News stories from Sunday February 25, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Carter disavowed comments about Jews that have been made by Billy Carter. He said that they do not reflect his own feelings and that he regrets them. [New York Times]
- The world population will increase by about 50 percent by the end of this century, the Census Bureau said, if its assessments of future fertility and mortality trends hold up. It forecasts a total world population of 6.35 billion by the year 2000, an increase of 2.26 billion people in only a quarter of a century, and equal to the entire rise in world population from the time of Christ to 1950. [New York Times]
- U.S. diplomats and officials doubt H. Ross Perot's assertion that he arranged for and financed a mob assault two weeks ago on a Teheran prison where two of his employees were being held. Mr. Perot announced last week that the two men, long-time employees of his Dallas-based Electronic Data Systems, had been freed in the attack. But the skeptics note that the prison was one of many stormed by Iranian revolutionaries seeking to free opponents of the Shah. [New York Times]
- Aurora, Tex., has become a shrine to U.F.O. watchers, who make periodic attempts to dig up the remains of what is reputed to be the only being from outer space buried on earth. The being is said to have fallen to earth inside a crashing space ship. [New York Times]
- Proposed help for the handicapped that would require redesigning transit facilities, such as subway stations, is expected to be substantially cut back by the Department of Transportation, according to administration sources. The cutback would be the latest in a series of actions in which proposed programs have been weakened as a result of complaints about costs from lobbyists and administration economists. [New York Times]
- Menachem Begin will be asked to join President Carter and Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil of Egypt at the Camp David Israeli-Egyptian peace talks. President Carter said that plans were being made for Prime Minister Begin to come to the United States for another, perhaps decisive, effort to conclude the negotiations. [New York Times]
- Ayatollah Khomeini met the Soviet envoy to Iran in what was believed to be the Ayatollah's first meeting in Teheran with a foreign ambassador. A congratulatory note was delivered by the Soviet Ambassador, Vladimir Vinogradov. [New York Times]
- The Chinese and Vietnamese fought stubbornly in infantry and artillery battles in Vietnam's frontier region, American officials said. The heaviest fighting appears to be in the hills north and south of Lang Son, with other fighting at Lao Cai and Cao Bang.
Chinese forces will not advance from Vietnam's mountainous frontier region toward the populous Red River delta or to Hanoi, a Peking official said. Wang Chen, a Deputy Prime Minister involved with industry, said that China had "no intention" to move into Vietnam's flatland, adding that "our action will be limited in scope and duration," according to a news report received in Hong Kong.
[New York Times] - Yemen called for a meeting of the Arab League Council to deal with what it charged was a military attack from Southern Yemen. Fighting broke out along their border Saturday. [New York Times]
- Martial law in Turkey was extended for two months, apparently the first step in tougher measures against continuing widespread terrorism. The extension was approved by Parliament after a bitter session attended by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. [New York Times]
- Arab rulers have showered gifts on Queen Elizabeth II during her goodwill tour of the Persian Gulf. Her hosts seem to have exceeded their usual lavish standards for gifts to a fellow sovereign. The Queen was said to have been somewhat stunned by the costly presents whose value is estimated at $2 million. [New York Times]