News stories from Saturday August 28, 1976

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

Senator Walter Mondale reacted with delight to the list of campaign issues, outlined by President Ford on Friday. The vice-presidential nominee, in the first response from the Democratic camp to Mr. Ford's most critical attack on his rivals, said the President's compilation was "a list of his failures, not his accomplishments." He said Mr. Ford had mentioned jobs, accelerated homeownership, health care and aid to education as important factors in the campaign, adding that if they were the issues, "the election is over and we have won." [New York Times] Presidential candidates of both major parties, supported for the first time by federal campaign subsidies, spent about $70 million on pre-convention campaigns this year, an increase of one-third over estimates for the 1972 election. Of that amount, about $24 million consisted of payments from the federal treasury to match private campaign contributions of $250 or less. The federal share is expected to increase because a number of the candidates are still raising money and claiming subsidies to meet campaign deficits. According to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, President Ford and Ronald Reagan spent $29.3 million between them, $16 million by Mr. Reagan and $13.3 million by President Ford. Jimmy Carter has spent $12 million so far. [New York Times] The six-day-old strike by inmates at Attica prison in upstate New York appeared to be ending as inmates began to return to work in normal numbers. The resumption of work assignments, meals and classes followed impassioned pleas by inmate leaders who spoke for 90 minutes over the prison radio urging the men to accept proposed changes worked out between them and correction officials. [New York Times] Terrorists in Iran killed three American employees of Rockwell International, a United States concern doing work for the Iranian armed forces. The killers escaped. The United States Embassy said the men were killed in an early-morning ambush in Teheran and identified them as William Cottrell, 43 years old, Robert Krongard, 44, and Donald Smith, 43, all of California. They had been employed by Rockwell, the embassy said, "on a research project for the government of Iran." Iranian officials said the killers were members of the same self-styled "Islamic Marxist" anti-government terrorist group which was officially said to have been responsible for the assassination of two United States army colonels in Teheran last year. [New York Times] Leading genetics researchers hailed reports of the first synthesis of a complete and functioning gene as a significant step toward understanding how these basic units of heredity regulate themselves to influence the health or sickness of organisms. But they stressed that the achievements by Dr. Har Gobind Khorana and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was part of a broad effort in many research centers and that useful applications most likely would come from a combination of approaches. Dr. Khorana's group, culminating a nine-year effort, constructed the gene by assembling the four basic molecular units of the genetic code into the sequence, deduced by others, of one specific natural bacterial gene. [New York Times] The United States told North Korea that it would consider the Communist proposal for partitioning of the Panmunjom truce area if the safety of American troops within the joint security area was firmly guaranteed. Rear Adm. Park Frudden indicated that unless this demand was met, the Communist proposal would not receive serious attention. The American position was outlined at a meeting of the Military Armistice Commission at Panmunjom. It was the third such meeting since last week's slaying of two American officers by North Korean troops near the demilitarized zone. [New York Times] Two giant United States Air Force Star-Lifter transport planes, both based at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, crashed in separate accidents while trying to land in Britain and Greenland, and 39 of the 45 persons aboard were killed. One of the planes was carrying a group of 18 Americans from New Jersey back to the United States air base at Mildenhall, England. All 18 were killed. The other plane was on a flight down the western coast of Greenland from Thule air base to Sondrestrom. It was carrying 27 Americans and Danes, of whom six survived. [New York Times] Chief Gatsha Buthelezi, leader of South Africa's 4.8 million Zulus, accused the South African police of instigating the riots in which 21 blacks were killed in Soweto last week. He said the entire white population would be answerable for the sins that were committed against the blacks in their name. Chief Buthelezi made the statement at a news conference in Johannesburg after attempting to mediate between Zulus and black anti-government demonstrators who were attacked by Zulus. The clashes broke out again today, but the police said they were broken up without further casualties. [New York Times] An unflattering picture of Prince Bernhard has been provided by the official report of the Dutch government into allegations that he had accepted bribes from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He is viewed as petulant, weak, indecisive and scheming. He wrote pained letters to Lockheed complaining that his efforts for the company were unappreciated. The report said he eagerly followed the advice of, and seemed to play a subordinate role to Fred Meuser, a wartime friend and Swiss-based Lockheed official, who cemented Prince Bernhard's links to the company. The Prince, the consort of Queen Juliana, is said to have actively sought funds from Lockheed, have given the impression that he was open to bribes, and to have made it clear to the company that he could maneuver deals to its favor and rarely objected to gift offers from the company. [New York Times]