THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 4 JULY 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006004755
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: July 4, 1974

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936.A012200010004-7
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The President's Daily Brief
July 4, 1974
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/15 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012200010004-7
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B(
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
July 4, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Soviets
The Soyuz spacecraft launched yesterday with two
cosmonauts aboard will probably attempt to rendez-
vous and dock later today with the Salyut space
station launched last week. (Page 2)
The USSR may lose as much as 20 percent of its winter
wheat to a plant disease. (Page 3)
A Chinese regiment has been moving into the Ou River
Valley in Laos since late May, presumably to do fur-
ther construction work on the Chinese-built road system.
(Page 5)
Continued heavy demand for sterling to meet payments
to oil producers has strengthened the British pound
since the beginning of the year. (Page 6)
Notes on a Bulgarian power struggle and Syrial
on Page 7.
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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USSR
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USSR
The Soyuz spacecraft launched yesterday with
two cosmonauts aboard will probably attempt to '
rendezvous-and dock later today with the Salyut 3
space station launched last week. This mission rep-
resents a further Soviet effort to develop large
space stations in earth orbit that can be manned by
successive crews for long periods. This effort is
also part of the Soviet preparation for the joint
US-USSR space mission planned for 1975.
Only one of the four previous Salyuts launched
since 1971 has been visited by cosmonauts. That
mission ended in disaster when the crew perished
during re-entry after spending 23 days in orbit.
Two other Salyuts developed malfunctions while in
orbit, and a fourth failed to achieve orbit.
2
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USSR
The Soviets may lose as much as 20 percent of
their winter wheat to a wheat leaf rust. Wet
weather overthe past two months has intensified
the spread of the disease, and spring wheat is also
threatened.
The disease, according to an official Soviet
report, has been detected in a number of sections
of the Ukraine and probably is present in other
winter wheat areas as well.
The two main winter wheat varieties that are
sown. in the USSR have only a moderate tolerance at
best to the rust, which is apparently a virulent
form that appeared in 1973. About 75 percent of
Soviet spring wheat is also susceptible. Substantial
portions of spring wheat were planted very late
this year, and severe damage to the crop could
ocCur if large quantities of the rust spores are
blown north and east from the Ukraine into planting
areas.
3
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ISRAEL
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Chinese Road Network in Northwest Laos
Road
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CHINA-LAOS
A Chinese regiment has been moving into the Ou
River Valley in Laos since late May,. according to
communications intelligence. The regiment probably
is an engineer unit and presumably will be assigned
to further construction work on the Chinese-built
road system.
The arrival of the new regiment may be the
final phase of a large-scale rotation of forces that
has taken place this past dry season. All of the
Chinese infantry and air defense forces in Laos
withdrew late last year and early this year, and
several engineer regiments rotated in and out of
the country. Including the new unit, Chinese
forces in Laos consist of seven engineer regiments
and 3,000 rear service troops. All told, they are
estimated at 23,000 men.
5
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UK
Continued heavy demand for sterling to meet
payments tooil producers has strengthened the
British pound since the beginning of the year de-
spite Britain's record current-account deficit.
Oil producers have converted only a small-share of-
these sterling payments into other currencies. Ster-
ling payments into escrow accounts also have not
been converted because the oil companies are unwill-
ing to speculate with escrow funds.
Most payments to the United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait, and the smaller Persian Gulf states--total-
ing about $400 Million each month--are in sterling.
About one fourth of Saudi Arabia's receipts, about.
$500 million each?month, are also in sterling. So
far this year, sterling payments to producers and
to producer escrow accounts for participation oil
have totaled about $7 billion.
The oil producers are willing to hold sterling
for several reasons:
--The recently negotiated British guarantee
against exchange loss for sterling area coun-
tries.
--Extremely high interest rates in London and
for sterling deposits in the Eurocurrency
market.
--The lingering influence of British bankers
in the Middle East.
--London's traditional importance in interna-
tional finance.
The share of oil payments in sterling and the
proportion of oil producers' assets held in sterling
probably will decline over the next year or two.
At some point the producers will not want to risk
accumulating additional sterling assets. Other things
being equal, the pound would then fall to a level
more consistent with Britain's real economic pros-
pects.
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NOTES
Bulgaria: A power struggle has brought down
four top party leaders and appears to have shifted
the political balance in Bulgaria toward the hard-
liners. The highest ranking official to fall was
Ivan Abadzhiev-, a candidate member of the Politburo
and party secretary for propaganda and agitation.
He had been considered one of the three top-ranking
leaders-and a possible heir to party and government
chief Todor Zhivkov.
Syria
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Top Secret
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