News stories from Sunday July 13, 1980

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

Gerald Ford ruled out running for Vice President on the Republican ticket and indirectly indicated his preference for George Bush or Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee as Ronald Reagan's running mate. Mr. Ford's first choice reportedly is Mr. Bush. [New York Times] Reinstatement of minority leaders of black, hispanic, women's, youth and ethnic groups to the executive committee of the Republican National Committee was voted by the rules committee of the Republican National Convention. The vote reversed a decision by the national committee's own rules committee against continuing to mandate participation by representatives of these groups. The convention will make a final decision Tuesday. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan's election prospects will be vitally affected by his performance as a presidential candidate at the convention in Detroit. Only the probable presidential debates will be so vital. Not since Thomas Dewey ran against President Truman in 1948 has a Republican challenger stood to profit more from a wave of discontent with a Democratic incumbent. Mr. Reagan also has the advantage of being ahead of President Carter in the public opinion polls. [New York Times] The people of Detroit are awaiting anyone -- a Republcan or Democrat, but preferably a Democrat -- who can bail them out of the city's worst slump since the Depression. The contrast could not be greater between the Republican Party and the blue-collar liberal city, a symbol of hard times in America, but, with an estimated $30 million expected to be spent on convention-related activities, political allegiances are being put aside. [New York Times] About 2,300 slipups at nuclear plants, including operational errors and mechanical failures, occurred last year, according to an anti-nuclear group affiliated with Ralph Nader, which says the incidents raise new safety concerns. Utilities and the nuclear industries, as well as government officials, confirmed the number of incidents, but they rejected the conclusion that the reports in themselves reflected safety problems. [New York Times] The Sioux Indians will have to wait at least two to four years for the $122 million they were awarded in the settlement of a suit against the government for a land claim in the Black Hills of South Dakota. There are about eight Sioux tribes that will be beneficiaries, but before money could be forthcoming there will have to be administrative and congressional approval of how they plan to spend it. But there is a question of whether the Sioux will accept the money. Many just want the land back. [New York Times] Soviet censors refused permission for a West German television network to transmit a film from the Olympic broadcasting center in Moscow on official Soviet views on the relation of between sports and politics because the film was not exclusively about sports, European broadcasting officials said. The film was based solely on official Soviet newspaper comments and propaganda booklets about the Olympic games, the officials said. [New York Times] Egypt and Israel resumed talks on the issue of Palestinian autonomy at an Egyptian resort hotel, but a decisive conclusion was not expected before the United States presidential election in the fall. The talks at Mena House are expected to produce a schedule for a full meeting of Egyptian, Israeli and American delegations in Alexandria next month. [New York Times] Israel's plan to build in Jerusalem is causing concern among experts in the city's Department of Antiquities, who fear that the wall that surrounds the Old City would be damaged along with as yet-undiscovered archeoloigical treasures. The project, which is coming up for a final hearing, would include a shopping arcade, a bus terminal and an underground parking garage just outside Jaffa Gate at the Western sector. [New York Times]