News stories from Monday December 6, 1971
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced her country's recognition of the People's Republic of Bangladesh; West Pakistan severed diplomatic relations with India. The State Department calls India the aggressor in the war, and has cut off economic aid. President Nixon received the new Pakistani ambassador at the White House, but Senators Mike Mansfield and Hugh Scott warned the President that America must maintain absolute neutrality. [CBS]
- The administration's position is supported in the Senate by Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Democratic Whip Robert Byrd, who agree with anti-Indian sentiment though Senators Frank Church and William Saxbe disagree. The House Appropriations Committee suspended all new aid to both countries. [CBS]
- Increased fighting has caused the evacuation of Americans from East and West Pakistan. 370 Americans were evacuated from Pakistan during a two-hour cease-fire today. Only employees of the State Department stayed behind. The city of Dacca was bombed just as the cease-fire was to begin, forcing away United Nations mercy flights. The Intercontinental Hotel in Dacca is jammed with foreigners viewing dogfights by planes. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird called the attack on a U.S. cargo plane at Dacca deplorable. A Canadian plane on a United Nations mission was blown up at Islamabad, West Pakistan. [CBS]
- In Calcutta, Indian General Ajit Singh Aurora called a news conference and said that he has an plan to enter into an offensive in East Pakistan. [CBS]
- The United Nations Security Council met again regarding the India-Pakistan crisis. The Soviet Union and India oppose a cease-fire; China and West Pakistan would veto the independence of Bangladesh. The U.S. is trying to stop the bloodshed. [CBS]
- President Nixon began summit talks with five allied nations before his visits to Moscow and Peking, first with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau discussed the harsh effects of the U.S.' 10% import surcharge on Canada with Nixon. President Emilio Medici of Brazil is also in the U.S. for talks with the President. When French President Pompidou flies to the Azores for his meeting with President Nixon, he will be aboard the Concorde supersonic jet as a reminder that America is out of the supersonic transport race. [CBS]
- The Senate confirmed the nomination of Lewis Powell to the Supreme Court. Senator Fred Harris cast the only opposing vote. The Senate will now take up the more controversial nomination of William Rehnquist. [CBS]
- Treasury Secretary nominee Romana Banuelos was also confirmed by the Senate. She had been questioned about the employment of illegal aliens in her California business. [CBS]
- Attorney General John Mitchell announced the establishment of a national academy for training prison guards, patterned after the FBI academy for police. Speaking at the National Conference for Corrections, Mitchell endorsed a plan for upgrading correctional institutions. [CBS]
- Edgar Smith, a New Jersey convict who had been on death row longer than any man, has been freed. At a retrial, Smith changed his plea regarding the murder of a California cheerleader in 1957 to "no contest" and admitted his guilt. [CBS]
- General Motors elected Rich Gerstenberg as chairman, replacing the retiring James Roche. [CBS]
- The U.S. dollar fell to a new low on major money markets in Europe and Japan. [CBS]
- A bomb went off in a factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The factory was cleared before the explosion and fire, which spread to a Salvation Army headquarters. On Saturday night a Belfast pub was bombed, killing 15 people and injuring two. A Protestant extremist organization claimed responsibility, but the bar was frequented by Catholics; no Protestant could have entered with a bomb and gone unnoticed. The explosion may have been an accidental detonation of an Irish Republican Army bomb. [CBS]
- Residents of Kobe, Japan, sent food and money to Seattle, Washington, where unemployment has soared. [CBS]
- Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador Jamil Baroody was ruled out of order by the General Assembly President when he tried to make a speech today. Baroody continued; the session was adjourned. Baroody claimed that he had the right to reply to a speech by Israel's Abba Eban, but the chairman said that other speakers had priority. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 855.72 (-3.87, -0.45%)
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* |
| December 3, 1971 | 859.59 | 97.06 | 16.76 |
| December 2, 1971 | 848.79 | 95.84 | 17.78 |
| December 1, 1971 | 846.01 | 95.54 | 21.04 |
| November 30, 1971 | 831.34 | 93.99 | 18.32 |
| November 29, 1971 | 829.73 | 93.41 | 18.91 |
| November 26, 1971 | 816.59 | 91.94 | 10.87 |
| November 24, 1971 | 798.63 | 90.33 | 11.87 |
| November 23, 1971 | 797.97 | 90.16 | 16.84 |
| November 22, 1971 | 803.15 | 90.79 | 11.39 |
| November 19, 1971 | 810.67 | 91.61 | 12.42 |