October 14, 1981 – CBS World News Roundup + News and comment – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
October 14, 1981 – Eyes were on the Middle-East as Hosni Mubarak assumed the leadership role in Egypt, after the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Mubarak pledged to continue Sadat’s legacy for peace in the Middle-East, even though hardliners were promising the same for Mubarak as his former boss. Even so, Mubarak, with 98.4% of the referendum vote, proclaimed in an emotion-filled address to the nation, that he would fulfill his predecessor’s policies. The rest of the world was taking a wait-and-see approach because the Middle-East had been notoriously unpredictable in the past.
Meanwhile, a report published earlier in the day said that Israel was softening its stand on Palestinian autonomy. The report was quickly and officially denied, although autonomy negotiations were scheduled to resume in a week.
On Capitol Hill; the House was slated to vote on President Reagan’s plan on the sale of five AWAC’s planes to Saudi Arabia and defeat was looking inevitable as some 240 members of the House signed a resolution the previous evening substantiating that outcome. Even so, debate was slated to begin ahead of the vote this day.
And the Public School Teachers strike was continuing in Philadelphia. The strike, entering its 37th day and that meant another $10,000 in fines to the Union if the Teachers stay out. School has been open in the city, but only for fourth graders which Teachers Union leader John Murray said was a joke. The Teachers say they won’t work without a contract and the School Board said it didn’t have the money to pay for a new contract. And School kids in Philadelphia were looking forward to another day off.
And that’s just a small slice of what went on, this 14th day of October 1981 as presented by the CBS World News Roundup, First-Line Report and CBS Hourly News.
