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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1978)
Russian satellite takes a great fall YELLOWKNIFE, Canada (AP) — A nuclear powered Soviet spy satellite fell from orbit into the atmosphere above this remote region of northwest Canada Tuesday, streaking vividly and soundlessly across the pre-dawn sky and raising some fears of radioactive contamination. Canadian and U.S. officials said there was probably no serious danger. But five American mili tary airplanes, to be joined later by four Canadian planes, flew to the scene, 850 miles north of the U.S. border, to check for radioactivity and possible re mnants of the fallen spacacraft. "When it came overhead and we could get a good look at it, I could see dozens and dozens of parts,” said Yellowknife resident Marie Ruman. “Each part had long, bright tail.... As it was disappear ing the main piece turned bright red. It was just fan tastic." In Moscow, the official Soviet news agency said the Cosmos 954 satellite had been designed to self destruct in the event of such a fall. It has “ceased to exist,” the agency said. Canadian officials said any pieces of the satellite ..jLild have slammed into the earth in a sparsely settled area 60 miles east of Yellowknife, a frontier town of 8,000 on Great Slave Lake. Canadian Defense Minister Barney Danson said he was “98 percent or more” certain the satel lite, carrying 100 pounds of highly radioactive en riched uranium 235, had burned up in the atmos phere. “I don't think there is any cause for hysteria," he said at an Ottawa news conference. World at a glance From Associated Press reports Police demand proof of kidnap PARIS — Police demanded Tuesday that the kidnappers of Belgian industrialist Baron Edouard-Jean Empain deliver any of his personal possessions “to prove they are indeed holding him hostage." The message was issued following anonymous telephone calls claiming leftist groups were responsible for the abduction of the 40-year-old nobleman. One caller demanded release of two imprisoned members of the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang in what was believed to be the first information linking the abduction to the West German terrorists. Mitchell goes under knife WASHINGTON — John Mitchell had surgery Tuesday for repair of an artery in his abdomen and his doctor said the 64-year-old former attorney general came through the operation in good shape. Mitchell was reported resting “relatively comfortably” in the surgical intensive care unit at Georgetown University Hospital. In the three-hour operation, Dr. Charles Hufnagel removed a large abdominal aortic aneurism extending from below the navel to the breastbone. Army moves deadly chemicals BANGOR, Wash. — Nearly two quarts of deadly chemicals once used in military training exercises will be transported Thurs day from locai installations to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver, a Navy spokesman says. The Army says the packages contain sets of various chemi cals, usually in vials of 3Vi ounces each. In addition to lethal nerve gas, there are chemicals that cause death by blistering, choking or affecting the victim s bloodstream. V. / Carter orders shake-up WASHINGTON (AP) — Pres. Carter ordered a major reorgani zation of the U S. intelligence community Tuesday, terming his action a “major step forward" in safeguarding both the national in terest and civil liberties. At a White House ceremony Carter signed a bulky executive order designed not only to stream line the intelligence set-up but also to put strict new curbs on covert activities that drew fire from congressional investigators. The restrictions include an outright ban on attempted political assas sinations. The president took the occasion to express his “sincere and com plete confidence" in Adm. Stans field Turner, an Annapolis class mate he named as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Turner emerges from the reor ganization with enhanced author ity, particularly over the prepara tion of budgets not only for Cl A but also for the Pentagon's National Security Agency and Defense In telligence Agency. However, ad ministration officials acknow ledged Turner did not get all the expanded powers he sought. Economy Sadat’s biggest foe CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Most Egyptians blame Israel rather than Anwar Sadat for the abrupt halt in peace negotiations and analysts say the limping economy, rather than the Mideast crisis, continues to be the president’s chief problem at home. “I believe Sadat can rule Egypt as long as he wants. There is no organized opposition in Egypt and Egyptians tend to worship their leader,” a leading leftist politics professor said Tuesday. "He would not be toppled by the handling of the negotiations with Israel but by the economy.” As long as Sadat continues to receive the support of the Egyp tian army, analysts say, and as long as the economy continues to make "dramatic improvement," in the words of World Bank Presi Exxon reports profit loss NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Corp., the world’s largest industrial firm, reported Tuesday its second de cline in annual earnings in the past 10 years. The firm cited the recent weakness of the U.S. dollar as a prime reason. Exxon, with operations in more than 100 countries, said its esti mated net income for 1977 was $2.41 billion, or $5.38 a share, down 8.7 percent. Among other oil companies re porting earnings Tuesday: • Standard Oil Co. Indiana, the nation’s sixth-largest oil firm, re ported net earnings for 1977 of $1,011 billion, or $6.90 a share, compared to $88.2 million, or $6.05 per share, in 1976. dent Robert McNamara, Sadat seems assured of maintaining a free negotiating hand. The Egyptian public greeted with jubilation Sadat’s Nov. 19-21 fence-mending visit to Jerusalem and his subsequent declaration of “No more war." Many saw it as a solution to Egypt’s economic de pression and hoped more money could be diverted from defense spending into social programs aimed at improving the standard of living. The relentless rise in Egypt’s cost of living has been blamed for the bloody riots of January 1977 when nearly 1,000 persons were killed or injured in violence that Sadat claimed was Soviet inspired. The steady increase in popula tion puts pressure on housing and job markets, but economists say significant progress has been made recently. SUPER KITCHEN BUYS
