News stories from Saturday December 12, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Poland invoked emergency powers to declare a "state of war" and impose what appeared to be a military government. Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Prime Minister and Communist Party leader, said in a speech over the Warsaw radio that the government would be under the direction of an Army Council of National Salvation. He spoke just after troops had taken up positions and sealed off sections of the capital. [New York Times]
- The Pope will send peace missions this week to Washington, Moscow, Paris, London and the United Nations to outline the "terrifying prospects" of the use of nuclear arms. The Vatican announcement said that the delegations, mainly composed of scientists from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, would examine at a scientific level the possibilities of halting the nuclear arms race. [New York Times]
- Hanoi invited Vietnam War veterans to visit Vietnam this week to discuss such as issues as the herbicide Agent Orange and the fate of American servicemen still missing in Indochina. Four members of the Vietnam Veterans of America are scheduled to leave New York Wednesday for Hanoi. The State Department approves of the visit, an official said. [New York Times]
- Sweeping Texas prison reforms ordered by a federal court last April are disputed by the Texas Department of Corrections, which will argue in a federal appeals court Friday that the state penal system is performing satisfactorily and that the reforms are not necessary. The system, the largest in the nation, is holding 32,000 prisoners, at about 230 percent of capacity, and incidents of violence are rapidly increasing. [New York Times]
- Nigeria's oil output was discussed in Brussels by Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Nigeria's Minister of External Affairs, who held an unannounced meeting at which other matters were also reportedly discussed. American oil imports from Nigeria could make up the difference in the United States supplies if Washington decides to embargo Libyan oil. Diplomatic sources said that the primary subject of the meeting was Nigeria's efforts to obtain several million dollars in American aid for its 2,000-man contingent in the African peacekeeping force due to be sent to Chad to replace Libyan troops there. [New York Times]
- East Germany's relations with Bonn will be linked in the future to West Germany's position on its planned deployment of new United States nuclear weapons, Erich Honecker, the East German leader told Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. His views were made known at the first full-scale meeting of German leaders in more than 11 years, and were clearly aimed at influencing West German opinion. [New York Times]