News stories from Tuesday February 19, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Iran's President gained more power in dealing with the militants holding 50 American hostages as Ayatollah Khomeini granted him supreme command over the armed forces. The President, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, reportedly accepted the creation of an international commission to investigate Iran's grievances, but he appeared to suggest that a timetable for the release of the captives was not included in the arrangement. [New York Times]
- Federal financing of abortions for poor women will resume, at least temporarily, under an order issued by the Supreme Court, The Justices announced that they would hear an appeal by the Government on an accelerated schedule that would allow the Court to decide the case in the current term. [New York Times]
- Eric Heiden won his third gold medal of the Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid, N.Y. The 21-year-old from Madison, Wis., battled 35-mile-an-hour winds to capture the men's 1,000 meter speed skating sprint. As he had in the 500 meter and 5,000 meter races last week, he set an Olympic record and far surpassed his opponents. [New York Times]
- Senator Edward Kennedy has failed in his recent efforts to revitalize his presidential campaign by sharpening policy differences with President Carter, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. It found that Democrats give Mr. Carter greater support over his challenger than they did a month ago. [New York Times]
- George Bush is somewhat of an enigma to Americans, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. It found that the public knows what its dislikes about all the leading presidential aspirants except him. While 55 percent of Republicans now say they know enough about him to have an opinion, up from 34 percent in January, only half can cite something they like about him and only one in twelve can cite something negative. [New York Times]
- A former C.I.A. employee lost a ruling in the Supreme Court, which held that an agreement requiring employees of the agency not to publish "any information" about it without specific prior approval applied to nonclassified as well as classified data. The Court also ruled that the former employee, Frank Snepp, must give to the government all his earnings from his book about the fall of Saigon. [New York Times]
- Severe rainstorms in California prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in Los Angeles and three other nearby counties. The weeklong series of storms has caused at least 16 deaths, widespread mud slides and flooding and more than $100 million in property losses. The Governor also placed 18,000 National Guard troops on an alert. [New York Times]
- Fear of breaching security in the federal investigation of political corruption led the F.B.I. office in Florida to inform other bureau offices last fall against seeking an indictment against a man allegedly using inside information from the inquiry to carry out a swindling plan, according to high officials. They said that an apparent result of that fear was a delay in the investigation of the suspect, who allegedly bilked businessmen of more than $150,000 while pretending to represent a wealthy Arab sheik. [New York Times]
- The dangers of water pollution were cited by a presidential council. It said that the quality of the air that most Americans breathe improved in the last four years, but that the water they consume was still threatened by pollution and misuse. [New York Times]
- A key life process in human and animal cells may be organized differently from what has been believed for decades, according to scientists. Their experiments showed that reproduction of DNA, the substance of the genes and chromosomes, seems to occur at multiple fixed points. In the past, it was assumed that there was no such fixed machinery for precise copying of the hereditary material. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 876.02 (-8.96, -1.01%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| February 15, 1980 | 884.98 | 115.41 | 46.67 |
| February 14, 1980 | 893.77 | 116.72 | 50.55 |
| February 13, 1980 | 903.84 | 118.44 | 65.22 |
| February 12, 1980 | 898.98 | 117.90 | 48.08 |
| February 11, 1980 | 889.59 | 117.12 | 58.66 |
| February 8, 1980 | 895.73 | 117.95 | 57.86 |
| February 7, 1980 | 885.49 | 116.28 | 57.69 |
| February 6, 1980 | 881.83 | 115.72 | 51.95 |
| February 5, 1980 | 876.62 | 114.66 | 41.87 |
| February 4, 1980 | 875.09 | 114.37 | 43.06 |