News stories from Saturday July 6, 1974

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

The shattering of a window in a police car that was escorting Vice President Ford in Dallas set off reports that he had been fired upon by a sniper, but the reports were quickly discounted by officials. Mr. Ford was on his way to from the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport to downtown Dallas to dedicate the new World Trade Center amid the same complex of buildings President Kennedy was bound for when he was assassinated Nov. 2, 1963. The car whose window was broken was the fifth in line behind Mr. Ford's automobile. [New York Times] The White House and the Pentagon are headed toward a multimillion-dollar decision -- and perhaps disagreement -- over whether this year's record defense budget should be increased still further because of inflation. For the moment at least, the White House is determined to hold defense spending this fiscal year at the $85.8 billion level set in the President's budget in January. Roy Ash, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said "We are sure the Defense Department can live within this year's budget unless world conditions change." However, defense officials said if they were forced "to swallow inflation," it could mean reductions in the military establishment. [New York Times] Substantial quantities of vitamins and minerals would be added to flour, bread, breakfast cereals, pastries, cake mixes and cookies, crackers and snack foods under a proposal by the National Research Council's Food and Nutrition Board. The council, the federal government's chief independent scientific research arm, has concluded that large numbers of Americans have a variety of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The Food and Nutrition Board in 1940 urged a vitamin enrichment of flour and bread, which was done, because of nutritional deficiencies among Americans. [New York Times] Overcoming the hostility of a partisan crowd rooting for its old favorite, Ken Rosewall of Australia, Jimmy Connors completed a United States sweep of the singles tennis titles at Wimbledon with an easy victory. Almost faultlessly, 21-year-old Connors outplayed his 39-year-old rival, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. In addition to his first-prize check of $24,000, Connors won the right to lead off the Wimbledon Ball with the winner of the women's singles -- Chris Evert of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., his fiancee. [New York Times] As he toured Western Europe, Secretary of State Kissinger was preparing for a major debate when he gets home on the meaning of security in the nuclear age, and the advantages and risks of detente between the Soviet Union and the United States after three decades of hostility. As details of the summit meeting between President Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev began to emerge, the Soviet Union and the United States were presented as having arrived at a period of crucial decision. [New York Times] In Rome, Mr. Kissinger briefed Pope Paul VI on the Soviet-American talks and also discussed Middle East problems during a 70-minute audience in the Vatican. The future status of Jerusalem and proposals for the establishment of a Palestinian state were major topics, Vatican sources indicated. The Pope reportedly urged international guarantees for the rights of Christians and Moslems in Jerusalem, but he apparently did not press the old Vatican demand for formal internationalization of Jerusalem separate from Israel, Jordan and a proposed Palestinian state. [New York Times] The Italian government presented the nation with a package of austerity decrees that will cost individuals an average of $100 apiece in new taxes over the next 12 months. A sharp rise in the cost of living is expected. Among other things, the new measures raised the already high price of gasoline, and introduced a special purchase tax on all cars, motorcycles, pleasure boats and private airplanes. The value-added tax -- a modified sales tax -- on beef and other basic consumer items was increased to 18 percent from 6 percent. [New York Times] Portugal's new democratic government announced an extensive economic and social program, combining economic incentives with measures to establish greater social justice than the country knew under the old regime. The measures were drawn up under the direction of Vasco Vieira de Almeida, the Minister of Economic Coordination. He said at a news conference in Lisbon that one of his country's problems was the need to control "the highest rate of inflation in Europe" -- estimated at 30 percent annually -- while expanding the country's economy. [New York Times]