News stories from Sunday April 10, 1977

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

A White House statement on an anti-inflation program expected near the end of the week will include a variety of proposals intended to gradually slow down the rate of price and wage increases, various sources said. The administration seeks to curb government practices that raise costs and prices, bring labor and management together informally in an effort to hold down wages and prices, and strengthen the government's ability to anticipate cost-increasing production, bottlenecks and materials shortages. [New York Times] Pope Paul celebrated Easter with services at the Vatican. Services were held in St. Peter's Square; the crowd reached to the banks of the Tiber River. President Carter and his family attended Easter services with their son Jack and his family in Calhoun, Georgia. The Carters had a private sunrise service with Amy and Rosalynn participating. President Carter spoke at a Sunday school session of the Calhoun First Baptist Church. A special midnight movie and television entertainment in Russia didn't deter large crowds from attending services at Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches. [CBS] A revitalized bull market on Wall Street seemed to be assured as 1976 ended with the Dow Jones industrial average surging above 1,000 and record-breaking gains of 1,100 or 1,200 expected by spring. The buoyant expectations have not come true. Last week, the Dow average, the stock market's most closely watched barometer, dropped to a 15-month low of 918.88. "The market has gone down because of fear," said Leon Cooperman, chairman of the investment policy committee of Goldman, Sachs & Company. "It's the fear of a significant acceleration in inflation and, in time, a significant rise of interest rates." [New York Times] A Soviet fishing trawler, seized off the New England coast for violating the new 200-mile fishing limit, was under escort to Boston. [New York Times] Two years after Karen Quinlan lost consciousness, the parents of the comatose New Jersey woman say life has become more settled and letters from strangers show greater understanding of their court-sustained decision to remove her mechanical respirator. She has survived, but doctors still say she can never again be a normal human being. [New York Times] George McGovern met with Fidel Castro in Havana, where the Senator had accompanied a team of college basketball players from South Dakota. McGovern and Castro discussed an anti-hijack agreement, the U.S. trade embargo, the CIA and human rights in Cuba, among other topics. The meeting took place within 24 hours of Castro returning from Moscow. Observers found it significant that Castro came to McGovern's hotel rather than McGovern visiting Castro.Castro was asked how close he believes the reestablishment of U.S.-Cuban relations may be. He stated that he is not pessimistic, but it will take time. Regarding President Carter's allegation of human rights violations in Cuba, and it being an obstacle to normalized relations, Castro replied that some of the most repressive governments in the world are close allies of the United States. McGovern stated that he will talk to the president, then hold a news conference to sum up his talks with the Cuban leader. [CBS] Henry Ford II is among a group of investors that says it has obtained financing to acquire the Irvine Company, California land developer, for $302.9 million, The group, which also Includes Joan Irvine Smith, granddaughter of the late James Irvine, a rancher who assembled vast tracts south of Los Angeles, is competing with the Mobil Corporation for control of the development company. Mrs. Smith has blocked the sale to Mobil with a lawsuit. Mobil proposes a cash bid of $282 million to acquire Irvine. [New York Times] France lent a fleet of military transport planes to Morocco to carry troops to Zaire to support the government of President Mobutu Sese Seku, which is threatened by an invasion of hostile forces. Morocco was given the use of the planes, the French government announced, "in response to a request from the governments of Zaire and Morocco." [New York Times] The London (England) Times printed a story by reporter Mark Ottaway which questions the historical accuracy of Alex Haley's "Roots." Haley arrived in London to help promote the TV show, which is being broadcast by the BBC. [CBS] Chinese leaders were told by former President Richard Nixon in 1972 that he intended to normalize relations with Peking if re-elected that November, according to Carter administration officials. The Nixon pledge was discovered by key officials of the Carter administration in their examination of the Nixon administration's secret documents on China in preparation of a China policy of their own. The Carter people believe that the Nixon statement was one of intention and not a binding agreement. [New York Times] Shimon Peres, Israel's Defense Minister, was all but unanimously nominated as the governing Labor Party's candidate for Prime Minister in the May 17 election. He replaces the party's original choice, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, his old political adversary. Mr. Rabin withdrew his candidacy following the disclosure of an illegal bank account he and his wife had in Washington. The party's central committee voted 815 to 8 for Mr. Peres. There were 18 abstentions. [New York Times] The Canadian government reported that it has arrested Dwight Alan Armstrong, an American antiwar activist who has been sought since 1970 for the bombing of the Army mathematics research facility at the University of Wisconsin. Two of the four persons allegedly responsible had been captured previously. Armstrong faces extradition to the United States. [CBS] "Welcome All" said the sign as the tribal chief Johanes Peter led his people home last month to the Enewetak Atoll, formerly Eniwetok, in the Western Pacific's Marshall Islands. Their return, planned for a long time, is an experiment in the rehabilitation of the islands, which had been used for nuclear weapons testing by the United States. The people were shipped away 30 year ago. [New York Times] Tom Watson won the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Watson won the Bing Crosby Open earlier this season. Jack Nicklaus finished second in the Masters. [CBS]