News on this May 9th in 1978 was all about the kidnapping and death, after a 55 day hostage situation, of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro at the hands of members of the terrorist group Red Brigade.

When word got out that the body, found in the trunk of a car parked near the center of Rome, was that of Moro's, a wave of shock spread throughout Italy, quickly replaced by outrage that the government was unwilling, or unable, to deal with a hostage crisis that allowed Moro to be assassinated. The government's response was an attempt at justification, that it would no longer give in to demands of terrorist organizations. That Italy was no longer willing to be considered "soft" when it came to acts such as these. But that didn't stop the anger from being echoed throughout the world.

And the Moro tragedy was being considered on Capitol Hill as the FBI was calling for stepped up measures in dealing with Terrorism, particularly the threat of terrorism within the U.S. Clearly, the kidnapping and death of Aldo Moro was having a marked effect on terrorist policies in many countries.

The other big news story of this day happened off the coast of Florida, where news of a dramatic rescue of passengers of National Airlines Flight 193 by a fishing boat was credited for saving the lives of all but 3 passengers.

So there was bad news and there was good news for this May 9, 1978 as reported by Douglas Edwards and The World Tonight from CBS Radio.

Just like every day on Planet Earth.

Your average day, only this one was in 1975. Economic news was grim, with reports on the Recession getting worse. The Gross National Product dropped 9.1% the previous month. The worst since 1958. Inflation shot up 13%. The worst since 1947. Meanwhile, calls on Capitol Hill for Gasoline rationing were roundly poo-pooed by President Ford, saying it wasn't really all that necessary. The grumblings continued.

The Soviet Union proclaimed Detente wasn't dead, it was just wounded.

Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill - Congressional Hearings on the CIA brought up two former directors, Jesse Helms and William Colby who both had different takes on the matter of Domestic spying. It doesn't bode well when your own people can't get their stories straight.

Some good news from the Auto Industry, at least for consumers. Ford announced it was offering rebates of $200-500.00 on new car purchases.

In the Middle East, border skirmishes were taking place between Israel and Lebanon with artillery fire being traded back and forth. On the Negotiation front, Senator Charles Percy was in Cairo handing out peace feelers to Anwar Sadat in the hopes of getting something moving, however slow.

And in his Commentary, news analyst Eric Sevareid offered some pithy observations on World reaction to the Economic crisis.

All in all, a run-of-the-mill day for January 16, 1975 as reported by Douglas Edwards on CBS Radio's The World Tonight.