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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

January 28, 1961: Navy to Free Ship Captives, Kennedy Tones Down Military's Rhetoric

"The United States Navy has apparently persuaded the captors of the Portuguese liner Santa Maria to release the 560 passengers on this side of the Atlantic, probably at a South American port," the New York Times reported today.

"The Kennedy Administration indicated today that it was not irrevocably opposed to summit meetings," the Times reported today.

"Two United States Air Force officers, held prisoner without trial by the Soviet Union for nearly seven months, came home today and were greeted by President Kennedy."

"The Kennedy Administration has ordered stiff controls on 'tough' policy speeches or other 'inadvisable' statements by generals and admirals. The first to be affected is Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations," the New York Times reported today.

January 27, 1961: Downed Airmen to be Welcomed, Hammarskjold Warning on Congo

"President Kennedy will welcome the two American airmen just released from a Soviet prison when they return to the United States tomorrow," the New York Times reported today.

"[U.N.] Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold told the Security Council today that it might be necessary to remove the United Nations force from the Congo because of the withdrawal of some Asian and African military contingents," the Times reported today.

January 26, 1961: Moscow Releases US Fliers, Captured Ship Found

"President Kennedy announced tonight that the Soviet Union had released two United States airmen shot down in an RB-47 reconnaissance plane over the Barents Sea and held prisoner since July 1," the New York Times reported today.

"The captured Portuguese passenger liner Santa Maria was found far out in the Atlantic yesterday by a United States Navy patrol plane. Her captors told the Navy pilot by radio that she was bound for the Portuguese West African colony of Angola," the Times reports.

January 25, 1961: Search for Portuguese Ship Continues, Woman is White House Doc

"An intense search by sea and air continued early today along the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies for the seized Portuguese liner Santa Maria. The United States and British vessels and planes engaged had been concentrating their search along the Windward Islands above and below St. Lucia, where the Santa Maria last was sighted at 10 A.M. Monday," the New York Times reported today.

"President Picks Woman Doctor, First to Serve the White House," according to a front page headline in today's New York Times.

January 24, 1961: Portuguese Ship Siezed

"A group of passengers seized control of a large Portuguese cruise ship in a gun and grenade battle in the Caribbean yesterday morning," The New York Times reported today. "Responding to pleas from the Protuguese Government, United States and British warships immediately began a search for the captured vessel. Led allegedly by a prominent political foe of Portugal's Premier Antonio de Oliverio Salazar, the band of conspirators among the ship's 600 passengers was said to have taken command of the ship in a battle in which one officer was killed and several wounded. There are 300 in the crew."

"A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court upheld today the constitutionality of state and local movie censorship. The court held that cities and states may require a censor's permit before a film may be shown," the New York Times reported today.

January 23, 1961: Arms Supplies in Congo, Prominent Puerto Rican

From the Congo: "Six trucks with arms were reliably reported today to have arrived ar Aro, a town close to the Congo's frontier with the Sudan. The convoy is considered here to be the first hard evidence of surface supplies from outside for the forces supporting Patrice Lumumba, imprisoned former Premier," the New York Times reported today.

"KENNEDY MAY OFFER JOB TO PUERTO RICAN," says a headline in today's edition on the NY Times.