News stories from Monday December 26, 1977

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

A complaint from the staff of the International Trade Commission in Washington that 32 European steel companies are engaging in unfair pricing practices in the American market set off a jurisdictional dispute. The Treasury and the Office of the Special Trade Representative say the I.T.C. would be overstepping its authority if it made an independent investigation. The I.T.C. commissioners, in a close vote Dec. 15, decided to delay a decision on whether to investigate. They are scheduled to meet again Jan. 6. [New York Times] The Treasury's scheduled offering tomorrow of $1.5 billion of 15-year bonds is not likely to be received with enthusiasm in the credit market because many analysts believe bond yields are going even higher than they are now, at the highest level of the year. [New York Times] The National Security Agency has offered to help several private communications companies improve their defenses against unauthorized eavesdropping. The offer was first disclosed by Orville Wright, president of MCI Communications, and then confirmed by executives of several other communications companies. [New York Times] More than 30 American journalists have worked since World War II as paid intelligence operatives, usually for the C.I.A., a New York Times investigation has found. At least a dozen others, although unpaid, were counted as operational "assets," and at least 12 full-time C.I.A. officers worked abroad while posing as employees of American-owned news organizations, the investigation showed. [New York Times] An oversupply of ships has depressed Japan's shipbuilding industry. After 23 years as the world's leading shipbuilder, Japan must decide what to do with twice as many shipyards and ship builders as it needs to fill dwindling orders. An official of the Japan Ship Exporters Association said orders were falling off rapidly as a consequence of the mounting value of the yen, which has increased the cost of Japanese products. A decline in freight rates, reflecting the depressed tanker and tramp freighter markets, also is responsible for a smaller demand for new ships. [New York Times] Israel and Egypt conceded their inability to reach agreement in Ismailia on the issue of a Palestinian state and Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, the West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza Strip. But President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin pledged to continue their peace efforts and said they had established two standing committees to continue the negotiations. They did not issue a joint declaration of principles for a Middle East settlement, contrary to announcements made by spokesmen for both delegations. [New York Times] On his return to Israel, Prime Minister Begin played down the inability of his meeting with President Sadat to produce a written declaration, maintaining that the talks were "successful." Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan said that a wide gap, especially over the Palestinian Arabs, still separated the Egyptians and Israelis. He said he was pleased with the Ismailia talks because they ran their full course despite differences. [New York Times] President Carter said that the United States would do all it could to keep up the momentum of the Israeli-Egyptian negotiations and that he had received a telephone call from Prime Minister Begin who said that the Ismailia meeting had been "very successful." State Department officials said the United States would help Israel and Egypt to develop principles for a comprehensive Middle East settlement that the Ismailia meeting had failed to establish. They expected Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to join the Egyptian and Israeli Foreign Ministers when talks resume next month in Jerusalem, but Mr. Carter said he had not yet made a decision on that. [New York Times] Food is scarce again in the sub-Saharan countries of West Africa, where rains have been insufficient and erratic as in the drought and famine of 1972-74. United Nations relief workers do not fear starvation again if help is speedy and sufficient. [New York Times]