February 19, 1973

Fighting in S Vietnam shows no signs of abating, Feb 18, despite appeal by Joint Mil Comm for immediate halt; fighting appears to have increased since Feb 17; Saigon charges Communists committed 194 more violations of cease-fire during 24 hrs ended at 6 AM, increase over the recent daily average of about 165 violations; Col Le Trung Hien says Saigon has halted all flights by mil planes since appeal was made; Saigon repts 21 Communist soldiers were killed in 2 clashes near Due Pho on Feb 18; in same area on Feb 17, 51 Communists and 6 S Vietnamese were killed; details on other clashes; Internatl Control Comm members say they feel helpless to conduct any real peace-keeping function so long as the fighting goes on; Saigon says it is continuing to relase Communist POWs; says 982 were ferried across Thach Han River, bringing total number of released POWs to 5,496; says it still holds about 19,000 other Communist POWs; says Hanoi has released 711 S Vietnamese POWs and will release 320 more Feb 20

Article on various Eur govts' less tolerant attitudes toward pornographic enterprises operating in their cities; decrease in permissiveness has become visible in Denmark, W Ger, Britian, Italy, France and Yugoslavia; recent trends in Eur are similar to those in NYC and elsewhere in US, where 'backlash' among public has given support to antiobscenity moves; reaction in Eur arises in part out of fears of criminality and drug peddling, which are often associated with the sex business; illus of pornographic bookstore in Soho area of London

W Ger Govt on Feb 18 announces it is removing from Fed budget $20-million it was to have paid W Gers and W Berliners as compensation for visa fees imposed by Communist authorities on those who visit relatives and friends in E Ger; move is expected to discourage visits to E Ger

Feb 19: Egyptian Foreign Min Zayyat will fly to People's Republic of China later in Feb as part of world-wide diplomatic campaign that is taking Pres Sadat's natl security adviser H Ismail to US; Ismail leaves for GB on Feb 18 for talks with Prime Min Heath and Foreign Sec Sir Douglas-Home; will fly to US on Feb 22 and confer with Pres Nixon and Sec Rogers on Feb 23; Zayyat's prospective visit to China will be substitute for Egypt visit by Chinese Min Chi Peng-fei; Zayyat is also going to India; Egyptian official says diplomatic offensive is directed against Big Five--USSR, US, China, GB and France--as well as leaders of so-called Third World; sources say Ismail will stress to US leaders Egypt's desire for peace while making it clear that it will not accept loss of territory; Egyptian decision to send Ismail is understood to have been prompted by Rogers's statement on Feb 15 that Adm will welcome visit of high-placed Egyptians

H Lucas is killed and E Kahn injured on Feb 18 at Mt Peter Skiing Center near Warwick, NY, when ski-lift chair they were in broke loose from lift cable and fell 45 ft to ground; E S Alpert is injured during 4 1/2-hr rescue operation, in which rescue team brought 35 marooned skiers to safety; accident occurred when lift cable slipped from guide wheels attached to 1 of supporting towers along lift's route up slope; obstruction was created in mechanism causing 5 chairs, 1 of which was occupied, to pile up at tower and break from cable; lift mgr P Louhman comments; map; diagram; illus