LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

War was raging and men were dying throughout Vietnam as the ceasefire deadline approached but after generations of death and destruction it appeared the people of Vietnam and the world were beginning to recognise that the Paris treaty did not herald peace, but was merely an end to warfare on a grand scale. The peace agreement was signed in two separate ceremonies in Paris today. It took 52 Ministerial signatures to complete the treaty. Bitter fighting was reported throughout South Vietnam as the hours to the ceasefire ticked away. All over the country the communists were on the offensive in an apparent effort to grab as much territory as they could before the guns are silenced at 8am tomorrow. — January 28 1973

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

Explosive new reports that Bill Clinton engaged in phone sex with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky emerged yesterday as his lawyer accused independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr of being “hell-bent” on getting the US president. Robert Bennett, Clinton’s private attorney in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, questioned attempts by Starr to pressure Lewinsky into telling all about her alleged affair with the president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The scandal deepened on a Los Angeles Times report that said Lewinsky claimed Clinton “frequently telephoned her at home late at night, engaged in telephone sex with her and eventually devastated her emotionally by becoming involved with several other women”. — January 25 1998