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News stories from Sunday July 22, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Hijackers continue to hold a Japanese jet with 140 hostages aboard in Dubai. The hijackers are demanding fuel and the release of a Japanese terrorist who is imprisoned in Israel. The plane had left Amsterdam for Tokyo on Friday. One hijacker was accidentally killed on the plane when his grenade blew up.
Two of the hijackers are known to be Japanese. The "Japanese Red Army" is allegedly behind the hijacking. That group was responsible for the massacre at the Tel Aviv airport last year. The Dubai airport is now closed, and Dubai official Abdul Hatoum reports that the hijackers are refusing to negotiate while they wait for orders from their headquarters. Their other demands include food, water and air conditioning for the aircraft. [NBC]
- President Nixon is expected to send the Senate Watergate committee a letter on Monday regarding his decision not to release the White House tapes. The Senate will subpoena the tapes if refused access, and a constitutional battle between Congress and the White House could reach serious proportions. The committee wants the tapes because the disputed conversations between the President and his former counsel John Dean would be on those tapes. Senate Watergate committee chairman Sam Ervin warned that if the President refuses the committee's request for tapes and documents, the public's reaction will be against him. [NBC]
- A Gallup poll shows President Nixon's popularity at its lowest point ever: 40% say they approve the President's handling of Watergate, but 49% say they disapprove; the remainder were undecided. The poll was taken after John Dean's testimony before the Watergate committee, but before John Mitchell's testimony. [NBC]
- Democrats feel that the Watergate scandal will help their chances of winning the 1976 presidential election, but the Democratic party must pull itself together; in the South Democrats are starting to lose followers. According to Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, 90% of Democrats have no interest in the organization of the party and don't want to see quotas used for the '76 national convention.
Actually, the 1972 guidelines didn't require quotas, but the rules were often misunderstood. Georgia state legislator Julian Bond says that those misunderstandings must be eliminated, and congressman Andrew Young stated his belief that Democrats can build a party for the diverse group of people who are looking for new leadership in Washington. [NBC]
- The Soviet Union launched an unmanned spaceship towards Mars. It will take six months to reach the planet. [NBC]
- The treatment of some delinquent children in a Texas institution has caused a statewide scandal. Many such institutions are privately owned without state supervision. The scandal began at an institution 50 miles from Houston when a girl apparently killed herself with poison; the state closed the school. Witnesses say that the school's director refused medical treatment for the 17-year-old girl and beat her for pretending to be ill. The director now faces a first degree murder charge in the girl's death. Investigators were appalled by stories told about the institution, but horror stories have come out regarding others as well.
Texas legislators made surprise visits to some private schools. At the Mary Lee School for Girls, operators of the institution noted that the girls need discipline. Others say the treatment there borders on sadism, complete with an outdoor cage with bars, a 4 x 4 closet used for disciplinary purposes, and a concrete shed. One girl stated she was locked overnight in the concrete shed, and scorpions came in through the walls. A girl from Illinois, institutionalized on a truancy charge, was sent to Texas. She claims to have been placed in a cage with bugs and spiders. Texas will attempt to get tougher laws to prevent such abuses in the future. [NBC]
- There was heavy fighting on all sides of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. U.S. bombers continued to support government troops, but insurgents have tightened their hold around Phnom Penh. [NBC]
- There was significant international criticism over France's nuclear testing in the atmosphere in the South Pacific yesterday; more tests are expected. [NBC]
- Colonel Muammar Kaddafi will tell the Libyan people tomorrow whether he has really resigned. The announcement of Kaddafi's resignation on Friday was seen as a move to pressure Egypt into merging with Libya. [NBC]
- Recently, Israel opened her borders to visitors from Arab countries. Most visitors come for the purpose of visiting Hadassah Hospital, the most advanced hospital in the Middle East. For many Arabs, this hospital is only place to get help without traveling to Europe or the United States. No Arab hospital can handle heart patients; Hadassah is swamped with them. Hospital costs are very expensive for Arabs, so the hospital often foots the bill itself. Despite the ongoing political war, many Arab doctors recommend the Israeli hospital. Medically at least, there is a growing truce in the Mideast. [NBC]
- The government announced a settlement in the strike by the Teamsters Union against fruit and vegetable canneries in California. [NBC]
- Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz stated that lifting the price freeze on most foods removes the possibility of rationing in the United States. [NBC]
- The second Skylab mission will be launched from Cape Kennedy on Saturday. It is slated to last 59 days. [NBC]
- Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit the 700th home run of his career, becoming only the second man to accomplish that feat; Babe Ruth was the first. [NBC]
- A group of divers are heading to sea off of Nantucket, Massachusetts, to the wreckage of the "Andrea Doria" which sank in 1956. The liner is said to contain millions of dollars worth of cargo. [NBC]
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