News of this day was about a sudden turn of events in the Aldo Moro kidnapping case. Moro was an important figure in Italian politics and his kidnapping by members of the Red Brigade caused a deep rift in Italian society over the question of terrorist kidnapping and terrorist demands. As in all such cases, there is a certain amount of bluff calling involved. In this case, the Italian Government wouldn't cave to the demands of the terrorists and refused to negotiate. The reasons for not negotiating were, at best many, entangled and murky. The result was the shooting death of Moro and the dumping of his body in the trunk of a car in the middle of Rome. The affect of the shooting also brought on questions about our own ability to deal with terrorist situations. It's interesting, listening to this broadcast of The World Tonight from May 9, 1978, that America's dealing with a terrorist situation like the Moro incident was pretty nonexistent - something that 21 years later gave way to wide-sweeping and somewhat questionable legal procedures as a result.
Since most of the news that day was taken up with the Moro incident, the only other news that made it to national coverage was news of a dramatic rescue of passengers from a downed jet in Pensacola Bay and the heroic actions of a tugboat skipper that resulted in averting what could have been tragedy.
A light news day, but not without its drama.
