News stories from Saturday January 18, 1975

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

President Ford issued a statement strongly endorsing Treasury Secretary William Simon, whose possible departure from the cabinet has been the subject of growing speculation in Washington. The statement, read by the White House press secretary after Mr. Ford and Mr. Simon met, said, "The President has not, and has no intention of, asking him to leave." Reports that Mr. Simon would leave his post were based on his disagreement with President Ford's proposed tax cuts and the budget deficits. [New York Times] New Democratic members of the House who stirred the sudden revolt against key committee chairmen last week, will reportedly try to purge as many as four chairmen of the important House Appropriations subcommittee this week. The four chairmen are Southern conservatives whose views on national issues have differed from most House Democrats, and whose positions have given them the opportunity, frequently exercised, to curtail spending on liberal programs enacted by the majority. [New York Times] The Standard Oil Company of California has notified the Navy that it wishes to withdraw as operator of the Elk Hills naval petroleum reserve in California. Elk Hills is one of two naval petroleum reserves for which President Ford wants Congress to authorize full-scale commercial production as part of a 10-year drive toward what the President called "energy independence." Standard Oil told the Navy that it wanted to use its drilling rigs and oil-field personnel elsewhere and that it wanted to avoid any new criticism of its role in Elk Hills. The reserve figured in the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s. [New York Times] The role of Premier Chou En-lai, a political leader of China for 25 years, was solidly endorsed at China's long-deferred National People's Congress in Peking last week, according to a communique issued today. The meeting was the first in a decade. The Congress, which is China's official legislative body, also approved a new national Constitution and a slate of ministers. The new governmental line-up, composed of 12 Deputy Premiers and 29 ministers, was heavily weighted in favor of senior and elderly officials who have long been close to Mr. Chou, who is 76 years old. The crucial post of Defense Minister was given to Yeh Chien-ying, 76 years old, who had been acting Defense Minister. [New York Times] About 5,000 Greek Cypriote youths ransacked British offices in Nicosia and burned a wing of the United States Embassy in protest against London's decision to let 10,000 Turkish Cypriote refugees leave a British military base for Turkey. The British decision infuriated ethnic Greeks, who believe that it helps the Turks to divide Cyprus into two separate districts. The refugees eventually are expected to be transferred to the northern part of Cyprus, which is under Turkish control, and established in homes and shops abandoned by Greek Cypriotes during the Turkish invasion last July. [New York Times] After six years of increasingly bitter controversy growing out of North Korea's capture of the American spy ship Pueblo, the Navy is preparing to open a new inquiry into the behavior of the vessel's crew during nearly a year of captivity. The investigation will include psychiatric and medical studies of the Pueblo's officers and men who have been exchanging recriminations. [New York Times]