News stories from Saturday October 16, 1976

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

Jimmy Carter sent a telegram to President Ford on Friday in which he asked Mr. Ford to stop making "misleading and erroneous statements." The contents of the telegram, released by Mr. Carter in Cincinnati, repeated the Democrat's defense against charges that he wants to raise taxes and weaken the country's defenses. Those charges are false, Mr. Carter said, and he expressed confidence that the President would stop making them. [New York Times] Campaigning in Illinois, President Ford made his most severe attack on Jimmy Carter. Mr. Ford said his Democratic opponent would "say anything anywhere to be President of the United States." The President also said that Mr. Carter wanted to raise taxes, divide the country, swell its deficit and weaken its defenses. [New York Times] Both claiming victory, the vice-presidential candidates left Houston after their televised debate to resume campaigning. Senator Walter Mondale and Senator Robert Dole each said he was a bit annoyed for leaving certain points out of the often acrimonious exchanges. [New York Times] The economic slowdown in the United States, according to an emerging consensus among economists, is part of a pattern of deceleration throughout the non-Communist, industrialized world. The economists believe that the slump does not necessarily mean that the world is about to slip into another recession, but they feel the slowdown was a bit worse than they had expected beforehand. [New York Times] The Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Yankees, 5 to 1, in the opening game of the World Series. The Yankees opened the game with a walkie-talkie system between scouts in the press box and the dugout; but the communications were severed after one inning on orders from Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. [New York Times] The fighting in Lebanon stopped after the Syrians and Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire request made by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis sent a plane into the shrinking Palestinian-controlled area near Beirut to bring out Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to enable him to attend a meeting of Arab leaders in Riyadh. [New York Times] Evidence mounted in China that the leadership was preparing a major campaign to discredit the country's "leftists." In Shanghai, where the leftists first came to power 10 years ago, a crowd demonstrated against Mao Tse-tung's widow and other leftist leaders, who were arrested. [New York Times] The conference on Rhodesia was postponed by the British government. Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland said he was still inviting delegates to meet informally in Geneva next Thursday to discuss a temporary, biracial government for Rhodesia, but he was putting off the formal opening until Oct. 28. British officials said the delay was agreed upon after black Rhodesian leaders said they were having trouble forming their delegations. [New York Times]