News stories from Saturday March 17, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Bank records on peanut loans differ from a loan officer's private ledger that recorded the performance of the multimillion dollar advances to the Carter family's business, according to officials of the National Bank of Georgia and government sources. The F.B.I. is investigating whether the separate ledger meant bank records were incorrect. [New York Times]
- Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens exist in New York City in fear of being found by federal authorities. Official estimates put their number as high as 1.5 million. Despite their secretiveness, it is clear that the aliens are affecting neighborhoods. The city spends millions of dollars a year -- officials say there is no reimbursement from the federal government -- to provide humanitarian services to people who are illegal residents. [New York Times]
- Thousands of birds were found dead on a farm near Newburgh, N. Y. How they died is being investigated by federal and state officials, who say as many as 10,000 perished. Many of the birds were on seasonal migration back north. Among them were red-winged blackbirds, meadowlarks, song sparrows, cowbirds and cardinals. [New York Times]
- A special profit guideline for banks and other financial institutions is planned by the administration, officials said, in the hope that it will bolster public confidence in President Carter's voluntary anti-inflation program. Administration economists have devised a profit margin test for commercial banks. [New York Times]
- Israel wants faster delivery of American arms to forestall Iraqi and Syrian action against its peace treaty with Egypt. Administration sources said that Defense Minister Ezer Weizman had stressed Israel's need for early-warning and other electronic installations in the Negev Desert. He reportedly has told aides that he believes the American contribution remains flexible, and that the administration might provide more than the $2.5 billion it promised for the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.
Yasser Arafat went to Jordan for talks with King Hussein on what Palestinian sources said would be their opposition to the proposed Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. The Egyptian-Israeli treaty will not bring peace to the Middle East, moderate Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf states say, because it provides no solution to the Palestinian problem. They doubt that President Carter can persuade Israel to make the minimum concessions necessary for achieving an overall peace settlement.
[New York Times] - The U.S. and Britain appealed to Rhodesia and the Patriotic Front guerrilla coalition to resume negotiations for a peaceful settlement of their differences based on elections supervised by the United Nations. The two sides were warned that the only alternative would create a bigger opportunity for Soviet and Cuban involvement. [New York Times]
- A tumultuously joyous audience cheered the Boston Symphony Orchestra's opening concert in Peking, reflecting a more relaxed feeling in China than six years ago when the Philadelphia Orchestra played there. Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping was among the audience, which also included many young people. [New York Times]
- A key figure in the Islamic revolution in Iran is a former university professor in Texas, Dr. Ibrahim Yazdi, Deputy Prime Minister for Revolutionary Affairs. He was a close friend to Ayatollah Khomeini when he was in exile, and he helped persuade the Ayatollah to halt the summary trials and executions strongly opposed by Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan. [New York Times]