News stories from Monday January 1, 1979

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

Iran's Shah made a public appearance for the first time in two months to underscore that he was in no hurry to leave the country, but expressed a desire to reporters and photographers to take "a vacation" when a new civilian government was established.Teheran's airport was closed by a strike by air traffic controllers, stranding hundreds of Americans and other foreigners seeking to leave Iran. Later, it was announced that the strike had ended and that some flights were expected to resume Tuesday. [New York Times] Washington and Peking celebrated the resumption of formal diplomatic relations after nearly 30 years of estrangement. The ceremony, at the American liaison office in Peking, was attended by an unusually large group of high Chinese officials, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Teng Hsiao-ping, who offered a series of toasts to friendship as firecrackers exploded auspiciously in the streets.The start of diplomatic relations between Washington and Peking was hailed by the United States as "the dawn of a new and bountiful era," but it warned that "patience, wisdom and understanding" would be needed to overcome the two countries' ideological and political differences. Vice President Mondale made the statement in ceremonies in Washington. The American Embassy in Taiwan ended its formal diplomatic mission, but it will not go out of business. Until March 1, when the American liaison office in Peking becomes an embassy, the building in Taipei will house a nameless agency that is expected to become the office to manage American interests in Taiwan. [New York Times] Former cult members are being aided by five volunteer counselors at the Human Freedom Center in Encino, Calif. Founded in 1976 by several former members of the People's Temple, the center sponsors talk sessions and other self-help activities that enable former cultists to make a transition to independent living. [New York Times] An anti-contaminant pledge by the Food and Drug Administration to lower the permissible level of the toxic chemical compounds called PCB's has not been fulfilled despite the strong support of health advocates. The F.D.A. has not acted because of pressure from fishing interests and state environmental protection agencies in areas with the worst contamination problems, the health advocates say. [New York Times] The Washington Star reached a last-minute accord with the printers' union over the issue of layoffs, averting a threatened closing of the financially ailing newspaper. The successful negotiations with the printers and earlier with 10 other unions ended a tense weekend of legal maneuvers, a bankruptcy warning and closed bargaining sessions and allowed the paper, which failed to publish today, to resume publication tomorrow. [New York Times] The Army Corps of Engineers pledged in 1951 that it would not enlarge the controversial Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway without explicit approval of Congress. But last month, after allegations that the corps was exceeding its authority in doubling the size of the project, the corps informed Congress that it needed the approval of only the Army Secretary to do so. Tomorrow, a federal court will begin a hearing and may rule that the $2 billion project must be halted. [New York Times]