News stories from Sunday October 22, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Pope Paul II, poised but "full of trepidation," received the symbols of his office as vicar of Christ and began his spiritual mission in a 3-hour ceremony in St, Peter's Square. As his predecessor had done, John Paul declined the three-tiered tiara. Noting that he is the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, John Paul nonetheless declared himself now a Roman and delivered his homily in Italian. There was a poignant passage in Polish, and he extended greetings to the world -- and asked its prayers -- in an additional nine languages. [Chicago Tribune]
- Bobby Fischer, who has not played chess in public since he won the championship from Boris Spassky in 1972 and then lost it by refusing to play him again, announced that he plans a comeback in 1979 with a million-dollar match against his Yugoslav friend Svetozar Gligoric. Organizers are already thinking about a Fischer match against Anatoly Karpov, who retained his title in the Philippines match against Viktor Korchnoi. [Chicago Tribune]
- Comedian Bob Hope reportedly suffered a mild form of "cardiac disturbance" in his hotel suite after a performance at the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Robert Lach, chief cardiologist at Mt. Carmel Medical Center, "easily resolved" the problem by a special two-fingered massage of a blood vessel high in Hope's neck. Hope has resumed his schedule without restriction, Lach said. [Chicago Tribune]
- Their first effort died in the adjournment of the 95th Congress, but members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are still intent on pushing a "new Marshall Plan" for Israel and Egypt and perhaps any other Mideast country that is willing to live in peace. The plan, patterned on Secretary of State George Marshall's post-World War II arrangement for European recovery, would join the United States in "a full economic partnership" with the people of the Middle East. [Chicago Tribune]
- Broadcasting, lodging, office equipment, drugs, electronics, and aluminum are just some of the industries that could perform well under the first year of President Carter's new wage-price structures. Automobiles, retail food, New York banks, and natural gas utilities are among those that could be hurt. The findings are by Robert Stovall, director of investment policy at Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. He's looked at past performances during wage and price controls to predict the future. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army voted to ask its Protestant enemies in Northern Ireland to join in seeking a British withdrawal from the strife-torn province, I.R.A. sources reported, They said the proposal was approved at the annual conference here of the Provisional Sinn Fein, the political arm of the militant Provisionals. There was no immediate response from leaders of Protestant organizations in Northern Ireland that have been battling the I.R.A. [Chicago Tribune]
- Egyptian and Israeli negotiators have taken home a draft treaty aimed at ending 30 years of hostilities. A State Department spokesman said "the principle issues in the negotiations have been resolved," but Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan said there are still "important problems" to be ironed out and an Egyptian government spokesman said the proposal may need "further study to be ready for signing."
Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman returned to Israel today, called back by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. They brought with them the Washington draft of a peace treaty with Egypt for debate Monday in the Knesset. Dayan arrived full of praise for President Carter, who he said saved the Washington talks from collapse. But the draft was nonetheless a compromise.
[Chicago Tribune] - A University of Pennsylvania researcher reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons that small electrical currents have been found effective in speeding the healing of bone breaks and wounds. Dr. Bruce Heppenstall, an orthopedic surgeon, said the currents were more than 80 percent successful in tests on 130 patients in experiments at Pennsylvania and Columbia University. [Chicago Tribune]
- Saudi Arabia's King Khalid is concerned about rumors that he barred blacks and Jews from caring for him during his stay at Cleveland Clinic Hospital, where he recently underwent a double coronary bypass operation. The king attempted to quell the rumors by inviting Rep. Louis Stokes [D., Ohio] and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young for a visit over the weekend.
Khalid, 65, told them the rumors hurt very much because he had been raised by a black woman, as had all his children. After the visit, Stokes said the King stressed that members of the royal family had married blacks and it is against their Moslem religion to discriminate. "He told us about the black doctors and nurses who are attending him and about the good care he is receiving," Stokes said. "He evidently is very disturbed about the rumors." Khalid, who is considered a key to getting Arab countries to accept the Israel-Egypt peace pact, also pointed out that Sen. Howard Metzenbaum [D., Ohio], a Jew, visited him at the hospital last week.
[Chicago Tribune] - Anastas Mikoyan, former Soviet president and the first of the old Bolsheviks to retire with honor, died Saturday at the age of 82 after a prolonged illness. During his 40-year career in Soviet politics, Mikoyan survived the purges of dictator Josef Stalin and the fall of Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Among the most familiar Soviets in the West, Mikoyan served as trade emissary, international conciliator, and Kremlin troubleshooter. [Chicago Tribune]
- "While many people believe they know almost everything about Jacqueline Onassis, none of us knows very much or ever will." Gloria Emerson, a longtime friend of the former First Lady, denounced the most recent spate of Jackie books as "sleazy rumors, hearsay, and homemade psychological insights." Disputing what she calls a "hostile" claim that Sen. John F. Kennedy married her as a political stepping-stone, Emerson relates in McCall's magazine a meeting she had with him before his marriage: "I remember him trying to be cool and analytical about it, but I knew right away that he could have found dozens of socially impeccable young women of the same religion, but that he did not want them." As for Jackie: "She never promised us anything -- thus never broke a promise to us. If we created a myth about her, we cannot hold her responsible for not embroidering that myth. She does not owe us any explanation." [Chicago Tribune]