News on this day in January of 1989 (also a Thursday) was mostly about the U.S. downing of two Libyan Air Force MIG's in what became known as the "Second Gulf Of Sidra Incident". The saber-rattling from the Qaddafi camp came thick and fast, with threats of reprisals and warnings to the Libyan people that a U.S. invasion would come at any time. Tensions between the U.S. and Libya had been going on for some time and it didn't help matters any that the U.S. had warships anchored just outside territorial waters. The UN Security Council was dragged into the fracas, with Libya launching protests that the incident was premeditated aggression against two unarmed reconnaissance planes. The State Department had grounds to differ, while demonstrations in Tripoli whipped up anti-American sentiment.
Meanwhile, Libya was the topic of discussion in the area of Chemical weapons at the UN, with fingers pointing at a German firm accused of supplying the Libyan government with the necessary elements to make it a reality.
In other news, Japan's Emperor Hirohito was nearing death with reports of dangerously low blood pressure and a reported 8 gallons of blood used in transfusions in the past few days to stabilize the Emperor. All attempts at treating the monarch were proving unsuccessful.
And soon-to-be former President Reagan attended a fundraiser for First Lady Nancy Reagan's drug and alcohol recovery center and speculated on his pending retirement.
All that and a lot more on this January 5th, 1989 as broadcast on the CBS World News Roundup.
