and other foreign civilians from Cyprus in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of the island, anchored a few miles off the Beirut coast while one of its landing craft docked at a beach not far from the American Embassy. The evacuees included 160 Americans, 20 Britons and 128 people of 18 other nationalities.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested and placed in a jail cell at the Tokyo House of Detention in Kosuge. He had been charged with having accepted $1.67 million in bribes from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was taken to the Tokyo prosecutor’s office for questioning and 90 minutes later was charged with having violated Japan’s foreign exchange and currency regulations by accepting money illegally brought into Japan. After three weeks in jail, Tanaka was able to post a bond of ¥200 million Japanese yen (equivalent at the time to US$690,000) on August 17 to obtain his release while waiting for his trial, which would not take place until 1983.
Prime Minister Takeo Miki vowed amid mounting political turmoil to pursue a thorough investigation of the Lockheed Aircraft bribery scandal following the arrest of his predecessor. Following intensive questioning, Mr. Tanaka said he resigned from the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party.
Making his only visit since 1970 and his first since assuming office last year, Prime Minister J. Malcolm Fraser of Australia was welcomed by President Ford at the White House yesterday amid pledges of their nation’s mutual allegiance. Heat and humidity affected some of the 1,000 guests invited to the lawn ceremony and Nancy Kissinger left midway through it. A White House nurse said the wife of the Secretary of State felt “light-headed.”
Cuban Premier Fidel Castro and Angolan President Agostinho Neto joined in a show of unity against “imperialism” during the 23rd anniversary celebration at Cuba’s Pinar del Rio marking the beginning of Castro’s revolution. Castro said that Cuba would continue to provide Angola with military support, but that his country would send several thousand civilian technicians to Angola because the former Portuguese African colony needs technical help more than military assistance.
Argentina’s military Government has severely crippled, if not yet destroyed, the leftwing guerrilla movement here through a policy of repression without quarter. The “annihilation of subversive delinquents” has been the primary goal of the military junta that ousted President Isabel Martinez de Peron on March 24 on the ground that her chaotic Government was leading Argentina to ruin and revolution. Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla, president of the junta and Commander in Chief of the army, has said that military action against subversion is part of a program that includes political, economic and cultural measures, but until now armed action has prevailed. In the last four months, the security forces, freed of judicial restraints and political inhibitions, have taken the initiative against extremists in urban areas, in factories, universities and government offices, and even in their own rinks.
The United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with Uganda following the hijacking of Air France Flight 139 and the murder of one of its hostages. The decision “was the first time Britain had severed relations with a Commonwealth nation.”
Kenya said today that Uganda must meet seven conditions if it wishes to “normalize” relations, including the removal of troops along the border, a cessation of threats to invade and an end to the killing of Kenyans in Uganda. The terms were presented in a speech delivered by the Foreign Minister, Munyua Waiyaki, to a meeting of heads of diplomatic missions here. His speech amounted to a lengthy defense of Kenya’s position in the growing verbal battle with Uganda and, in particular, with its mercurial head of state, President Idi Amin. It was interpreted as an attempt to obtain international backing should an armed confrontation develop. Uganda has a larger and better equipped army but is suffering from shortages of fuel and trained pilots. Mr. Waiyaki emphasized that relations had begun to deteriorate well before the Israelis swooped on the Entebbe airport to free hijacked passengers on the night of July 3. With Uganda charging Kenya with complicity in the raid, the episode has touched off retaliatory actions that stop just short of war.
Thousands of blacks boycotted schools in Soweto, South Africa, but schools in other townships were reported to be returning to normal. Soweto streets were full of children and youths, but no violent incidents were reported. Police in Mamelodi township, near Pretoria, reported that firebombs had been used to start fires at a school, destroying hundreds of books and completed examination papers but causing no major damage.
The security police in the Transkei have arrested nine members of the opposition Democratic Party, effectively stifling opposition to the territory’s acceptance of independence from the South African Government.
The Viking 2 spacecraft, now approaching Mars, fired its rocket tonight to change course slightly in preparation for orbiting the planet August 7 and joining Viking 1 in its historic Martian explorations.
Delegates who had attended an American Legion convention at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia began dying from a form of pneumonia that would eventually be recognized as the first outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Retired U.S. Air Force Captain Ray Brennan, a 61-year-old veteran who had returned from the convention to his home in Sayre, Pennsylvania on July 24 feeling tired, was the first fatality. Within four days after the convention ended, 11 Legionnaires in Pennsylvania had died from respiratory problems, and the adjutant of the Pennsylvania organization said “They all had one thing in common, they were all at the Philadelphia convention between July 21 and 24.” In all, 29 people died from the illness. The national convention had been held over four days from July 21 to July 24. The Bellevue-Stratford, at one time the finest hotel in Philadelphia, would announce on November 10 that it would be closing permanently.
