News stories from Saturday January 27, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The records of President Carter's peanut warehouse business for the years in which Mr. Carter campaigned for the presidency have been obtained by a federal grand jury in Atlanta, Charles Kirbo, his lawyer and business trustee, said. The Justice Department, Mr. Kirbo said, requested all the records of the family business for 1974 to 1977 and they were turned over to federal agents this week. [New York Times]
- Thousands of Vietnamese "boat people" have found refuge in Southern California, but many of them are living in poverty, made worse by loneliness, homesickness and feelings of guilt over families left behind. Even so, they are hopeful about the future. [New York Times]
- Illegal Mexican aliens, working in the citrus groves of the Southwest, may become symbols of a new era in Mexican-American relations. The Mexicans were hired by Blue Goose Growers, Inc., a subsidiary of a Los Angeles conglomerate, the Pacific Lighting Corporation. That corporation, through another subsidiary, the California Gas Company, hopes to become one of the major beneficiaries of an agreement between President Carter and President Jose Lopez Portillo calling for the export of vast amounts of Mexican natural gas to the United States. The exports and the aliens will be on the Presidents' agenda when they meet next month in Mexico. [New York Times]
- Nelson Rockefeller's death from a heart attack Friday night brought tributes from every echelon of public life. "The nation mourns one of its most distinguished public men," a message from President Carter said.
A private funeral service for Mr. Rockefeller will be held on Monday, and a memorial service, which is expected to bring political and other figures from over the world, will be held at 11 A.M. Friday at Riverside Church in Manhattan. His body will be cremated and his ashes buried on the family estate in Pocantico Hills in Westchester County.
[New York Times] - A Boeing 747 with 131 aboard was commandeered between Los Angeles and New York by a woman who asked to have a "revolutionary" speech read over national television. After the plane landed in New York, a group of passengers were released. [New York Times]
- Iran's Prime Minister will go to Paris within 48 hours "to decide the future of the nation" in talks with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the state television network announced. News reports indicated that it was not certain the Ayatollah would meet with Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar, whose government, meanwhile, extended "until further notice" the shutdown of all airports in Iran, delaying again the Ayatollah's return from exile. [New York Times]
- Washington prepared for the arrival tomorrow of China's senior Deputy Prime Minister, Teng Hsiao-ping, whose nine-day visit to the United States will be "of historic significance," an administration official said. At a briefing for many of the 1,000 reporters who have gathered in Washington, officials emphasized the importance that the visit has for the United States. [New York Times]
- Pope John Paul II called for a more traditional spiritual direction at a mass in Mexico City that marked the opening of a conference of Latin American bishops. The meeting, which will continue until Feb. 13, is being attended by 218 bishops, divided between conservatives and social activists who favor a Scripture-based approach to problems in their countries.
Pope John Paul II's decision to personally open a conference of Latin American bishops in Mexico emphasizes the momentous transition through which the Roman Catholic Church is moving. Change is affecting everything from the form of worship to church government, which is being based on the extraordinary charter written by the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.
[New York Times]