News stories from Wednesday September 17, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Anastasio Somoza was assassinated by machine-gun and bazooka fire in the Parguayan capital of Asuncion. The ousted ruler of Nicaragua went into exile there last year. His driver and a bodyguard were also murdered, and the authorities said they were hunting a six-member "hit squad" believed to be Nicaraguan. The new Nicaraguan government denied involvement in the slayings. [New York Times]
- Washington sent a message to Iran, State Department officials said, affirming United States willingness to have a study commission investigate past American involvement in Teheran as part of an arrangement to free the 52 American hostages. [New York Times]
- The Senate inquiry on Billy Carter heard Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser, defend his actions under accusations by Senators that he had blundered and possibly lied. The focus of the inquiry seemed to shift from an effort to determine wrongdoing in dealings by the President's brother with Libya to an examination of the administration's handling of foreign policy. [New York Times]
- The death sentence imposed in Seoul on Kim Dae Jung, the opposition leader, on charges of sedition, was met with restraint in Washington. American officials have said that, if the United States refrained from denouncing the South Korean leadership, there is a good chance that Mr. Kim's sentence will be commuted and that he may be permitted to emigrate. [New York Times]
- Voters rejected Dixy Lee Ray, the first woman Governor of Washington. She lost in the state's Democratic primary to a state Senator, whose Republican opponent in November will be a county executive who was defeated by Dr. Ray in 1976. The major issue was the pugnacious personality of the Governor and her relentlessly pro-nuclear and pro-business policies.
Backers of liberal abortion policy won over opponents of abortion in two Democratic congressional primary races in Massachusetts. On Sunday, the Archbishop of Boston told parishioners in a pastoral letter that they would share responsibility for thousands of abortions if they voted for the candidates who have won.
[New York Times] - An airliner was hijacked to Havana by two young Cuban refugees one day after the Cuban government promised to deal more harshly with hijackers. The two men were handcuffed and taken away by the Cuban authorities, witnesses said, and the jet returned to the United States. [New York Times]
- An attempt to sow racial discord and disrupt United States ties with African countries was attributed by the White House to an unidentified group that, the government said, circulated a forged document purporting to be a United States study. The document calls for support for South Africa and surveillance of black leaders. [New York Times]
- A unified world oil price is sought under an accord in which Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter, has agreed to raise its price by $2 a barrel, to $30. The 13-nation OPEC cartel also announced that other members had agreed to reduce the official reference price from $32 a barrel to the new $30 Saudi minimum. The objective is to narrow the widely different prices being charged by the exporters. [New York Times]
- Clashes between Iraqis and Iranians were reported continuing along their frontier. Iraq announced that it had terminated a five-year accord with Iran designed to end nearly a decade of border fighting. Terrorism erupted again in Turkey as two men fatally shot a local police chief, and a prominent left-wing extremist was slain in a gun battle involving the police. [New York Times]
- A major trial in China opens tomorrow, Western diplomatic sources in Peking said. The four defendants, who are accused of trying to overthrow the government, are Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Tse-tung, and three other former Politburo members. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 961.26 (+15.36, +1.62%)
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* |
| September 16, 1980 | 945.90 | 126.74 | 57.28 |
| September 15, 1980 | 937.63 | 125.67 | 44.63 |
| September 12, 1980 | 936.52 | 125.54 | 47.18 |
| September 11, 1980 | 941.30 | 125.66 | 44.77 |
| September 10, 1980 | 938.48 | 124.81 | 51.45 |
| September 9, 1980 | 934.73 | 124.07 | 44.46 |
| September 8, 1980 | 928.58 | 123.31 | 42.04 |
| September 5, 1980 | 940.96 | 124.88 | 37.99 |
| September 4, 1980 | 948.81 | 125.42 | 59.02 |
| September 3, 1980 | 953.16 | 125.66 | 52.35 |