May 29, 1974

Sup Ct announces that Pres Nixon's atty James D St Clair has agreed to respond within next 2 days to request by Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski for immediate ruling by Ct on his right to obtain more White House tape recordings; St Clair is expected to oppose Jaworski's attempt to bypass US Appeals Ct and carry issue directly to Sup Ct; if Sup Ct accepts case, case could possibly be decided by July; announcement also indicates that Assoc Justice W H Rehnquist will not participate in any decisions relating to Jaworski's petition; this presumably means that Rehnquist will not vote on whether to rev decision by Judge John J Sirica that Nixon must surrender tapes or, subsequently, on whether to affirm or reverse it; theories for Rehnquist's withdrawal noted; both involve his service as Asst Atty Gen in Justice Dept before joining ct in early ‘70; Rehnquist's abstention will mean that 3 rather than 4 men named to Ct by Nixon will participate in decisions on Jaworski's proposal; 3 are Chief Justice W E Burger, Assoc Justices H A Blackmun and L F Powell Jr; 4 votes will be needed to put case on Ct's calendar (L)

May 29: Sec Kissinger on May 28 unexpectedly flies to Damascus in attempt to resolve ‘very, very few problems’ holding up troop separation agreement on Golan hts; meets with Syrian Pres Assad for 4 hrs; pays courtesy call on Soviet Foreign Min Gromyko; US officals believe Gromyko came to Syria to demonstrate Soviet participation in diplomacy; Kissinger later returns to Jerusalem for May 29 meeting with Israeli Premier Meir and other top Israeli officials to set stage for decision later in day by Israeli Cabinet on whether to accept disengagement pkg (M)

The Petroleum Association of Japan, 12 oil companies and 17 senior oil executives have been indicted in Tokyo on charges of conspiracy to fix prices and to control refinery production during 1973. Details on Page 55.

Ulster's coalition govt collapses on May 28, setting off victory celebrations by extremist Prot groups whose 14‐day‐old gen strike crippled prov's econ and interrupted power supplies; Chief Min Brian Faulkner says public support for strike is so widespread that Exec's power‐sharing majority felt it could not continue as representative governing body; failure of Exec Council, which was heralded when formed as pol organ that would open era of cooperation between Prot majority and Cath minority, is interpreted as substantial setback for moderates’ efforts to end bloodshed in prov; collapse is expected to lead to another period of direct Brit rule, pending formation of new prov govt, possibly after new election; Sec of State for Ulster Merlyn Rees flies to London to hold meetings with Prime Min Wilson; Ulster Workers Council spokesman says shutdown will continue untill strikers are given assurances that new elections will be called; work reductions at power stations are halted at present level, meaning that electric power will continue to be available for 6 hrs a day; vital services such as water supply and sewage disposal will continue to be interrupted and food shortages are likely to continue; Brit troops’ takeover of gasoline stations and oil storage depots will also continue until strike is called off; Exec Council's Deputy Chief Gerard Fitt, who is also leader of Cath‐dominated Soc Dem and Labor party, says he opposed negotiations with strikers; position was considered major hurdle in path toward settlement; says he and other Exec members will not resign but rather await dismissal by Rees; Faulkner illus; illus of farmers parking tractors on st leading to Ulster Parliament (L)

US Sup Ct, unanimously as to gen conclusions, rules that class action on behalf of large group of people must be thrown out of ct unless all those people who can be identified receive notice of lawsuit and person who brings it pays for notice; decision, which affects consumer actions, makes it more difficult to use class‐action suits (M)