Former Governor John Connally of Texas endorsed President Ford’s candidacy for the Republican nomination in Mr. Ford’s presence on the White House grounds. Mr. Connally said that Ronald Reagan’s selection of Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his prospective running mate had helped to prompt him to abandon his neutrality. He had been courted by both sides. Other conservative Republicans were rebelling against Mr. Reagan’s designation of a liberal. Mr. Connally’s stand seemed to strengthen the view of leading Republicans that the gamble would backfire.
Mr. Reagan’s chief campaign strategist, John Sears, defended the selection of Mr. Schweiker as a “tough” decision designed not only to win the Republican nomination but also the November election, ending “the game that Mr. Ford would somehow get Ronald Reagan to run with him.” Mr. Sears acknowledged initial griping among some conservatives but he said they were beginning to accept it, They agreed it was wiser to “take the heat from the conservatives” before the convention than to win the nomination narrowly and face a fight from the right wing over the vice-presidential nomination.
The House passed and sent to the Senate a bill that would prohibit debt collectors engaged in interstate activities from harassing debtors and engaging in other unfair collection practices. Opponents said the federal government should not interfere in a state responsibility. Supporters argued that federal action was needed to combat widespread abuses. The measure would apply only to those whose primary business is debt collection and not to the original creditors, such as stores, banks or attorneys collecting for clients.
Rep. Jim Wright (D-Texas) announced his candidacy for House majority leader in the next Congress, bringing to four the declared seekers of the post. Democrats expect to retain control of the House after the November elections and the current majority leader, Rep. Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Massachusetts), is so far unopposed for Speaker, leaving open the No. 2 party leadership post. Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma is retiring. Also seeking the post are Phillip Burton of California, John J. McFall of California, who now holds the No. 3 post of Democratic whip, and Richard Bolling of Missouri.
The Senate voted to restrict federal government officials’ access to tax returns, a move Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R-Connecticut) said was a “remedy to the government abuses brought to light by the Watergate affair.” The tightened provisions were approved as part of an amendment to an omnibus tax bill. Any White House request for information on taxpayers would have to be signed personally by the President. And the executive branch would be required to report annually to Congress on each such request. One of the most disputed provisions would require the Justice Department to get a court order before gaining access to tax returns in cases in which criminal violations of the tax code were not involved.
The U.S. trial judge in the Rosenberg atom spy case of the early 1950s was accused of violating judicial ethics for having allegedly talked privately to the prosecutor shortly before sentencing the Rosenbergs to death. The charge was made in Washington by Marshall Perlin, attorney for the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and was based on an FBI document obtained under a Freedom of Information suit.
Richard G. Held, new No. 2 man at the FBI, once sent an anonymous letter to a Minnesota prosecutor in an attempt to discredit black students facing state charges for occupying a university hall. The letter, signed “A Concerned American,” alleged that the leader of the students had “pretty good connections” with radicals and that the students’ lawyer was a Communist Party member. The lawyer in the case was Kenneth Tilsen of Minneapolis. His story was confirmed by a source close to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The source said Held had proposed the letter in March. 1969, and it had been approved by Director J. Edgar Hoover.
John D. Ehrlichman, former White House aide and convicted Watergate conspirator, said the government became involved in street enforcement against drugs “partly in response to the obvious political mileage to be gained. Narcotics suppression is a very sexy political issue.” He told a Senate subcommittee that is examining the performance of the Drug Enforcement Administration, “It usually has high media visibility… Therefore, the White House often wants to be involved in narcotics problems even when it doesn’t need to be.
William and Emily Harris — angered over a series of rulings by their trial judge and knowing that Patricia Hearst could be called to testify against them — suddenly rested their case today without calling a witness. Their announcement came at the end of a dramatic day that brought their six‐week trial on kidnapping, assault and robbery charges to an unexpected end. Summations will begin tomorrow, and the jury is expected to receive the case by week’s end. Samuel Mayerson, the chief prosecutor, told the court this morning that Albert Johnson, Miss Hearst’s co‐counsel, had agreed to let her testify against her co‐defendants and former companions in the self‐styled Symbionese Liberation Army, the revolutionary group that kidnapped her in February 1974. Miss Hearst would not have received a grant of immunity from prosecution. Mr. Mayerson had said previously he would not need Miss Hearst’s testimony in his case against the Harrises. One possible reason for her decision was believed to be that she hoped by cooperating with the authorities to reduce her bank robbery sentence, which is to be imposed in the fall. Mr. Johnson denied this was so.
