News stories from Sunday December 3, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Henry Kissinger arrived in Paris to meet North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho. The American and South Vietnamese ambassadors, William Porter and Tran Van Lam, met Kissinger at the airport. Americans appear optimistic about a Vietnam cease-fire. [NBC]
- U.S. fighter-bombers attacked North Vietnam. North Vietnam attacked a South Vietnamese battalion in Kontum and South Vietnamese troops withdrew. [NBC]
- A conference of Democratic governors meeting in St. Louis voted to dump Jean Westwood as chairman of the Democratic national committee. Former committee treasurer Robert Strauss wants to replace her. Westwood was appointed earlier this year by Senator George McGovern.
Democrat governors are determined to exercise more influence on their party in the future, and they want Strauss as the new party leader. Opponents believe that Strauss represents the "old politics", but Strauss says he is not an ideologue. Westwood stated that she will resign only if she is guaranteed that Strauss will not succeed her. It is being reported that McGovern will not necessarily support Westwood now.
[NBC] - All 155 people on board were killed in a plane crash at Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The plane, owned by a Spanish charter company, was carrying German tourists and it exploded shortly after leaving Santa Cruz airport. There will be an investigation. Mr. and Mrs. Josef Artmeier had boarded the plane, but got off before takeoff when Mrs. Artmeier said she was afraid to fly. [NBC]
- President Eamon de Valera of Ireland signed the tough anti-IRA bill which provides that police can jail a person on suspicion of being a member of that organization. [NBC]
- In Seoul, South Korea, 51 people were killed and 76 injured in a theater fire. The blaze may have been caused by a short circuit. [NBC]
- As a result of the recent war between India and West Pakistan, East Pakistan became the free nation of Bangladesh. India and Pakistan exchanged POW's today, with 540 Pakistanis exchanged for 616 Indians who had been held prisoner since last year. The exchange came when Pakistani President Bhutto decided to release Indian POW's unilaterally. India still holds 84,000 more POW's and won't release them until Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh. [NBC]
- Richard Helms may retire as CIA director and be replaced by John Schlesinger, who is currently the director of the Atomic Energy Commission. [NBC]
- A strike by technical writers and illustrators may postpone the Apollo 17 flight from Cape Kennedy.
The Kennedy Space Center is no longer the spotlight of the space program; it is deteriorating now. During Alan Shepard's launch a transfixed nation watched the liftoff, but the space program has come so far that Cape Kennedy is becoming a museum piece.
[NBC] - A report from the FTC says that most advertising claims made by television manufacturers are unsubstantiated. [NBC]
- Because of the technicians' strike, CBS canceled its coverage of an NFL game between the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. [NBC]
- After his visit to Mexico, Chilean President Salvador Allende will come to New York City, where the Marxist leader will appear at the United Nations and speak against the aggression of American corporations. [NBC]
- Commissioner Louis Bruce of the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved Interior Secretary Rogers Morton's move to temporarily take away Bruce's authority. [NBC]
- An Egyptian airliner was not hit by bullets during its takeoff from Amman, Jordan, as was first believed, an investigation revealed. Holes in the plane were caused by rocks and debris. [NBC]
- The 1976 Winter Olympics has no home after the residents of Colorado voted to reject the Olympics being held there. Residents of Monmouth, Oregon, have proposed their town as a site; the town has a population of 5,590. Olympics promoter D.E.P. Bridges described how farmer Milford Nelson has volunteered his cow pasture for a ski slope; Nelson said that his cows wouldn't be spooked by the skiers, and cross-country events could be held over his wet rye fields. He noted that skating could take place on slippery sheep shed building floors. [NBC]