News stories from Sunday February 22, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Former President Richard Nixon, appearing at a banquet in Peking, praised the Shanghai communique he signed at the end of his visit to China four years ago and then added "There are some who believe that the mere act of signing a statement of principle or a diplomatic conference will bring instant and lasting peace. This is naive." Some observers took the remarks as veiled criticism of President Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the trust they placed in the Soviet Union with the signing of last year's Helsinki agreement. There was no comment on Mr. Nixon's remarks by officials in Washington. [New York Times]
- In his toast to his Chinese hosts at the Great Hall of the People in Peking. Mr. Nixon seemed to be combining a sentimental personal reaffirmation of the Shanghai communique he signed as President with a criticism of the Soviet Union. Mr. Nixon described the communique, which he had issued with the late Prime Minister Chou En-lai, as "something more than the usual statement signed by two leaders of a nation at a particular time." [New York Times]
- Disputes arising from the old issue of Puerto Rico's status as a Commonwealth hampered efforts of the local Democratic Party to elect delegates to the national convention in New York this summer. Half of the caucuses -- held simultaneously in each of the island's eight senatorial districts -- had to be suspended after fistfights broke out between supporters of Senator Henry Jackson and Jimmy Carter. Only six delegates were selected. The caucuses were supposed to choose 17 of the 22 delegates who will participate in the convention. No new date was set for another attempt to select the remainder of the 17. [New York Times]
- Members of civic groups protesting forthcoming flights by the British-French Concorde supersonic jet to and from Kennedy International Airport formed a motorcade that slowed traffic on the main roads to the airport for two and a half hours. It was estimated that 1,500 cars were in the motorcade. [New York Times]
- A state survey predicts that New York City's population will drop by 800,000 by the end of the century, with most of the decline in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The population growth in the rest of the state is expected to be below estimates made only two years ago. The survey by the Economic Development Board said the decline would result from the migration of New Yorkers to other regions, a statewide birth rate that has remained below national averages, a poor economy and a "marked decline" in the inflow of Southern blacks. [New York Times]
- The Central Intelligence Agency diverted more than half a billion dollars from Navy research, including vital anti-submarine warfare programs, in its efforts to raise a sunken Soviet nuclear missile submarine from the Pacific, according to a maritime magazine. The costs given by Sea Technology, a professional journal, were more than 25 percent higher than previous estimates. Well placed sources confirmed that Navy funds had been used, but refused to discuss the amounts involved. [New York Times]
- Highly placed Iranian sources said that the Northrop Corporation of California recently paid an unannounced rebate of $2 million to the Iranian government to atone for ethically questionable payments to third parties in connection with earlier sales of military aircraft to Iran. Nevertheless, they said the government has decided to make a penalty deduction of more than $8 million from payments to a Northrop subsidiary, Page Communications Engineers, and three other companies involved in a $200 million communications project. [New York Times]
- Years of prosperity in Japan have ended with the country's deepest and longest recession since World War II. Now at its worst level in 16 years and still worsening, unemployment has become a frustrating new phenomenon. [New York Times]