News stories from Wednesday April 16, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Cambodian government surrendered to insurgent forces, the Cambodian radio announced. The Phnom Penh government ordered all troops to stop firing and lay down their arms. Gen. Mey Sichan, chief of operations for the Cambodian army, went on the radio and said soldiers and functionaries should cease all combat and invite the rebels to take power. After his speech a "representative of the liberation forces" told all government officers to report to the Information Ministry, site of the radio station, under a white flag of surrender. [New York Times]
- President Ford, replying to questions at the convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, contrasted what he called the failure of the United States to keep its commitments to Saigon with the support of Moscow and Peking for Hanoi. He said this had led to "this present tragic situation." He said he was convinced that the South Vietnamese could stabilize the military situation today if Congress gave the military aid he requested. An aide said later that the Paris peace accords of 1973 placed a ceiling on arms to both sides but did not bind the United States to provide any. [New York Times]
- Gen. Frederick Weyand, the Army Chief of Staff, told a Senate committee that one of the evacuation plans under consideration would he the establishment of a corridor from Saigon to the sea to evacuate tens of thousands of Vietnamese. Pentagon officials suggested that under hostile conditions, protection of the corridor would require at least one Marine division and air power from Navy carriers. [New York Times]
- The representative in Paris of the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government called for immediate and permanent withdrawal from South Vietnam of what he called 25,000 American military personnel disguised as civilians. He said no obstacle would be placed in their path. But he would not be drawn out on the safety of foreigners who stayed in areas that came under Viet Cong control and he accused the Ford administration of advancing evacuation plans only as a pretext for renewed military intervention. He called statements that the lives of 200,000 South Vietnamese would be endangered "a pure fabrication" and a "calumny." [New York Times]
- South Vietnam troops continued to fight at Xuan Loc, 38 miles northeast of Saigon, under heavy Communist shelling, but government units on the town's approaches were falling back along with crowds of refugees. Fire from Communist artillery continued to disrupt fighter-bomber traffic at the Bien Hoa air base, closer to the capital. The government announced it had abandoned the port of Phan Rang on the South China sea. Saigon's overall position appeared worse than at any time since the loss of the central part of the country. [New York Times]
- The Supreme Court ruled that states may exempt some violators from compliance with air pollution requirements without federal approval, as long as they achieve and maintain national standards for atmospheric quality. Reversing a lower court decision by a 7-to-1 vote, the justices held that a state could grant an individual exemption without clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency. E.P.A. officials said later they thought this would apply only to relatively small plants. [New York Times]
- The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a suit in Washington accusing the Northrop Corporation of maintaining a secret fund for political and other purposes, at least some of them illegal, amounting to $30 million. The company immediately announced that it had agreed to a settlement. This is the largest fund any company has been accused of maintaining. Northrop had previously admitted an illegal $1.2 million fund. [New York Times]
- Aleksandr Shelepin was removed from the Soviet Union's ruling Politburo "at his own request," according to the press agency Tass. The initial reaction in Moscow was that this strengthened the hand of Leonid Brezhnev as party leader by removing a younger rival. The Central Committee meeting that took the action also scheduled the next party's Congress to meet on Feb. 24, 1976. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 815.71 (+0.63, +0.08%)
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* |
| April 15, 1975 | 815.08 | 86.30 | 29.62 |
| April 14, 1975 | 806.95 | 85.60 | 26.80 |
| April 11, 1975 | 789.50 | 84.18 | 20.16 |
| April 10, 1975 | 781.29 | 83.77 | 24.99 |
| April 9, 1975 | 767.99 | 82.84 | 18.12 |
| April 8, 1975 | 749.22 | 80.99 | 14.32 |
| April 7, 1975 | 742.88 | 80.35 | 13.86 |
| April 4, 1975 | 747.26 | 80.88 | 14.17 |
| April 3, 1975 | 752.19 | 81.51 | 13.92 |
| April 2, 1975 | 760.56 | 82.43 | 15.60 |