News stories from Friday April 14, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- North Vietnam increased its offensive over all of South Vietnam, bringing the total to 107 attacks since yesterday. South Vietnam recaptured An Loc after rangers were airlifted into the city from the stranded relief column on Highway 13. Thirty U.S. B-52s dumped two million pounds of bombs on North Vietnamese and Viet Cong positions surrounding the city. South Vietnamese reinforcements who were still on Highway 13 fled in the face of a North Vietnamese rocket attack. Enemy rockets also hit the U.S. Air Force Base at Danang.
Refugees are attempting to return to Dong Ha. The army commander there refused to let the refugees revisit their homes to collect possessions because it might prompt a new enemy attack. Soldiers took food and clothes from Dong Ha for redistribution at refugee centers, but some soldiers pilfered the items. Police and American advisers arrived to negotiate; North Vietnam took advantage of the situation and fired on the city. The refugees fled again.
Near Saigon, five 100-pound enemy rockets hit Tan Son Nuit AFB, headquarters of the U.S. Air Force and General Creighton Abrams. North Vietnam has stepped up pressure on Hue, Fire Bases King and Bastogne, and Phu Bai. Clouds have cleared, permitting more U.S. bombing missions to be run.
At the site of the Paris Peace Talks, North Vietnam called President Nixon the greatest war criminal in history for ordering the bombing of North Vietnam.
[CBS] - The Pentagon ordered a world-wide investigation of USO operations, beginning with a probe in South Vietnam of fraud charges involving substantial sums of money. Defense Secretary Laird said that black markets and currency manipulation are involved. [CBS]
- The Saturn 5 rocket is poised on the launch pad, ready to send another team of Apollo astronauts to the moon; the countdown continued with no problems so far. This mission is to the moon's central highlands and the Usa Cartes crater. The astronauts include John Young, Charles Duke and Ken Mattingly. It was announced that future "space shuttles" will be launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. [CBS]
- In a speech to the Canadian Parliament, President Nixon indirectly attacked Russia's military aid to North Vietnam. Nixon and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau discussed U.S.-Canadian relations, but both are running for re-election and they avoided potentially explosive issues. [CBS]
- Industrial production was up 0.6% in March. [CBS]
- Herb Stein, chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, says that changes are planned for the government's economic control program. [CBS]
- The west coast Longshoremen's union filed a suit against the federal Pay Board for cutting its negotiated pay increase by 6%. [CBS]
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that ITT itself proposed four of the six key provisions in its antitrust settlement which, since controversy erupted, ITT has termed "harsh". At a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, the Chilean representative accused ITT of meddling in Chile's affairs for trying to block the election of Chile's Marxist president, Salvador Allende. [CBS]
- Thirty bombings have been reported in Northern Ireland within the past two days, causing $2.5 million in damage. In Londonderry, the Irish Republican Army warned British troops to stay out of Catholic neighborhoods. British soldiers already avoid a section of Londonderry which is openly guarded by masked IRA gunmen. Residents of "Free Derry" have their own courts and police. They use city firemen and garbage collectors, but do not pay rents or taxes. IRA commander Sean Keenan declared that the IRA patrols the area and no British soldiers are allowed. [CBS]
- The Justice Department filed antitrust suits in Los Angeles, accusing the major television networks of monopolizing prime-time entertainment programming. [CBS]
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 967.72 (+2.19, +0.23%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| April 13, 1972 | 965.53 | 109.91 | 17.99 |
| April 12, 1972 | 966.96 | 110.18 | 24.69 |
| April 11, 1972 | 962.60 | 109.76 | 19.93 |
| April 10, 1972 | 958.08 | 109.45 | 19.47 |
| April 7, 1972 | 962.60 | 109.62 | 19.90 |
| April 6, 1972 | 959.44 | 109.42 | 22.83 |
| April 5, 1972 | 954.55 | 109.00 | 22.96 |
| April 4, 1972 | 943.41 | 108.12 | 18.11 |
| April 3, 1972 | 940.92 | 107.48 | 14.99 |
| March 30, 1972 | 940.70 | 107.20 | 14.36 |