News stories from Sunday September 26, 1976

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

President Ford won the debate, according to a poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS News. Although many politicians and political analysts thought the meeting with Jimmy Carter was a draw, 37 percent of the 1,167 voters asked by the poll thought the President had won. Mr. Carter was supported by 24 percent and 35 percent considered it to be a draw. The poll also showed that the President had roughly cut in half the lead Mr. Carter held in the previous poll. [New York Times] American foreign policy was assailed by Senator Mondale as frequently being "indifferent to people seeking greater justice." The Democratic vice-presidential candidate said that the United States could no longer impose its viewpoint on the world, but could not escape being one of the world's leaders. He said that the country needed a new policy with greater concern for the "so-called third world." [New York Times] Two separate air crashes killed at least 26 persons in northern Michigan and Virginia. An Air Force KC-135 tanker crashed and exploded in a remote section of Michigan near Lake Huron. Air Force officials said that 15 persons were killed and that 5 others had been taken to a hospital. In Virginia, all 11 persons aboard an executive jet belonging to the Johnson & Johnson Corporation died when the plane fell short of a runway. [New York Times] King cotton is making a comeback in the South through new marketing techniques and product research. A decade ago cotton was dethroned by polyester, a man-made fiber, but a strong program of promotion has lifted cotton prices to their highest levels on record. All of this is good news for cotton planters who have sharply increased the acreage planted in the crop. [New York Times] Corporations have found a new tool to use in their lobbying efforts against proposals that could adversely affect them. The new tool is their own employees, and the corporations have been making increasing use of it. One of the most extensive such campaigns was one recently sponsored by the Rockwell International Corporation urging their employees to help keep the B-1 bomber project alive. [New York Times] Leaders of five African countries refused to accept the plan presented by the Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, for the transfer to majority rule in Rhodesia. The presidents of Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Angola and Mozambique also called on Britain, as the "colonial authority" over Rhodesia, to convene a conference to work out a new plan. The statement appeared to lessen chances for a quick settlement of the Rhodesian problem, but it did not close the door to further negotiations. [New York Times] Britain will help organize a temporary government for Rhodesia and its foreign secretary will fly to Africa next week to discuss the situation. Anthony Crosland, the Foreign Secretary, made the statements in the wake of the refusal of five African leaders to accept Prime Minister Smith's plans for the interim government. [New York Times] In Washington, Secretary of State Kissinger ordered the State Department to react favorably to the statement by the African leaders and the department issued a statement saying the road to a negotiated settlement was open. [New York Times] Syrian troops stormed a hotel in Damascus where four guerrillas, believed to be Palestinians, had taken 90 persons hostage. In the battle, which lasted for several hours, the leader of the guerrillas was reported killed along with four of the hostages. Thirty-four of the hostages were reportedly wounded. [New York Times] Oil and revolution have changed Libya from one of the world's poorest nations to the one with the highest per capita Income in Africa. Col. Muammar Qaddafi, who led a group of young officers in a coup against King Idris in 1969, forced the foreign oil companies to pay higher taxes and royalties and led the drive to raise world oil prices. The oil money is visible everywhere: new buildings are going up all over the capital, Tripoli, and vast slums have been replaced by concrete apartment buildings. [New York Times]