News stories from Thursday November 22, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Japan announced that it will make concessions in its Mideast foreign policy in order to get the oil which is necessary to run the country. Japan's foreign ministers decided to switch to a pro-Arab policy in hopes of gaining most favored nation status. The threat of oil shortages in Japan touched off hysterical buying and hoarding; Japan is completely dependent on other countries for petroleum. Premier Tanaka requested energy conservation on a voluntary basis, but so far little response has been noted.
Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban hinted that Japan's new foreign policy could cause repercussions in the U.S. market.
[CBS] - Secretary of State Henry Kissinger stated that if all else fails, "countermeasures" against the Arab oil boycott may be necessary. Kuwait, a major oil producer, is concerned over Kissinger's statement. The House Foreign Affairs Committee insisted that a U.S. food embargo against Arab states won't work.
Iraq and Libya reportedly are continuing to ship oil to the Western world despite the boycott. The Shah of Iran, leader of a major non-Arab oil producing nation, urged his Middle Eastern neighbors to lift the embargo.
[CBS] - Israeli and Egyptian officers met again in Tel Aviv to discuss the Mideast cease-fire. No progress was made today, but the officers agreed to try again tomorrow. Israeli General Yariv and Egyptian General Gamasy discussed troop withdrawals and cease-fire lines without much hope for a break in the deadlock. The prisoner exchange has been completed.
Tension along cease-fire lines continues. A clash occurred at Ismailia's western bank and along the Syrian front. King Hussein of Jordan stated that he is willing to accept international control of some of Jordan's land, currently occupied by Israelis, if Israel will withdraw.
[CBS] - President Nixon's new Watergate offensive, a/k/a "Operation Candor", has not been an immediate success. A new Harris Poll shows a significant increase in the percentage of respondents who believe that Nixon should resign. [CBS]
- The Senate Watergate committee heard testimony regarding the wiretapping of President Nixon's brother Donald Nixon. Former White House investigator John Caulfield revealed in a closed meeting with the committee that Donald Nixon was under physical surveillance as well as being wiretapped in 1970. The reason for the surveillance may have been Donald Nixon's friendship with John Meyer. Meyer, a former aide to Howard Hughes, may testify before the committee regarding Hughes' contribution to the Nixon re-election campaign, which he sent to Nixon pal Bebe Rebozo. Caulfield stated that John Ehrlichman was the one who requested that he monitor the surveillance of Donald Nixon. [CBS]
- John Swint, the American manager of a Ford Motor Company subsidiary plant in Argentina, was ambushed and killed today along with three of his bodyguards, as he was driving to work. [CBS]
- In Maracaibo, Venezuela, honorary German consul Kurt Nagel was released, slightly injured, after a shootout involving Nagel's kidnappers.
A Rome newspaper published pictures purportedly of J. Paul Getty III, without his right ear. Getty was kidnapped in Rome last July. A note accompanied the pictures, pleading with his grandfather to pay the multi-million dollar ransom, but Getty Sr. has refused to pay.
[CBS] - Some groups are trying to blackmail the West German government with the threat of a large-scale germ contamination of the water systems in several cities. Armed officers are guarding water supplies. [CBS]
- Today is the 10th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Numerous ceremonies marked the event. The Kennedy family visited JFK's gravesite early this morning. The only surviving brother, Edward Kennedy, his family, and Mrs. Robert Kennedy paid their respects. Hundreds of people visited Kennedy's grave during the day. [CBS]
- Skylab astronauts Edward Gibson, Gerald Carr and William Pogue spent most of Thanksgiving day working. [CBS]