News stories from Saturday April 5, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Chiang Kai-shek, President of Nationalist China, died of a heart attack in Taipei, Taiwan, late tonight, his physicians reported. He was 87 years old and was the last survivor of the original Big Four Allied leaders of World War II. [New York Times]
- North Vietnamese troops increased their probing attacks in the Mekong Delta today, and Western intelligence officials said it appeared that the Communists might now be trying to open a new front on Saigon's southern flank. Clashes were reported in a number of provinces across the delta with the principal fighting in Kien Giang on the Gulf of Siam. [New York Times]
- Secretary of State Kissinger said the administration would reconsider its policies toward the Saigon government this week following an assessment of the situation by Gen. Frederick Weyand, the Army Chief of Staff. Mr. Kissinger said various options would be debated by the National Security Council on Tuesday or Wednesday and that President Ford would disclose his decision to Congress on Thursday in his scheduled foreign policy address. At a news conference in Palm Springs, Calif., where Mr. Ford is vacationing, Mr. Kissinger left the impression that the government did not know what to do about the worsening military situation, which he described as serious. The tone of his remarks was pessimistic. [New York Times]
- There were reports in Saigon that President Nguyen Van Thieu was planning action against a number of his generals in the belief that they were personally responsible for the loss to the Communists of two-thirds of South Vietnamese territory in the last few weeks. President Thieu has been having increasing difficulties with most of his generals lately, including the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Cao Van Vien. The general staff, sources said, has urged President Thieu repeatedly to step down, but reports that a military coup was being organized were wrong. [New York Times]
- Two chartered jumbo jetliners and two C-14 military cargo planes flew nearly 900 orphans from South Vietnam to American families, and 263 others were flown to Australia and Canada. Meanwhile, investigators found three more bodies in the rice paddy where an Air Force cargo plane, carrying at least 319 people, including 243 children, crashed Friday on the way to the United States. The number of dead is now estimated at 200. The United States Embassy in Saigon refused to release precise casualty figures pending the results of the investigation and notification of next of kin. [New York Times]
- After 10 years on the defensive, Detroit's automobile industry is striking back at environmentalists and safety advocates. Industry officials believe consumers are less interested these days, when many are less affluent, in improvements like strong bumpers, complex braking systems, and sophisticated antipollution equipment. The car companies -- arguing that federal guidelines are helping drive up prices at a time of economic hardship -- are demanding relief from some government regulations together with a five-year moratorium on any new safety and emissions standards. Opposing interests range from Ralph Nader to many of the big insurance companies. [New York Times]
- Over the last 10 years the Bell System has been carrying out a multibillion-dollar electronic revolution in call-handling. Electronic exchanges allow the customer to purchase services that enable him to forward calls automatically to another number, to set up conference calls without an operator, to dial an overseas number directly, and to receive warnings during a call that someone else wants to reach him. [New York Times]