News stories from Tuesday December 19, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- People's Temple funds have been found in banks in Panama, a United States government source said, adding that more than $10 million was located by the Justice Department, which had asked that steps be taken to freeze the money. The funds are believed to represent most of the assets amassed by the late Rev. Jim Jones. [New York Times]
- A pardon-selling case that has ensnared Tennessee Gov. Ray Blanton in state and federal court proceedings widened as the state's Attorney General went to court to defend the Governor. A state judge will rule whether Mr. Blanton should lose his power to pardon and parole prisoners after the arrests last week of three aides on charges of selling pardons and commutations of sentences ostensibly signed by the Governor. [New York Times]
- To break Cleveland's deadlock and lessen the potential for bankruptcy, Mayor Dennis Kucinich offered to put the sale of the city-owned Municipal Light plant to a public vote if the City Council would agree to a referendum at the same time on raising the city income tax. If the Mayor's proposal is accepted by the council and creditor banks, he said he would be able to prevent all or part of the scheduled layoffs of city workers. [New York Times]
- White House-labor bitterness has become a major public breach. Lane Kirkland, a top leader of the A.F.L.- C.I.O., announced his resignation from two government advisory posts after President Carter declined to reappoint George Meany, president of the federation, to the board of the Communications Satellite Corporation. [New York Times]
- A basic rule in nature has apparently been contradicted. It has long been believed that nothing can move faster than light, but at least four celestial objects have been observed apparently exceeding that speed limit by wide margins. One seems to be flying through space at eight times the speed of light. [New York Times]
- Israel's Parliament upheld the stand of the government in the deadlocked negotiations for a peace treaty with Egypt and deplored the United States attitude on the issue as "unjust." The vote was 66 to 6, with 27 abstentions. The governing Likud bloc achieved the victory after drawing up the resolution with the Labor alignment, the main opposition group. [New York Times]
- Indira Gandhi was jailed for a few days by the Indian Parliament after it had expelled her from its current session as punishment for having harassed officials in 1975 when she tried to block an inquiry into her son's business affairs. The former Prime Minister called the government's actions "vindictive and politically motivated." [New York Times]
- Moscow has reacted positively to Washington's decision to normalize relations with China, President Carter said. He said he had received a message from Leonid Brezhnev that Mr. Carter termed "very positive in tone" and conveying his "understanding" of the move.
Pravda expressed concern about the establishment of American-Chinese diplomatic ties and skepticism about President Carter's pledge not to use its China relationship against the Soviet Union. Soviet officials have expressed apprehension about Western nations providing China with modern technology that would enhance its military capability.
[New York Times] - Japan established in Taiwan a disguised diplomatic entity to represent it there in 1972 after Tokyo severed diplomatic links with Nationalist China and opened relations with Peking. The Japanese move indicates the kind of diplomatic ambiguity that the State Department will apparently have to undertake when Washington breaks relations with Taiwan. [New York Times]
- The Shah has rejected a regency or any similar solution to Iran's political turmoil, government and Western diplomatic sources reported. The decision, if not reversed, will make the formation of a civilian government to replace the present military regime more difficult, since several key opposition leaders have said they would not take part in any government under the monarchy as it is now constituted. [New York Times]
- A vast power blackout struck France, depriving most regions of electricity for several hours. The power failure was attributed by the government in part to a sudden surge in the use of electricity because of freezing temperatures. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 789.85 (+2.34, +0.30%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| December 18, 1978 | 787.51 | 93.44 | 32.90 |
| December 15, 1978 | 805.35 | 95.33 | 23.64 |
| December 14, 1978 | 812.54 | 96.04 | 20.85 |
| December 13, 1978 | 809.86 | 96.06 | 22.48 |
| December 12, 1978 | 814.97 | 96.59 | 22.21 |
| December 11, 1978 | 817.65 | 97.11 | 21.01 |
| December 8, 1978 | 811.85 | 96.63 | 18.56 |
| December 7, 1978 | 816.09 | 97.08 | 21.18 |
| December 6, 1978 | 821.90 | 97.49 | 29.68 |
| December 5, 1978 | 820.51 | 97.44 | 25.66 |