News stories from Saturday February 3, 1979

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

Making a federal agency responsible for setting and monitoring government-wide radiation standards is one of the goals of White House study group, which is attempting to reverse a decade of lack of federal interest in the health hazards of low-level nuclear radiation. The Radiation Interagency Task Force has been investigating the effects of radiation on participants in atomic tests and workers in nuclear projects. Its recommendations will be presented later this month. [New York Times] A mistrial was declared in the case of Representative Daniel Flood in Federal District Court in Washington on bribery, conspiracy, and perjury charges when the jury could not reach a verdict. [New York Times] Eleven snow-bound counties in Nebraska, most of them in the Sandhills region in the north-central part of the state, have been declared a disaster area by Gov. Charles Thone. National Guard helicopters have been sent on missions to help rescue snowbound cattle while other Guardsmen are working with road crews to open roads blocked by the heaviest snowfalls in years. [New York Times] Mark Lane's sharp turnaround in his views of the People's Temple settlement in Guyana -- in September he said it was a Socialist paradise, and in December he said it was a horror -- is drawing special attention because of pending actions against him. A closer examination of his involvement with the Temple illustrates his propensity for controversial causes. [New York Times] Ayatollah Khomeini stepped up pressure on Shahpur Bakhtiar to quit as Prime Minister and said that his Islamic council had drafted a new constitution for Iran. The names of the council's members would be disclosed soon, the Ayatollah said. He appealed to Iran's military men to become "free and independent" and asked them to join his Islamic movement as "brothers." [New York Times] Republican leaders decided that their party should abandon more than three decades of bipartisanship in foreign policy and make overall Soviet conduct a key issue in negotiating a new strategic arms treaty. The party leaders voted on the resolution at a meeting in Easton, Md., attended by 95 Republican officeholders, including 26 Senators. There were only two dissents to the new policy. [New York Times] China would need billions, possibly scores of billions, of dollars in foreign exchange in the next few years to help its modernization program, Deputy Prime Minister Teng Hsiao-ping said. At a meeting with newspaper editors in Houston, Mr. Teng also indicated that negotiations with American companies that would provide technical aid in the development of China's oil reserves were progressing. [New York Times] Italy's former Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, whose government coalition collapsed when the Communists withdrew their support, was asked by President Sandro Pertini to try to form a new government. Mr. Andreotti announced that he would attempt to revive the five-party majority that had backed his government, but his chances of succeeding are not considered good. [New York Times]