News stories from Saturday July 26, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Ford flew to Bonn today on the first leg of a 10-day journey of diplomatic gestures across Europe, accompanied by his wife and Secretary of State Kissinger. He will participate in the summit-level confirmation by 35 countries of a charter on European security in Helsinki, Finland, late this week, the primary purpose of the trip, and will visit the capitals of Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia. A senior White House official said the real, if unpublicized, purpose of the visits to the three East European capitals was to encourage Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia to continue pursuit of political lines relatively independent of Moscow. [New York Times]
- President Ford will attempt to meet with Premier Suleyman Demirel of Turkey at the European security conference next week in Helsinki. Newsmen accompanying Mr. Ford on his European trip were told of the proposed meeting and they learned that there was uncertainty whether the Turkish leader would consent to see Mr. Ford privately. They were also told that the suspension of the United States military operations in Turkey "will leave us very vulnerable" and Turkey might seek "radical Arab money" to buy weapons it could not get from the United States. Meanwhile, Turkish troops started taking control of the American bases in Turkey. [New York Times]
- President Ford vetoed a $2 billion health bill, and the Senate, acting with unusual speed, overrode the veto, 67 to 15. Congressional observers attributed the size of the vote and its speed partly to the popularity of the health measures and the small amount of the funds appropriated in the bill. The bill would authorize grants to state public health programs, family planning, community health centers and migrant health centers. It would also authorize funding for rape prevention and control, the treatment of hemophilia, and the education of nurses. [New York Times]
- The three Apollo astronauts were reported improved at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu where they have been under treatment for lung irritation since their landing in the Pacific on Thursday. A medical bulletin said their "health status" was satisfactory, but that they would continue to be under observation for 24 to 48 hours. [New York Times]
- Governor Carey of New York said he felt "very strongly" that New York City did not need special legislative help in its current fiscal crisis. Insisting, with the strongest terms he has used in discussing the city's problems, that it would be best that he not become "immersed" in the crisis, Mr. Carey believes, that in addition to the city's "inherent powers" to carry out such austerities as a wage freeze, the new Municipal Assistance Corporation has received from the state "enough clout to work with the city -- I emphasize with the city -- to reach a favorable solution." [New York Times]
- Soaring malpractice insurance rates for physicians and hospitals have sharply driven up costs of medical diagnosis and treatment for patients. Many health officials believe the quality of health care is threatened. Patients of some osteopathic physicians, dentists and podiatrists are also paying higher fees, mainly because, these doctors say, they are being charged increasingly higher rates for their liability premiums. [New York Times]
- Authoritative sources in Hong Kong said that former President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam would leave Taiwan, where he has been living since April 26, this week, and would go to England where he may be granted political asylum. He reportedly had sought approval to go to the United States, but was advised by American officials that presence would be "inopportune." [New York Times]
- President Valery Giscard d'Estaing of France and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany announced in Bonn that their countries would begin synchronized programs at the end of August to improve their economies. France will pump $3.5 billion into her sluggish economy, and West Germany will spend $2 billion; much of the money will go into public building projects. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, which have already entered into a joint monetary agreement with France and West Germany, will be invited to join their latest economic effort. [New York Times]
- The government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi arrested a group of prominent elderly citizens, all in their 60's and 70's, who had threatened to defy her curbs on freedom of the press and speech. The arrested persons had sent an open letter to Mrs. Gandhi urging her to return to the free-press policy advocated by her father, the late Jawaharlal Nehru. [New York Times]
- In a protest against the authoritarian direction Mrs. Gandhi's government has taken, 10,000 people gathered at a rally on a soccer field in Ahmadabad in the state of Gujarat, one of only two states in India whose governments are not controlled by Mrs. Gandhi's Congress party. [New York Times]