CBS World News Roundup – March 24, 1999 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Belgrade anticipated the worst, this day in 1999. With U.S. and NATO jets getting ready to commence airstrikes on Belgrade and other points in and around Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic reached out to Moscow in an effort to continue talks around the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces in Kosovo.
NATO’s intervention was prompted by Yugoslavia’s bloodshed and ethnic cleansing of Albanians, which drove the Albanians into neighboring countries and had the potential to destabilize the region. Yugoslavia’s actions had already provoked condemnation by international organizations and agencies such as the UN, NATO, and various INGOs.Yugoslavia’s refusal to sign the Rambouillet Accords was initially offered as justification for NATO’s use of force. NATO countries attempted to gain authorization from the UN Security Council for military action, but were opposed by China and Russia, who indicated that they would veto such a measure. As a result, NATO launched its campaign without the UN’s approval, stating that it was a humanitarian intervention. The UN Charter prohibits the use of force except in the case of a decision by the Security Council under Chapter VII, or self-defense against an armed attack – neither of which were present in this case. On this day, NATO planes were heading to Belgrade.
Meanwhile, in Laramie Wyoming, jury selection was beginning in the trial of Russell Henderson who was accused of attacking and torturing and killing gay college student Matthew Shepard earlier in the year. The murder caused outrage in the community and many asked for the Death Penalty to be considered in the conviction of Henderson. The trial was expected to begin in April.
And it was the 10 year anniversary of the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska. On the evening of March 23, 1989, oil tanker Exxon Valdez left the port of Valdez, Alaska, bound for Long Beach, California, with 53 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil onboard.
At four minutes after midnight on March 24, the ship struck Bligh Reef, a well-known navigation hazard in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
The impact of the collision tore open the ship’s hull, causing some 11 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the water.
At the time, it was the largest single oil spill in U.S. waters. Initial attempts to contain the oil failed, and in the months that followed, the oil slick spread, eventually covering about 1,300 miles of coastline.
And as reports from Belgrade continued to pour in, that was a small slice of news that happened on this 24th of March 1999, as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.
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