Under a tax bill provision approved by the Senate and awaiting action in the House of Representatives, American concerns that boycott Israel or use bribery as a foreign sales tool stand to lose millions of dollars in tax benefits. Business executives could be jailed for failing to report any corporate income derived as a result of a bribe or earnings in any country that requires participation in a boycott.
The Federal Power Commission almost tripled the amount producers can charge for interstate natural gas. The move is expected to cost consumers up to $1.5 billion a year. Unless challenges are successful, the increase will go into effect almost at once, raising the average consumer’s gas bill by $15.60 a year.
Mayor Beame moved in federal court to stop a six-month-old investigation of past and present New York City fiscal practices by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Later in the day, the S.E.C. asserted its right to investigate, and charged that city Comptroller Harrison Goldin had failed to comply with subpoenas requesting his testimony. Mr. Beame contended that the S.E.C. was violating the constitutional protection of local government prerogatives by inquiring into its issuance of tax-exempt bonds and notes in recent years.
Scientists conducted the 11th underground nuclear weapons test this year near Yucca Flat, Nevada. The blast shook high-rise buildings in Las Vegas, nearly 80 miles away. The yield was equivalent to 150,000 tons of TNT. The device was buried more than 2,000 feet in the ground.
The record for fastest airspeed was broken for the first and second time in more than nine years, as Captain Eldon W. Joersz and Major George T. Morgan Jr., both of the U.S. Air Force, departed in an SR-71A Blackbird supersonic reconnaissance jet from Beale Air Force Base in California. They reached a maximum speed of 2,193.167 miles per hour (3,529.560 km/h), becoming the first people to fly faster than 3,500 km/h. Earlier in the day, the same airplane flown by Major Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr., pilot, and Major John T. Fuller, RSO had set a new record of 2,092.29 miles per hour (3,367.21 km/h). The official record has stood for more than 45 years.
On the same day, Captain Robert C. Helt and Major Larry A. Elliott set the record for the highest absolute altitude on a sustained flight in a manned aircraft after departing from Beale AFB as they reached 85,069 feet (25,929 m) (more than 16 miles) in altitude in SR-71 serial number 61-7962.
English rock musician John Lennon, formerly of The Beatles, was granted permission by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to become a permanent resident alien of the United States. INS Judge Ira Fieldsteel, who had rejected a previous resident-alien application in 1973 because of Lennon’s 1968 conviction on cannabis possession, reviewed affidavits from a number of celebrities and noted that the federal government had dropped objections, and granted Lennon green card number A17-597-321. A commentator for The New York Times summed up the event with the words, “Yesterday, all of John Lennon’s troubles seemed so far away and now it looks as though he’s here to stay.”
The United States men’s basketball team won the Olympic gold medal, defeating Yugoslavia, 95–74. The Soviet team, which had won the 1972 gold medal in a controversial game, had been defeated by Yugoslavia the day before in the semifinal, 89–84, preventing the expected and long-awaited rematch between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. teams.
Major League Baseball:
Jim Palmer came out ahead in a duel with Dock Ellis and won for the 14th time this season when the Orioles defeated the Yankees, 4–1. The Orioles’ first two tallies were unearned, but they picked up an earned run on a double by Lee May and single by Tony Muser in the fourth inning before capping their scoring with a homer by Al Bumbry in the seventh.
Although knocked out in the eighth inning after giving up 14 hits, Fergie Jenkins received credit for the 200th victory of his career when the Red Sox outlasted the Indians, 8–7. The Red Sox scored all their runs in the first four frames, counting what proved to be the deciding tally in the fourth on a double by Fred Lynn, single by Carl Yastrzemski and forceout by Jim Rice.
Paul Splittorff, who had won eight straight games for the Royals, was stopped on his streak by the Angels, who posted a 2–1 victory behind the four-hit pitching of Frank Tanana. Splittorff gave up the Angels’ pair in the fifth inning on a single by Bill Melton, pass to Tony Solaita and double by Andy Etchebarren. That was the last inning in the game for Splittorff, who had to leave the mound because of swelling of his right index finger.
