News stories from Saturday August 20, 1977

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

Voyager 2 began to show signs of malfunctioning soon after its takeoff from Cape Canaveral -- the launching was described as "almost flawless" -- but the project manager said last night he was "more optimistic" about the craft's interplanetary mission than he was in the early afternoon. The craft was said to be on course despite the early rolling and pitching that started after its takeoff. [New York Times] No more Volkswagen beetles will be coming into this country. The Volkswagen Rabbit is taking their place. The little "bug" is being stamped out by international economics, American safety and emissions requirements and competitive small Japanese cars. Fewer than 700 new beetles are in the hands of United States dealers and when they are sold there will be no more. There will be plenty of the older ones around, of course. About five million of the beetles have been sold to Americans in the last 27 years. [New York Times] Details of how the inner circle of employees in Howard Hughes's entourage struggled to keep him from reorganizing the management of his affairs have been uncovered in the continuing legal battle over the control and taxation of his vast estate. Before his death in April 1976, Mr. Hughes was planning to curb the power of F. W. Gay, then executive vice president of the Summa Corporation, the Hughes holding company, and wanted to establish an Eastern division of Summa headed by Jack Real, a former vice president of Lockheed Aircraft and an old friend. This caused a palace revolt, and the locks were changed on Mr. Hughes's hotel suite to keep Mr. Real out. [New York Times] An explanatory key to many of the food manufacturers' complex codes that prevent shoppers from determining how long food items have been on the grocer's shelf will be distributed this week by the New York state Consumer Protection Board. The board was able to break the "freshness" codes used on many foods to conceal the date on which they were packed. The keys to the codes and other information about food preservation have been combined in booklets that will be given free to shoppers. [New York Times] The United Nations was asked to recognize "the rights of homosexuals to live their lives free of discrimination and persecution," by hundreds of homosexual men and women who held a rally outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. Many of those who attended the rally had traveled from as far as West Germany and Quebec City. [New York Times] China's Communist Party elected a new central committee and restored tough disciplinary measures for party members at the first congress since the death of Mao Tse-tung last year. The meeting, the party's 11th congress, was held in Peking. It now appears that power in Peking is shared by a triumvirate of Hua Kuo-feng, the party chairman; Yeh Chien-ying, the Defense Minister, and Teng Hsiao-ping, the recently rehabilitated Deputy Prime Minister. [New York Times] Peace treaties with Israel will be signed by Egypt. Syria and Jordan as part of an overall Middle East settlement. Their intention was made known to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance during his recent Middle East trip. In addition, Egypt and Jordan said they would consider a further American proposal that they establish diplomatic relations with Israel. [New York Times]