News stories from Thursday January 24, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- House backing for the Olympics stand of President Carter was overwhelming, but action in the Senate was slowed by Frank Church, who set hearings on the issue by the Foreign Relations Committee for Monday. Voting 386 to 12, the House approved the President's request that Washington press for the transfer, cancellation or boycott of the Moscow Games unless Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
Support for the Moscow Olympics was expressed by a majority of the Athletes Advisory Council to the United States Olympic Committee. In a telephone poll of the 47-member council, 30 members said they opposed an American boycott of the Games despite the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. A possible boycott of the Olympics in Moscow led the only American travel agency for trips to the Games to go to court to seek to prevent more than 10,700 Americans from losing much of the $15 million they have paid for air fares and accommodations.
[New York Times] - China will get U.S. military equipment, but not weapons, under a major policy shift announced by the Pentagon in the latest American response to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Officials said that the initial sales to Peking would be limited to such basic support equipment as trucks, communications devices and radar. [New York Times]
- West European leaders indicated relief at President Carter's pledge Wednesday to protect the Persian Gulf oilfields and privately welcomed Washington's decision to reassert its presence on the world scene and to acknowledge its superpower responsibility.
British reprisals against Moscow were announced in protest against the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The broad program of diplomatic steps included a suspension of ministerial and other high-level contacts.
[New York Times] - Andrei Sakharov spoke out despite his banishment from Moscow to Gorky. A statement deploring Moscow for "suppressing the independence of Afghanistan" was issued by 10 Soviet human-rights activists, including Dr. Sakharov and his wife. [New York Times]
- Plans to ship toxic wastes overseas to developing countries are being pressed by American companies, according to federal officials. They warned that such a practice could be a potentially explosive source of anti-American outcries by third world nations. [New York Times]
- Women in combat-branch assignments were set at West Point. More than half of the first women graduates of the United States Military Academy are going to such branches, mostly at their own request, although they are barred by law from specialties likely to involve close combat, such as infantry and armor units.
Some youths must register for the draft in the near future, according to the White House, but it said it was uncertain about how many young men, of what ages or when -- or whether women would be included. A spokesman said that President Carter would decide within a month whether to ask Congress for authority to register women. He has that legal authority for men, but needs funds from Congress to renew the program.
[New York Times] - A new tax break may be approved in Congress this year despite White House objections. House tax writers cite good prospects for passage of legislation that would permit individuals to exclude from taxable income $100, and couples filing joint returns to exclude $200, in interest from savings accounts. Such interest is now taxed like other gross income. [New York Times]
- Criticizing nuclear safety regulation, a report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the accident at the Three Mile Island reactor concluded that the commission as now organized was incapable of managing an "adequate" safety program. The report, made at the request of the commission, called for a reorganization of how the government regulates nuclear power and recommended the formation of an industrywide consortium or a public corporation to take over the operation of reactors from utilities unable to run them safely. [New York Times]
- A shift in Kennedy campaign strategy was indicated three days after Senator Edward Kennedy's poor showing in Iowa. He abruptly canceled plans for a weekend swing through New England and annnounced he would give a "major policy" speech in Washington on Monday. It was thought that the aim was to gain momentum and step up his attacks on President Carter, particulary on foreign policy. [New York Times]
- The New York Mets were sold by the Payson family, with controlling interest gained by Doubleday & Company, the publishing house. The price was reported to be $21 million, a record for a baseball club and twice what the Yankees commanded six years ago. Assurances that the Mets would stay in New York were promptly given by Nelson Doubleday, president of the concern and a descendant of the man said to have invented the game. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 879.95 (+2.39, +0.27%)
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* |
| January 23, 1980 | 877.56 | 113.44 | 50.75 |
| January 22, 1980 | 866.21 | 111.51 | 50.61 |
| January 21, 1980 | 872.78 | 112.10 | 48.03 |
| January 18, 1980 | 867.15 | 111.07 | 47.15 |
| January 17, 1980 | 863.57 | 110.70 | 54.19 |
| January 16, 1980 | 865.19 | 111.05 | 67.75 |
| January 15, 1980 | 868.60 | 111.14 | 52.37 |
| January 14, 1980 | 863.57 | 110.38 | 52.94 |
| January 11, 1980 | 858.53 | 109.92 | 52.89 |
| January 10, 1980 | 858.96 | 109.89 | 55.98 |