After scoring four runs in the first inning, the Cubs proceeded to beat the Expos, 5–0, behind the three-hit hurling of Ray Burris. The first five Cub batters all hit safely. Joe Wallis, Jose Cardenal, Bill Madlock, Jerry Morales and Pete LaCock singled in succession for the first three runs and the fourth scored on a forceout by Manny Trillo
Jack Billingham pitched hitless ball for the first four innings but then blew up in the fifth as the Giants erupted for six runs to defeat the Reds, 9–4. Bobby Murcer drew a walk to open the fifth before Darrell Evans homered for the Giants’ first hit. A double by Dave Rader and triple by Gary Thomasson helped the Giants add four runs before the frame ended.
Bob Watson drove in the Astros’ runs and J.R. Richard pitched a four-hitter to defeat the Padres, 4–1. Watson accounted for his first RBI with a single in the opening frame. After the Padres picked up a tainted tally in the second, the Astros loaded the bases in their half and scored two runs on a single by Watson. Then in the fifth, Watson completed his big night with a homer for his fourth RBI.
Scoring three runs on only one hit in the seventh inning, the Brewers defeated the Tigers, 4–3. The Brewers opened their lucky seventh with a walk to Tim Johnson and single by Von Joshua, chasing Ray Bare, who started for the Tigers. After Steve Grilli took the mound, Don Money sacrificed and George Scott drew an intentional pass to load the bases. Darrell Porter followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score. Joshua came home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Mike Hegan walked. Bill Laxton relieved and passed Hank Aaron to load the bases before allowing the Brewers’ last run on a wild pickoff throw.
Vida Blue was rapped for 10 hits but managed to post his second straight shutout, pitching the Athletics to a 1–0 victory over the White Sox. Rich Gossage, who gave up only five hits, became the loser when the A’s scored in the seventh inning on a double by Claudell Washington and single by Ken McMullen.
When arm trouble forced Craig Swan to leave the mound after three innings, Bob Myrick relieved and received credit for his first major league victory as the Mets defeated the Phillies, 4–1. Myrick was lifted after putting a runner on base in the seventh and Skip Lockwood finished. The Mets scored twice in the fifth on a single by Roy Staiger, pass to Bud Harrelson, a double steal, infield out and wild pitch. Their other pair followed in the sixth on singles by Bruce Boisclair, John Milner and Joe Torre and a sacrifice fly by Staiger.
Although rapped for 11 hits, Bruce Kison lasted the distance and helped himself at bat with two singles and pitched the Pirates to a 3–1 victory over the Cardinals. With the score tied, 1–1, Kison singled in the eighth inning. Pete Falcone, who had started for the Cardinals, was forced to leave the mound with a pulled neck muscle. After Al Hrabosky relieved, Frank Taveras forced Kison, but Rennie Stennett singled, Al Oliver walked and Willie Stargell hit a sacrifice fly to break the tie. Kison batted in an insurance run with a single in the ninth.
The scheduled game between the Los Angels Dodgers and the Braves at Atlanta was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on September 17.
The scheduled game between the Texas Rangers and the Twins at Minnesota was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.
New York Yankees 1, Baltimore Orioles 4
Cleveland Indians 7, Boston Red Sox 8
Kansas City Royals 1, California Angels 2
Montreal Expos 0, Chicago Cubs 5
San Francisco Giants 9, Cincinnati Reds 4
San Diego Padres 1, Houston Astros 4
Detroit Tigers 4, Milwaukee Brewers 6
Chicago White Sox 0, Oakland Athletics 1
New York Mets 4, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Pittsburgh Pirates 3, St. Louis Cardinals 1
Indications of a slight tightening in the Federal Reserve Board’s monetary policy sent the stock market lower yesterday in heavier trading. At the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. the Dow Jones industrial average was down 7.38 points at 984.13, its low of the day.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 984.13 (-7.38, -0.74%)
Born:
Demis Hassabis, British artificial intelligence researcher (DeepMind, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2024) and computer game designer (Theme Park, AlphaGo), in London, England, United Kingdom.
Ryan Michelle Bathe, American actress (“The First Wives Club”), in St. Louis, Missouri.
Pavel Trnka, Czech NHL defenseman (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers), in Plzen, Czechoslovakia
Mwadi Mabika, Congolese WNBA guard and forward (WNBA champions, 2001, 2002; WNBA All-Star, 2000, 2002; Los Angeles Sparks), in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Died:
Ray Brennan, 61, retired US Air Force captain, American Legion bookkeeper and the 1st American to die of “Legionnaire’s Disease,” of an apparent heart attack.
History Diaries 