News stories from Wednesday May 20, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Pope walked around his room and started taking semi-solid food, but he still remained on the critical list at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. Meanwhile the police continued to interrogate Mehmet Ali Agca, the man accused of shooting the Pope. The police said the weapon he used, which was manufactured in Liege, Belgium, has been traced to Zurich, Switzerland and from there to a small town 50 miles northwest of Vienna. [New York Times]
- President Reagan was rebuked by the Republican-controlled Senate, which unanimously rejected two major elements of his program to cut Social Security benefits. Republicans joined Democrats in voicing their disapproval of cutting benefits for those who choose early retirement and of raising more money than the long-term solvency of the system requires. The move appeared to doom much of the administration's ambitious Social Security program. [New York Times]
- Some safeguards on civil liberties that would have been eliminated in a Reagan administration proposal on intelligence collection are retained in a new draft that began circulating three weeks ago among the intelligence agencies, the White House and the congressional intelligence committees. A Central Intelligence Agency spokesman said the new order was "still under review." [New York Times]
- A call for repeal of parts of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, a law that requires the appointment of independent special prosecutors to investigate criminal allegations against high-ranking federal officials, is expected to come from the Reagan administration. If the special prosecutor mechanism is abolished, the Justice Department would investigate high-ranking federal officials as it does other citizens. In exceptional cases, the Attorney General could appoint a special counsel or special investigator. [New York Times]
- John Crowell was confirmed as an assistant secretary of agriculture by a Senate vote of 72 to 25 despite attempts by Democrats to return his nomination to committee. Mr. Crowell is a former general counsel of the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, one of the largest users of timber from national forests. [New York Times]
- A supermarket in Detroit, on a street where the demand for decent food stores was a factor in riots in which 43 people died nearly 14 years ago, is finally going to be built. The building of the store on 12th Street, which was promised a decade ago and was delayed, stands as a symbol on a street where life for so long seemed to have stopped. [New York Times]
- Possibly the largest grant ever given to an American academic institution has been accepted by the Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching and research arm of Harvard Medical School. A contract involving a $50 million grant from Hoechst A. G. of Frankfurt, West Germany, an international chemical company, is an example of the increasing dependence of academic institutions on industrial sources for funds. [New York Times]
- The United States voted against the adoption of a code by the World Health Organization that would ban all promotion of infant formulas that could discourage mothers from breast-feeding. The measure was adopted in a committee of the whole by 93 votes to 3 with 9 abstentions. The measure was strongly opposed by the baby food industry, but activists charged that the code is needed to protect infants in third world countries from the dangers of bottle-feeding. [New York Times]
- The leaders of Israel and Syria exchanged sharp public criticism of each other's policies, but both said Philip Habib, the special American envoy, should continue his efforts to ease the tension between them. The Israeli cabinet decided to continue diplomatic efforts toward a peaceful solution of the missile crisis in Lebanon. President Hafez al-Assad of Syria accused Israel of making demands that are "outside any logic." Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel called the Syrian President's remarks "extremist," but said his country would not attack Syrian forces unless provoked. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 976.86 (-3.15, -0.32%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| May 19, 1981 | 980.01 | 132.09 | 42.21 |
| May 18, 1981 | 985.77 | 132.54 | 42.51 |
| May 15, 1981 | 985.95 | 132.17 | 45.46 |
| May 14, 1981 | 973.07 | 131.28 | 42.75 |
| May 13, 1981 | 967.76 | 130.55 | 42.59 |
| May 12, 1981 | 970.82 | 130.72 | 40.34 |
| May 11, 1981 | 963.44 | 129.71 | 37.63 |
| May 8, 1981 | 976.40 | 131.66 | 41.85 |
| May 7, 1981 | 978.39 | 131.67 | 42.59 |
| May 6, 1981 | 973.34 | 130.78 | 47.10 |