News stories from Thursday January 22, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The pledges to Iran will be carried out as long as they are "consistent with domestic and international law," the Reagan administration announced. The White House said that former President Carter, after meeting with the freed hostages, had advised President Reagan to abide by the accords but never to do "any favors for the hoodlums who persecuted innocent American heroes." [New York Times]
- Anger increased in Washington amid the many reports of harsh conditions forced on the Americans during their 444 days of captivity. Members of Congress introduced resolutions to renounce the accords with Iran, but congressional leaders warned against precipitate action.
Grave abuse of the freed hostages during their captivity has been revealed in examinations of the 52 Americans, the State Department said. A spokesman reported that "a very grim picture" had emerged from the patients' talks with psychiatrists, other doctors and government specialists. Increasing evidence of mistreatment, both physical and psychological, has been found by the specialists examining the former captives.
[New York Times] - An Iranian official termed "libel" the statements by the freed Americans about mistreatment. The chief Iranian negotiator in the dispute asserted that the Americans had been brainwashed since their release Tuesday. [New York Times]
- The despair of the hostages over Americans' concern about them during their most agonizing hours of captivity was related by Barry Rosen, a press attache at the Embassy in Teheran. At times, he said, "We'd say to ourselves, 'they don't care,' the economy is the big thing." He spoke to a friend about his joy and relief to be free.
"Those people tried to break us," but "we beat them," a freed hostage said in telephone calls to relatives and others. Richard Morefield, the Consul General at the Embassy in Iran, said that his captors had tried to break his spirit, but that the captives generally had resolved to "come out with our brains unscrambled and in the best possible health."
[New York Times] - Government austerity was pressed by President Reagan. He ordered a 15 percent cut in travel by federal employees, a 5 percent reduction in consulting services and limits on furniture purchases and "unnecessary" office refurbishments. He assigned Vice President Bush to head a new interagency panel aimed at easing government regulations, and Mr. Bush said that some rules would be lifted even before the panel started work. [New York Times]
- An $80 billion military buildup was recommended by the Congressional Budget Office. The agency said that Congress should appropriate the funds to add five armored divisions to the Army and three aircraft carriers to the Navy, as well as other programs to strengthen the armed forces over the next five years. [New York Times]
- The approval of Raymond Donovan as Secretary of Labor by a Senate committee next week was predicted by Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the panel. Mr, Hatch, a Republican from Utah, said that the F.B.I. had told him that an informer who alleged that Mr. Donovan had paid him to arrange labor peace for his company in New Jersey was "mistaken." [New York Times]
- The Abscam bribery trial of former Representative Richard Kelly again viewed a videotape showing the Florida Republican stuffing his pockets with $25,000 in cash. A government prosecutor asked repeatedly, "Is that the way the business of the United States is to be conducted?" [New York Times]
- Bans on uses of water were extended to 34 more municipalities in New Jersey. The chief engineer of a pivotal reservoir in the rationed northeast region urged the state to start immediate planning to draw water from a 10-mile-long recreational lake. [New York Times]
- A halt in American aid to Nicaragua was reported by a United States official. The source said that payments from a $75 million economic support fund had been suspended because of evidence that left wing guerrillas in El Salvador were receiving weapons from Nicaragua. [New York Times]
- The sale of The Times of London to Rupert Murdoch, publisher of The New York Post and many other newspapers, has been conditionally agreed on. The purchase is contingent on his reaching new agreements with unions within three weeks and is subject to the government's approval. The owners said that Mr. Murdoch had given detailed guarantees that he would not lower the tone or character of the widely esteemed newspaper. [New York Times]
- Brief strikes swept Poland as hundreds of thousands of workers left their jobs in at least 10 cities. The independent trade union movement pressed a demand for a five-day work week as the Communist leadership was taking an increasingly tough position. About 26 Soviet divisions are stationed near Poland's frontiers. [New York Times]
- Angola seeks peace in Namibia, according to the leaders of Angola's Marxist regime. They said they wanted to continue working with Western countries for an independent South-West Africa. A peaceful settlement, they said, would enable the 17,000 Cuban troops in Angola to begin leaving. The present regime won a civil war after the Portuguese left their colony in 1975, and the Cubans helped repel an invasion by South Africa. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 940.44 (-5.81, -0.61%)
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* |
| January 21, 1981 | 946.25 | 131.36 | 39.19 |
| January 20, 1981 | 950.68 | 131.65 | 41.74 |
| January 19, 1981 | 970.99 | 134.37 | 36.64 |
| January 16, 1981 | 973.29 | 134.77 | 43.26 |
| January 15, 1981 | 969.97 | 134.22 | 39.63 |
| January 14, 1981 | 966.47 | 133.47 | 41.39 |
| January 13, 1981 | 965.10 | 133.29 | 40.89 |
| January 12, 1981 | 968.77 | 133.52 | 48.75 |
| January 9, 1981 | 968.69 | 133.48 | 50.18 |
| January 8, 1981 | 965.70 | 133.06 | 55.35 |