News stories from Sunday April 17, 1977

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

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of foreigners, most of them Mexicans illegally living in the United States, would be given amnesty under new immigration policies being developed by the Carter administration. Amnesty is expected to be one of the more controversial parts of the immigration proposals, which differ sharply from the policies of previous administrations. [New York Times] California's two-year drought will not necessarily bring about a rise in retail food prices this year, according to Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland. He said after a four-day tour of farming communities in central California that he saw no need for prices to increase now, but a third year of drought would bring "a real crunch" in food supplies and prices. He will give President Carter a report tomorrow. [New York Times] A murder similar to those of three other young New York City women in recent months occurred in the Bronx. Valentina Suriani, 18 years old, was shot to death, and her 20-year-old companion, Alexander Esau, was critically wounded while sitting in a parked car early Sunday. There were similarities in the four slayings, but perhaps the most important was the fact that the fatal bullet was fired from the same .44-caliber revolver. [New York Times] Alex Haley returned to Juffure, the African hamlet in Gambia where he had met kinfolk said to be descended from the slave Kunta Kinte. It was his first return since publication of "Roots," his account of the family history there and in America. Arriving on the Gambian presidential yacht, he was given a triumphant welcome. [New York Times] Foes of the Concorde jet drove almost 600 cars around Kennedy International Airport for nearly three hours in defiance of a state Supreme Court injunction. The motorcade slowed traffic on main roads to 5 and 10 miles an hour, but airport operations appeared normal. The number of protesters was far lower than anticipated. [New York Times] The wife of Israel's Prime Minister was fined about $27,000 for her role in maintaining bank accounts in Washington that violated Israel's currency regulations. Last week, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was fined about $1,500 in an out-of-court settlement for maintaining the illegal accounts. Mr. Rabin told the cabinet that beginning Friday, he would take a leave of absence for the rest of his term. [New York Times] The largest collection of British art ever brought together by a private individual goes on display Tuesday at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven. Paintings, drawings, prints and rare books from the Elizabethan period to the mid-19th century, given to Yale University by Paul Mellon, a graduate of Yale, are housed in a new $10 million art gallery-study center designed by the late architect Louis Kahn. [New York Times] Bond prices made their biggest gains last week since late November as a result of a record increase in the nation's money supply. Financial analysts could see little reason why the trend toward higher fixed-income prices and lower interests should not continue a while longer. [New York Times] The great corporate rite of spring -- the annual meeting -- will get underway in earnest Wednesday when the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which has the world's largest number of shareholders, holds its meeting in Kansas City. For the next few weeks, stockholders in companies across the country will pester executives with questions about profits, dividends, women directors, new products, pensions for officers and political contributions. A.T.&T. is expecting 1,500 of its three million shareholders to show up, but is setting up seats for 3,000 just in case. [New York Times] Legal and social changes directed to the more conservative Moslem elements among the coalition that is opposing him were offered by Prime Minister Zulfikar All Bhutto of Pakistan. "I am taking new initiatives to normalize the situation, to tranquilize the situation," the embattled Prime Minister said. He declared an "immediate" prohibition of alcoholic beverages, banned gambling, proposed more strict censorship regulations "in conformity with the moral standards of Islam" and promised to move the country closer to the civil and criminal codes of the Koran. [New York Times]