News stories from Saturday July 4, 1970

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Bob Hope and Billy Graham led Honor America Day in Washington, DC; some said that their purpose was to increase support for President Nixon's Indochina policy, but the entertainers and speakers took part in non-political ceremonies. Kate Smith sang "God Bless America". [CBS] British troops enforced a curfew in Belfast and searched houses for weapons; five civilians were killed in riots last night. Catholics started the violence and barricaded streets; soldiers separated militant Catholics and Protestants. Protestants intend to hold a march through the Catholic area next week. [CBS] Secretary of State William Rogers and South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu met in Saigon; no new plans were made. President Nixon briefed new U.S. Paris Peace Talks negotiator David Bruce and introduced him to reporters. Bruce says that he is honored by the appointment. Former Peace Talks negotiator Philip Habib will receive a new job. [CBS] Henry Cabot Lodge, the American envoy to the Vatican, discussed world events with Pope Paul; it was the first official contact in 20 years. [CBS] Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev has withdrawn from the Soviet-Romanian friendship treaty delegation; the move is a political snub to the Romanian president. [CBS] Searchers reported 112 dead in a British jet crash near Barcelona, Spain. [CBS] Philadelphia is looking forward to America's Bicentennial. The city is preparing tourist facilities on the Delaware River and hopes that the incoming money will finance urban improvements. $200 million has been put into the tri-state area for the Bicentennial, and planners anticipate 40 million visitors. [CBS] An inmate riot at Holmesburg prison in Philadelphia has been squelched. [CBS] Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong celebrated his 70th birthday today. [CBS]