News stories from Thursday February 1, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- North Vietnam released a list of American prisoners being held in Laos. The U.S. believed that 60 names would be given, but the list contains only 10. Seven are servicemen, two are American civilians and one is a Canadian civilian. Henry Kissinger expressed his disappointment with the list. Soviet journalist Victor Louis reported that some American POWs are being held in secret maximum security camps in China in Yunnan Province on the North Vietnamese border. [CBS]
- In the week before the cease-fire, four Americans were killed in Vietnam, 13 were wounded and four are missing. [CBS]
- In an interview, Henry Kissinger said that the U.S. bombed Hanoi in December to convince North Vietnam that the war had a cost. At the same time the U.S. indicated to President Thieu of South Vietnam that we would settle the war on terms thought to be reasonable with North Vietnam. Kissinger added that the decision to bomb was "very painful". [CBS]
- Viet Cong General Tran Van Tra arrived in Saigon to take his seat on the Joint Military Commission, which is charged with providing security and transportation to the International Control Commission. The military commission is composed of representatives from the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The ICC can now go into action. [CBS]
- Heavy fighting was reported near the demilitarized zone in South Vietnam, but cease-fire violations are generally decreasing. President Thieu blamed the cease-fire violations on the enemy and said that truce supervisors must see to it that the Communists observe the cease-fire; Thieu denied that South Vietnamese troops have violated the truce. He wants American planes to remain in Thailand, and said the least the U.S. can do is offer continued air support to South Vietnam if truce violations continue to occur. [CBS]
- At the annual prayer breakfast today, President Nixon stated that for the first time in 10 years a president can say that America is at peace in Vietnam; he also prayed for peace on earth. Senator Mark Hatfield called the Vietnam war a sin that has scarred our national soul. Later, the President met with British Prime Minister Edward Heath, who praised Nixon's peace efforts. Heath is in the U.S. to discuss troop strength in Europe, inflation, the Mideast and other matters. [CBS]
- Congress is holding hearings on President Nixon's impounding of funds it appropriated. Congress was aggravated by the cancellation of an appearance by Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz. Senator Sam Ervin is considering a court order to make Butz testify. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman William Fulbright threatened to cut off foreign aid unless the President spends frozen domestic appropriations. The Senate also passed a $593 million rivers and harbors bill identical to the one vetoed earlier by the President. [CBS]
- Senator John Stennis is still in very serious condition but has improved since Tuesday. Stennis was shot after being robbed by two youths outside his Washington, DC home. [CBS]
- Yesterday in the Pentagon Papers trial, a witness testified that a Pentagon official told him that press spokesman Jerry Friedheim ordered the suppression of evidence favorable to the defense. Today, Charles Hinkle, the Pentagon director of Security Review, denied that charge. [CBS]
- A court ordered nationwide compliance with clean air standards by mid-1975. This supersedes the two-year extension which had been granted earlier by the EPA. [CBS]
- The decisions by TWA and Pan Am not to buy the British-French Concorde supersonic transport have renewed American hopes for its own SST. NASA is working on an experimental supersonic transport that would overcome the drawbacks of the Concorde and also satisfy environmentalists regarding noise pollution. The plane could fly faster than the speed of sound and still generate no sonic boom. [CBS]
- A court ordered Virginia prison warden W.K. Cunningham to pay $21,000 in damages to three former convicts. Judge Robert Merhige said that Cunningham directed and agreed to cruel and unusual punishment for inmates such as bread and water diets, extended periods of solitary confinement and the arbitrary use of tear gas. [CBS]
- A British court ruled that private clubs can prohibit membership on the grounds of race. [CBS]
- The U.S. postal service announced the creation of a stamp to honor former President Lyndon Johnson. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 985.78 (-13.24, -1.33%)
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* |
| January 31, 1973 | 999.02 | 116.03 | 14.87 |
| January 30, 1973 | 992.93 | 115.83 | 15.27 |
| January 29, 1973 | 996.46 | 116.01 | 14.68 |
| January 26, 1973 | 1003.54 | 116.45 | 21.13 |
| January 24, 1973 | 1004.59 | 116.73 | 20.87 |
| January 23, 1973 | 1018.66 | 118.22 | 19.06 |
| January 22, 1973 | 1018.81 | 118.21 | 15.57 |
| January 19, 1973 | 1026.19 | 118.78 | 17.02 |
| January 18, 1973 | 1029.12 | 118.85 | 17.81 |
| January 17, 1973 | 1029.12 | 118.68 | 17.68 |