News stories from Monday February 26, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- It appears that POWs will not be released tonight as anticipated. The hitch in the release may be North Vietnam's reaction to anti-Communist riots in Hue and Danang. In Hue, a commemorative ceremony for victims of the 1968 Tet offensive turned into a riot directed against Communist members of the Joint Military Commission who were staying in Hue. Five North Vietnamese soldiers were injured. [CBS]
- Evidence suggests that North Vietnam is building an air base in South Vietnam and setting up missiles to protect it. The base was set up below the demilitarized zone after the cease-fire went into effect. [CBS]
- An international conference on Vietnam opened in Paris. Foreign ministers of the great powers, including China, Russia and the United States, have gathered to guarantee Vietnam peace. The last time such a conference was held was in Geneva in 1954; that effort collapsed.
The delegates are not getting along well. The conference is having difficulty even selecting a chairman. Vietnamese Communists rejected Secretary of State Rogers' appeal that the conference also discuss peace for Laos and Cambodia, and they also rejected the idea that aid for North Vietnam become multilateral. Canada says it will pull out of the International Control Commission within 60 days unless the conference sets up a team to which the ICC can report cease-fire violations. Canadian Secretary of State Mitchell Sharp stated that Canada does not wish to remain part of an ineffective team.
[CBS] - The Nixon administration tried unsuccessfully to clarify its position on wage increase guidelines under Phase III. Rumors were that AFL-CIO president George Meany had won concessions from Cost of Living Council director John Dunlop regarding wage increase guidelines. The old guideline set the wage increase ceiling at 5.5%. Today Dunlop and Treasury Secretary Shultz denied that the ceiling has been changed to 7% or more. Dunlop reported that Phase II ceilings remain in effect, but Meany stated that the 5.5% standard has been changed. Shultz claims that the administration and Meany are both interpreting Phase III the same way, despite the different figures. [CBS]
- The dollar was steady and gold prices dropped on international money markets. [CBS]
- Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir arrived in the U.S. for a visit with President Nixon. Meir stated that the Mideast nations must learn to live together. [CBS]
- More than half of the 100 passengers aboard a Libyan passenger plane were killed when Israeli fighters shot it down last week; 55 were buried today. In Benghazi, Libya, an angry crowd demanded revenge for the Israeli-caused deaths. Libyan leader Colonel Kaddafi is faced with demands for a full-scale war on Israel; Kaddafi is militantly anti-Israel. [CBS]
- The Supreme Court refused to review its ruling legalizing abortion. [CBS]
- The crash of a plane in Atlanta has been attributed to birds being sucked into the plane's engines. The pilot of the private jet radioed that he had hit a flock of birds after taking off from the Atlanta airport. The plane then crashed into a large apartment complex. All seven aboard the plane were killed; one man on the ground was critically injured but nobody was killed. [CBS]
- United Farm Workers leader Caesar Chavez claims that some lettuce has been contaminated with a pesticide resembling nerve gas. Last week the FDA acknowledged that lettuce with a residue of chemicals well over the legal limit was found. The chemical is called "Monitor 4." [CBS]
- The dismantling of Office of Economic Opportunity offices is being halted, at least temporarily. The move comes after lawsuits were filed challenging the legality of the dismantlement. Howard Phillips, acting director of the OEO, has reportedly said that OEO projects can expect funding for at least 30 more days. [CBS]
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted today to continue foreign aid only if impounded funds are restored to domestic programs. Another amendment would prevent any money going to North Vietnam for reconstruction purposes without the specific approval of Congress. [CBS]
- President Nixon's budget cuts and impoundment of funds are forcing Congress to reexamine and reorganize itself. Senator Hubert Humphrey tomorrow will introduce a bill to prohibit the presidential impoundment of funds. The bill would also open up the budget-making process to the public and Congress as the budget is being composed. [CBS]
- A West German bank employing a man as an armored truck driver informed him of his imminent dismissal. Today he drove off with $1 million. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 953.79 (-6.10, -0.64%)
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* |
| February 23, 1973 | 959.89 | 113.16 | 15.45 |
| February 22, 1973 | 971.78 | 114.44 | 14.57 |
| February 21, 1973 | 974.34 | 114.69 | 14.88 |
| February 20, 1973 | 983.59 | 115.40 | 14.02 |
| February 16, 1973 | 979.23 | 114.98 | 13.32 |
| February 15, 1973 | 973.13 | 114.45 | 13.94 |
| February 14, 1973 | 979.91 | 115.10 | 16.52 |
| February 13, 1973 | 996.76 | 116.78 | 25.32 |
| February 12, 1973 | 991.57 | 116.06 | 16.13 |
| February 9, 1973 | 979.46 | 114.68 | 19.26 |