News stories from Sunday July 29, 1979

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Records of unsolved murders were being checked from Maine to California following statements made to authorities in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., by John Fischer, 50-year-old confessed killer and parolee. He was said to have implicated himself in 20 murders in New York and across the country. He is being held in Dutchess County in connection with the stabbing death of a 78-year-old woman. [New York Times] Terrorists bombed Madrid's airport and two railway stations, killing four persons and injuring at least 113. They continued their attacks in the Basque region. [New York Times] Whether federal rent subsidies should be provided for middle income families in view of the high rents and the apartment shortage in New York and other large cities is being sharply debated by federal housing officials in Washington. On one side are experts in the Department of Housing and Urban Development who propose that the government, in an unprecedented move, provide direct rent subsidies for middle-income tenants. On the other side is the agency's research staff, which argues that federal housing funds should be reserved for the poor. [New York Times] A Chicago bank helped arrest blight in the city's predominantly black South Shore district by making rehabilitation loans in a declining neighborhood, the kind of loans shunned by most banks. Now, the South Shore National Bank, encouraged by its success, is preparing a joint venture with its holding company for a much larger rehabilitation effort in the most blighted section of the South Shore. [New York Times] Florida's Death Row has more people awaiting execution than any other one in the country, and the state was the first one in more than a decade to put a man to death against his will. Last week, a federal district judge in Florida permitted an inmate in Texas to lodge a $2 million suit against the Jacksonville Police Department, alleging that it had welcomed the state's pioneering role in reviving the death penalty with relish, causing acute psychological problems for his young son. The department has been selling T-shirts depicting Florida's electric chair and the caption, "One Down and 133 To Go." [New York Times] Wildlife importers will be monitored by a new agency of the World Wildlife Fund-U.S. in an effort to cut back the rising numbers of endangered animals' and plants being imported into the United States. [New York Times] Israel and Egypt were invited by Washington to send representatives to discuss the American proposal for an expanded United Nations Truce Supervision Organization force in Sinai, which is strongly opposed by Israel. Israel will send Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, who has been a severe critic of the proposal. Egypt has endorsed the proposal to use an expanded Truce Supervision force to oversee Israeli troop withdrawals from Sinai, and was expected to send either its Prime Minister or Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. [New York Times] Iraq's leadership is being purged by its new President, Saddam Hussein, who arrested at least five of the country's most influential figures on a charge of "criminal conspiracy," the official Iraqi news agency reported. Arab newspapers estimated the number of arrests at from 56 to 250. [New York Times] Ghana is near anarchy following the June 4 coup that toppled Gen. Fred Akuffo. The country's long-awaited return to civilian rule has been jeopardized by the recent arrest of more than 150 people on corruption charges, the deportation of more than a dozen foreigners and, after secret tribunals, the execution of eight military officers, including General Akuffo and two other former heads of state. [New York Times] India's Janata Party leader warned the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Charan Singh against making any policy decisions until it has proved it has a majority in Parliament. Jagjivan Ram, leader of the opposition party, described the coalition in a speech broadcast over government radio and television as a "minority caretaker government." [New York Times] Nicaragua will draft an army, its revolutionary leaders announced. The Sandinist guerrilla leaders would not estimate the size of the force they contemplate, but they are starting to institute a draft and to train local militia irregulars for enrollment in what they call the Sandinist Popular Army. [New York Times]