WASHINGTON: The abrupt cancellation of public appearances this evening [Oct 25] by President Nixon and Soviet party chief Leonid Brezhnev within a quarter of an hour of each other, led to speculation here that they had been in contact over their “hot line”. President Nixon was due to give a televised Press conference and Mr Brezhnev was scheduled to address a World Congress of Peace Force in Moscow. An hour before Mr Nixon was due to go on air a White House spokesman assured reporters that the conference would be held as scheduled. The apparently serious new developments, coming a mere four days after American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s agreement with the Soviet leadership took Moscow completely by surprise. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Milan,] the Shah of Iran has pledged in an interview … that he would not cut off oil supplies to the West but warned that petrol could be 10 times its present price. In the interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci … the Shah said: “I have got petroleum and I cannot drink it… I know that I can exploit it without blackmailing the rest of the world. Therefore, I have chosen the policy of assuring the sale to everyone, without discrimination.”

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2023