News stories from Sunday May 11, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The final court order for desegregation of Boston's schools drew sharp criticism from antibusing leaders. The plan, made public Saturday by Federal District Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr., calls for the busing of about 21,000 pupils -- some 3,000 more than were to be bused in this year's troubled interim plan -- and it divides Boston into eight school districts. "It's the death knell of the city."' City Councillor Louise Day Hicks said. She has strongly opposed busing. [New York Times]
- Mayor Beame termed as "specious" and "legal double talk" the arguments by Secretary of the Treasury William Simon for the federal government's refusal to grant New York City $1.5 billion in special assistance. He said he was "appalled and shocked by Secretary Simon's assertion that federal assistance to the city of New York would not be appropriate." [New York Times]
- South Vietnam's new rulers intend to hold nationwide elections and eventually to unify North and South Vietnam, according to delayed news dispatches from Saigon -- the first reports of a news conference held Thursday by the military commander of the Saigon area, Gen. Tran Van Tra, since the Communist victory of April 30. United Press International reported today that General Tra had said that he was not sure when the elections would be held, or when the Provisional Revolutionary Government would take over from the Military Management Committee that he heads, and which administers Saigon. [New York Times]
- Vientiane, the capital of Laos, passed a quiet Constitution Day after a week of political and military upheavals. Joint police units, made up of members from the pro-Communist Pathet Lao and the right-wing element in the coalition government, patrolled the streets as ceremonies marking the national holiday progressed and King Savang Vatthana reviewed the government troops. But there was still uncertainty over the future shape of the government and the likelihood that the kingdom will be less neutral and the government a less balanced coalition than it has been for the last year. "Some important changes are about to occur," the neutralist Premier, Prince Souvanna Phouma, told the nation by radio. [New York Times]
- The aircraft carrier Midway arrived at Guam to unload a controversial cargo of 90 military aircraft that the United States had given to the former Saigon government, but had repossessed after Saigon's fall. The aircraft were estimated to he worth several hundred million dollars. Meanwhile, the curtailment of the refugee airlift from Guam to the continental United States continued. The Midway carried 94 more refugees, who were rescued from a sinking fishing boat in the Gulf of Siam. More than 37,000 refugees were on Guam and an additional 20,000 were expected momentarily on five chartered United States merchant ships. [New York Times]
- A trade treaty between the European Common Market and Israel was signed in Brussels despite a last-minute demand by Arab nations that the signing be delayed until similar treaties could he signed with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. [New York Times]
- After 20 months in power, Chile's military junta shows few signs of dismantling the vast apparatus of political repression created to "extirpate the Marxist cancer." According to government estimates more than 41,000 people -- one of every 250 Chileans -- have been detained at least temporarily for political reasons. Church sources who have concerned themselves with political prisoners believe that the figure is closer to 95,000, one in every 100. Both the government and its domestic critics seem to agree that there are still 5,000 people in prison camps for political reasons. [New York Times]