News stories from Sunday March 12, 1972

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Senator Edmund Muskie, hoping to revive his candidacy in the wake of his modest victory in the New Hampshire primary last week, reversed his position on campaign financing and promised to begin disclosing the names of his contributors within 10 days. But, two days before the 11-candidate Florida Democratic primary, the workers in the Senator's campaign organization remained depressed. [New York Times] The National Black Political Convention voted to create a National Black Assembly to represent black voters and convene similar conventions every four years. A resolution condemning busing to achieve school integration and calling for blacks to control the school in their neighborhoods was also approved by the convention. [New York Times] Amnesty International, a British-based group, accused British security forces in Northern Ireland of using psychological torture and brainwashing on Catholic detainees. The group said psychological mistreatment was more evident than the physical mistreatment that Britain has already promised to correct. [New York Times] With more than half the returns in from the 16 Indian states and two union territories that elected new state legislatures, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India seemed to have won more than 70% of the seats at stake. Her New Congress party displaced ruling opposition parties in three states and one territory. [New York Times] India's army marked its withdrawal from Bangladesh, the nation that it helped to create, with a retreat parade in Dacca Stadium. The withdrawal will test the new government's ability to control its countryside and removes a major obstacle to diplomatic recognition by the United States. [New York Times] Federal standards for cleaning up air and water pollution can be met without "severe" adverse effects on industry or the national economy, according to a government study released in Washington. The study said that no industry's survival was threatened by the cost of pollution control equipment. [New York Times] A group of nations with two-thirds of the world's known oil reserves accepted an offer by four American oil companies to grant six of them a 20 percent share in operations within their borders. The oil-producing nations -- nine in the Middle East as well as Venezuela and Indonesia -- urged other oil companies to follow suit. [New York Times] Lord Pearce, the head of the British commission charged with deciding whether the Rhodesian people accept Britain's settlement terms with Rhodesia, returned to London amid official concern that a new crisis over Rhodesia may be inevitable. Officials expect that Lord Pearce will report that Rhodesian blacks reject the terms, making the settlement a dead letter. [New York Times]