|
|
News stories from Saturday February 7, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Ford, accompanied by Mrs. Ford and their daughter Susan, campaigned for the first time in New Hampshire for support in the state's primary election on Feb. 24. He discussed his budget, federal revenue sharing and the evils of big government. His campaign style was low-key. Stuart Spencer, deputy director of the President Ford Committee, said that the style and timing of Mr. Ford's campaigning were meant to focus attention on the President's competence and self-confidence. [New York Times]
- There is a feeling among black political and civil rights leaders that black issues have so far been kept in the background in the presidential campaign, and some are bitter about it. In interviews, several prominent blacks complained that even some of the more liberal candidates had shifted to the right on black issues as a result of the threats of Gov. George Wallace of Alabama to the Democrats and Ronald Reagan to the Republicans. Vernon Jordan, executive director of the National Urban League said, "This is the year when the candidates are giving blacks a new minimalism under the supposition that the programs of the 1960's didn't work. So less is to be done for blacks rather than more." [New York Times]
- New census estimates bringing up to date the 1970 census count to 1974, indicate a dramatic reversal in population trends. The Census Bureau reported that the metropolitan areas of the South and Southwest were about the only areas undergoing any substantial growth in population since 1970. The urban centers in the North and Pacific Coast, meanwhile, mostly either lost population or gained only slightly.
A restless and historic movement of people is taking place in the United States, away from the Northern states that have been the base of population and power since the nation was in its infancy. The migration, which has been slowed somewhat by recession, is nevertheless expected to continue and increase beyond 1990, bringing about economic and political changes. [New York Times]
- The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has obtained a copy of a memorandum, produced last year for the Director of Central Intelligence, that a committee source has described as raising "serious questions" about the constitutionality of covert military and political operations undertaken by the United States between 1947 and the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1974. The source said that lawyers who had seen the memorandum believed that it was "important in undercutting the theory" with which the Central Intelligence Agency has justified initiating covert operations without first seeking the approval of Congress. [New York Times]
- The New York Stock Exchange moved swiftly to prevent runaway paperwork problems, following the heaviest trading volume in its history, by ordering all stockbrokers to report to work today to clear up errors. It was the first time in seven years that the exchange had taken such action. George Rose, a trading floor governor, said, "The street is in very good condition, considering the incredible volume. Nothing went wrong. We just don't want to let things get out of control." [New York Times]
- China disclosed that Hua Kuo-feng, a relatively unknown Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security, had been appointed Acting Prime Minister, succeeding Chou En-lai, who died on Jan. 8. Political analysts in Hong Kong were surprised as were Chinese Communist sources there. Since Mr. Chou's death they have expressed the belief that Teng Hsiao-ping, the senior deputy Prime Minister, would replace Mr. Chou. Mr. Hua's appointment was disclosed in a dispatch by Hsinhua, the official press agency, which reported that "Hua Kuo-feng, Acting Premier of the State Council," had met with a visiting Venezuelan official. [New York Times]
- The Ford administration, seeking to strengthen Washington's ties with Cairo, was reported to be close to a major decision to consult with congressional leaders on ending a long-standing ban on the sale of military equipment to Egypt. Administration officials said that various recommendations were at the White House on how to proceed toward lifting the embargo -- the result of weeks of interagency discussions in which the State Department took the lead. The administration has been moving cautiously because the issue of the embargo's removal is an extremely sensitive one in an election year and is a cause of concern in Israel, among Israel's supporters in Congress, and in general. [New York Times]
- Japan's governing party and business establishment have been rocked by revelations in Washington that the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation has paid $12.8 million to Japanese officials and executives to promote the sale of its aircraft in Japan. The latest disclosures made former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka immediately suspect. He was forced to resign in December 1974 because of allegations of financial irregularities. The scandal appears to have delayed a general election that was being considered for the spring. [New York Times]
- Prince Bernhard, husband of Queen Juliana, is at the center of a political storm in the Netherlands as a result of testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee that the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation had paid $1.1 million to a Dutch official to aid the 1959 sale of Starfighter jet aircraft to the Dutch forces. The Prince has been named as the official by a source in Washington. The Dutch Prime Minister, Joop den Uyl, said that the Dutch government had no reason at present to accuse the Prince of wrongdoing, but he said that he had instructed the Dutch Ambassador in Washington to obtain all evidence from the Senate Subcommittee on Multinationals that could implicate a Dutch official. [New York Times]
|
