News stories from Saturday May 13, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Pope Paul VI celebrated a requiem mass In Rome for Aldo Moro, the first time that the Pope had participated in a funeral service for anyone except a cardinal. The Pope also said a special prayer for the former Prime Minister of Italy, who was his friend. The mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran was attended by President Giovanni Leone, the entire cabinet, many special foreign envoys, and Mr. Moro's brother and sister. His widow and his four children did not attend. [New York Times]
- Unauthorized disclosure of information Is worrying the Carter administration, which is moving to cut access to government data. Defense intelligence and White House officials report that concern has become as great as it was in the early months of the Nixon administration. They say that there is the same tendency to lump together all forms of unauthorized disclosure, ranging from "news leaks" that embarrass the administration to unapproved books and articles by former officials and release of sensitive, national security information. The administration has tightened National Security Council regulations on interviews, started the prosecution of one espionage case, and filed a breach of contract suit against a former employee of the C.I.A. who wrote an unauthorized book. [New York Times]
- Foreign investment in real estate is taking on a growing role in the United States. Overseas investors find that real estate provides them with a safe investment far from political and economic troubles at home. The deflated dollar makes buying even more advantageous. Foreigners, often operating through anonymous holding companies, are buying up farmland, shopping centers, hotels and residential property. A real estate specialist estimates that 20 percent of all farmland being sold in this country is going to foreign buyers, and the total is believed to be as high as 40 to 50 percent in certain areas. In California, land is being sought so quickly that an assemblyman in a farming district is backing legislation to restrict foreign purchases. [New York Times]
- The Census Bureau was accused of giving in to pressure from ethnic groups. and cluttering the 1980 census questionnaire with items designed mainly to enhance the political power of minority leaders. Under current plans, all 73 million households in the United States will receive a form asking that all members be listed under one of 14 "races," among them Samoan, Eskimo and Aleut, in addition to black and white. [New York Times]
- King Khalid of Saudi Arabia told President Carter that his country was seeking F-15 fighters from the United States to discourage Communist expansion in the Middle East. He said in a letter to Mr. Carter that he plans "are being acquired for defense." The statement was evidently meant to soften Congress's opposition to the administration's proposal to sell warplanes to Israel and Egypt as well as to Saudi Arabia. [New York Times]