News stories from Thursday November 23, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A vain search for survivors of the mass suicide and killings at the American cult's settlement was continued by Guyanese government patrols, casting further doubt that hundreds had survived by escaping into the surrounding jungle.
Alleged crimes by religious cults have been cited by members of Congress in seeking inquiries by the Justice Department. The department has rebuffed the requests to investigate the charges of brainwashing, imprisonment and physical abuse on the ground that such inquiries would violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, interviews and government correspondence disclosed.
[New York Times] - Black leaders urged President Carter to meet with them to discuss their "deep concern" over reports that federal support for programs aiding minority groups is to be severely cut in the new budget now being drafted. The group of 15, the Black Leadership Forum, released the text of a telegram sent to Mr. Carter on Nov. 11 calling for the meeting. The request, a spokesman said, has not been answered. [New York Times]
- The first black Peace Corps director, Dr. Carolyn Payton, said she did not want to resign. Agency officials said Wednesday she intended to do so. Sources said that a superior had sought her resignation, apparently because of policy differences. [New York Times]
- Long distance auto commuters far outnumber Americans who travel to work by train or bus. About 1,300,000 Americans now travel 50 miles or more, one way, to work, all or mostly by car. Love of rural or small town life is the chief motivation for long distance commuting, and the interstate system and the shift of jobs from central cities to suburbs have increased the trend toward commuting by auto. [New York Times]
- The issue of nuclear waste disposal led to a heated exchange between Dr. Edward Teller, "the father of the hydrogen bomb," and Dr. Zhores Medvedev, an exiled Russian scientist who has been telling Americans about a nuclear waste disposal accident he says occurred in the Soviet Union in 1958. The encounter took place in New Mexico, where a proposal for a nuclear waste storage project has generated considerable debate. [New York Times]
- Concern over rising health care costs has slowed utilization of the expensive C.T. scanner at a time when researchers say the diagnostic instrument is beginning to prove its contributions to patient care. The scanner takes computer-directed X-rays that yield cross-section views of the body. [New York Times]
- Revival of the Liberal Party, which once wielded considerable power, is being sought in a series of strategy talks among its leaders. The party faces a possible defeat by amateurs of the Right-to-Life Party at the official New York state vote count. [New York Times]
- The Cairo newspaper Al Ahram published what it said was the text of the peace treaty negotiated earlier with Israel. The preamble described the peace treaty as "an essential step " in the search for a comprehensive settlement of the Mideast conflict "in all its aspects." This significant allusion was the linkage that Egypt has sought between a treaty and movement toward Palestinian self-government. [New York Times]
- Mao Tse-tung was criticized in a wall poster in Peking suggesting his involvement in the activities of two of China's most reviled figures -- Chiang Ching, his radical wife, and Lin Piao, a former Defense Minister. The poster also charged that the late leader was likely behind the 1976 purge of Teng Hsiao-ping, now Deputy Prime Minister, and had helped suppress a major anti-government demonstration in Peking at the same time. [New York Times]
- Iceland's steep inflation rate, at 43 percent the highest in the West, is causing deep concern that young people will become totally disillusioned about saving and planning. Contributing to the problem is the instability of prices for fish, which is Iceland's key industry, costly Scandinavian-model social services and high demand for consumer goods in the hard climate. [New York Times]