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A busy day in the world, this April 24th in 1998. Fourteen years ago on this day you probably woke up and heard the news that Boris Yeltsin, after a month of political wrangling and arm-twisting, finally succeeded in installing his pick for Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko. Opposed by the Communist minority in the Russian Parliament, Kiriyenko was touted by Yeltsin as part of his plan for economic rejuvenation of the sagging Russian economy.

In other parts of the world. A festive atmosphere greeted the public execution of the first four convicted of perpetrators of the horrific genocide in Rwanda. The Soccer Stadium in Kigali filled to capacity to witness the firing squad take aim at the three men and one woman who were part of wave of mass killings that had gone on for so long in the beleaguered African nation.

With the recent death of James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, plans were still underway to open an investigation on the murder of the Civil Rights leader. Despite a 1978 Senate Subcommittee hearing that concluded Ray acted alone, there was pressing evidence that Ray had been funded by a group of St. Louis bigots who reportedly offered Ray $50,000.00 for the assassination.

Mergers and Unions in the Airline Industry were big news on this day. With talk of a merger between United and Delta Airlines, promises of a potential windfall, similar to the promises of a windfall from the previous days merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways had many expressing doubts about how much of a windfall this really was and an investigation of this new merger was called for.

Meanwhile, over at Northwest Airlines - The labor dispute was deepening with Northwest reportedly firing two mechanics, one for wearing a clown costume to work, and suspending four others for a reported work slowdown at its Minneapolis hub. Six other unions were prepping for a confrontation with stockholders and NWO's annuan meeting in New York. A federal mediator called for resumption of talks before the ugliness got started.

Whitewater figure Susan McDougal was sitting it out in a Little Rock jail on this day, as the result of refusing to answer questions for the Grand Jury hearing.

The cost of Health Insurance premiums were going to be going up, with a reported increase of as much as 15% in some cases.

The Senate narrowly approved legislation on Tax-free savings accounts for school expenses. President Clinton threatened a veto.

And daughter of OJ Simpson, Arnell was arrested for Drunk Driving in Beverly Hills.

Some day.

That and lots more via the CBS World News Roundup for a Friday, April 24th, 1998.

("The Olive Has Been Talking . . . ")

It seems wiretapping has been a popular subject in legal circles for quite some time, if this special edition of Meet The Press from November 17, 1957 is any indication. This roundtable discussion features New York State Supreme Court Justice Miles McDonald, District Attorney of Richmond County New York John Braisted and the infamous Roy Cohn on the subject of the use or misuse of the Fifth Amendment and the use and misuse of wiretaps.

All interesting stuff, considering it's 1957 and the world seemed much simpler then . . .or not.

With a Guilty verdict for Voluntary Manslaughter, rather than the hoped for Guilty of Murder, convicted killer of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Dan White, triggered a night of violence that saw scores of arrests and some 60 Policeman injured as San Francisco's Gay community vented its outrage at what was considered almost an acquittal. The fallout from the verdicts and the damage done, primarily to relations between the City and the Gay Community, would have long term and lasting affects.

Another set of protests went on in the wake of executions of convicted killers John Spenkelink and Willie Darden in Florida - the first to be held in that state since 1964. At the time of this broadcast, appeals were still pending.

Also pending was the outcome of elections in Canada which, according to polls, was a neck-and-neck race between incumbent Pierre Elliot Trudeau and challenger Joe Clark.

Secretary of State Vance went on a meet-and-greet with members of newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government while on a visit to London.

On Capitol Hill - Ethics hearings were continuing for Herman Talmadge and a Grand Jury were meeting to determine what would happen next in the brewing scandal of Bert Lance.

And California may become the first state to relax it's odd-even Gas rationing since it was being better-than-good about reduced driving and consumption, resulting in more plentiful gas supplies. Like the oil companies really cared.

And so went this particular May 22 in 1979 - an Even Day, if you were sitting at a gas station on Empty. All reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

The thread for News on January 27th in 1996 seemed to have a lot to do with standoffs and face-downs. Starting with news that chemical heir John DuPont shot and killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and had barricaded himself in the bedroom of the mansion on his 600 acre estate outside Philadelphia and was forcing a standoff with Police had people wondering about the lethal combination of wealth and mental illness.

A standoff of another kind was averted. This one on Capitol Hill where a Stop-Gap Spending Bill was given an eleventh hour approval and instant signing by President Clinton, thus averting a third threatened government shutdown. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wasn't happy, saying it was all media's fault that he didn't get his way and was promising fireworks when the issue would be creeping up again after March 15th.

Another kind of stand-off/face-down went on with the Whitewater Probe. The Grand Jury had finished hearing testimony of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and there were hints this thing was going to get political, with the ever-present Ken Starr in charge of the probe hinting at further questioning of Clinton in the near future.

And the OJ Simpson Civil Suit trial was put on hold as his Grand Jury Deposition seemed to drag on forever.

But everyone was looking forward to Super Bowl XXX which was scheduled to get going the next day.

When in doubt, throw a football.

And so went this particular day in Paradise, for January 27, 1996 as reported on The CBS World News Roundup.

(We still had Nixon to kick around)

January 8, 1974 - a busy news day. But then 1974 was a rather busy news year anyway. Watergate was bubbling away, the Saudis were threatening to blow up oil rigs, gas rationing was already underway in Sweden. New York was issuing get-tough policies on gas station price gouging. The Wounded Knee trial was in the jury selection phase, and the Supreme Court ruled on illegally obtained evidence:

John Chancellor (NBC News): “The Supreme Court ruled six to three today that prosecutors may use illegally gathered evidence in Grand Jury presentations. The court said criminal suspects may not prevent the use of unlawfully gathered evidence, nor can suspects refuse to answer questions based on illegal evidence. This is the second such ruling by the Court this session. The first permits police to use any evidence turned up in a search connected with any lawful arrest, including a traffic violation. The dissenting Supreme Court Justices in both cases said the decisions threaten the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution which forbids unlawful search and seizure.”

And Comet Kohoutek which, only a year earlier had triggered dire predictions of earth shattering changes turned out to be 1974's answer to Y2K - a colossal dud.

Just another January day on planet earth.