News stories from Sunday July 30, 1978

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

Clemency for Patricia Hearst has been endorsed by California's Lieutenant Governor and the president of the bank she was convicted of robbing. A campaign on her behalf is being directed by the Committee for the Release of Patricia Hearst. [New York Times] Cases of a mysterious virus that causes mental deterioration and death has been found in at least 41 countries and in unexplained clusters in some geographical areas, population groups and families, according to a worldwide report on the malady, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The disease, rare but always fatal, has occasionally been transmitted between humans through surgical procedures. [New York Times] Corruption in the coal industry is the subject of investigations by federal and state authorities in the South and other mining centers. Fraud, bribery and tax evasion are among the charges being examined by federal grand juries in Alabama, Georgia and Illinois. An investigation in West Virginia will get under way next month. State-level inquiries are being made in a number of other states, including Indiana, Kentucky and California. [New York Times] Increasing use of blind trusts by public officials to administer their personal financial affairs while they hold office is confusing the public and arousing suspicion, according to congressional testimony. Many top officials of the Carter administration, including the President, have set up various blind trusts, as have 10 Senators. [New York Times] Fewer motorcyclists wear helmets now that states are increasingly yielding to strong pressure from motorcycle groups and repealing the mandatory protective helmet requirement. Deaths from motorcycle accidents, meanwhile, are up sharply. Twenty-three percent more deaths were reported in 1977 than in 1976, according to government figures, while motorcycle registrations increased by only 1 percent in the same period. [New York Times] A divided meeting in Belgrade of foreign ministers of the non-aligned nations ended with a series of compromise statements on major political and economic problems that avoided the major issues at the six-day meeting. Among the controversies were the Cuban military involvement in Africa and the Vietnam-Cambodia border war. The ministers agreed to meet next year in Havana. [New York Times] Anwar Sadat called Israeli policy "negative and backward" and stressed that he did not favor renewal of face-to-face talks at this time. He said that he was ready to discuss "peace in all its aspects" but only if there was a prior agreement excluding compromise on the land and sovereignty issues. His statements followed a meeting with the American special envoy, Alfred Atherton, who had attempted to persuade the Egyptians to consider another round of talks. [New York Times] Albania's grievances with China were made public in a harsh letter tracing the recent bad relations to slights and controversies over the years, in particular to a dispute over President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972 and Henry Kissinger's preparatory visit a year earlier. The 56-page letter contained the most detailed explanation thus far of the estrangement between China and Albania. [New York Times] Rhodesian forces entered Mozambique in what was said to be a pre-emptive strike against guerrillas trying to overthrow Rhodesia's transitional government. A communique from Salisbury said the attack was directed against the organization led by Robert Mugabe, co-leader of the Patriotic Front guerrilla alliance. [New York Times] South-West Africa's statehood prospects, fostered by the United Nations, depend on an election for a black-majority government that must be approved by South Africa, which has ruled the territory for 63 years. A decision, expected after a cabinet meeting in Pretoria tomorrow, is likely to be favorable. [New York Times]