. . . or click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – March 25, 1995 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
News for this day 20 years ago had much to do with Mike Tyson’s early morning release from prison. Serving three years of a six year sentence for rape, Tyson quietly left the Indiana Youth Center in Plainfield Indiana and flew home to Ohio. The 200+ journalists gathered at the prison entrance were disappointed as Tyson, flanked by body guards and fight promoter Don King, was quickly led to a waiting car and whisked to a nearby Mosque for prayer before heading to a nearby airport, leaving reports to only catch a glimpse of the former Heavyweight Champion. Sporting a Muslim skullcap, Tyson had converted to Islam while in prison. Prison officials said Tyson’s stay was unremarkable – he asked for no special favors and received none. His released fueled speculation he would soon return to the ring. Although many in the know felt it would be some time before that happened, many also felt the anticipated return would net some $25-50 million, depending on his opponent.
In other news; the nerve-gas attacks in a Tokyo subway earlier in the week was leading investigators in the direction of a shadowy cult as the possible terrorists involved. Police wouldn’t confirm it, but the Kyoto News Agency reported Police found evidence directly linking the cult to the more than dozen deaths which occurred during the busy rush hour on the 19th of March. Reports went on to say Police were astonished over the amount of chemicals found at the Aum Skinrikyo Compound near Mt. Fuji. They said the amount of Sarin gas that could have been produced would have killed millions. And although Police were reluctant to accuse the cult of the Tokyo Subway attack – the link between Aum Shinrikyo and an earlier attack which killed 7 in the city of Matsumoto was indisputable. Further evidence revealed the cult’s literature, which indicated a fixation over the perils of poison gas. A leaflet issued by the group two weeks earlier called Ultimatum Number 1 warned that people would die from chemical weapons. Cult spokespeople denied any involvement, but instead claimed the U.S. Military was responsible.
In Bosnia, new peace talks were being called for by Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as government troops were making progress on the battlefield via a new offensive in Central Bosnia. Karadzic called for an end to the fighting in a message issued asking for immediate and direction negotiations to end the fighting.
Word from the Defense Department revealed Iraq‘s intention to put two Americans on trial within the next few days for allegedly spying. The two Americans wandered across the border between Kuwait and Iraq and were seized by Iraqi authorities. The Defense Department decried the move, however many thought it was a ploy to get the U.S. to ease sanctions.
And on Capitol Hill – the storm of controversy over House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s book deal caused Gingrich to backtrack, saying he had “no idea” bidding on the book would get so high.
Meanwhile, the scorecard over Gingrich’s much touted Contract With America got over half the original Contract approved. The previous days approval of the GOP’s Welfare Reforms was another win, passing the House; which also included the Balanced Budget Amendment, the Line-item Veto, the Anti-Crime Bill, the Unfunded Mandates Bill and Tort Reform. The House was one thing – the Senate was another. The Balanced Budget Amendment was defeated in the Senate and Welfare Reform was likely to be changed substantially before it was sent to the Senate floor. Promised Tax Cuts faced difficulties in both House and Senate. And Term Limits was anticipated to be DOA in the Senate if it didn’t die in the House first.
And Windows 95 was having more than its fair share of bugs to deal with. The latest snafu came when it was realized the operating system would freeze-up if several applications were running at once. Microsoft said it came with a fix to solve the problem. Oh, the joys of high-tech.
And that’s just a little of what went on this March 25th in 1995, as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
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