News stories from Friday March 16, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Justice Department is seeking candidates for appointment as a special prosecutor who would conduct an investigation of loans given by the National Bank of Georgia to President Carter's family peanut business, according to private legal and administration sources. [New York Times]
- Ethics would not be violated by laboratory fertilization and artificial implantation of human embryos, a national advisory board said, taking an important step toward permitting for the first time federal financing for the research. An application for federal assistance for such research has been held up pending the decision the Ethics Advisory Board, which counsels the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. [New York Times]
- Tougher air safety rules are being prepared by the Federal Aviation Administration, which will also attempt to close a loophole that allows some violators to claim immunity by turning themselves in. The change in the immunity provision is bitterly opposed by pilots, air controllers and groups within the air industry. The maximum fine for violation of F.A.A. rules would be raised to $25,000 from $1,000. [New York Times]
- Tongsun Park testified that he lied repeatedly to Justice Department investigators to protect former Representative Otto Passman from prosecution for his alleged part in a scheme to sell surplus American rice to the South Korean government. Mr. Park is the government's chief witness in Mr. Passman's bribery trial. [New York Times]
- Israel said its withdrawal from Sinai under its treaty with Egypt would cost $3.5 to $4 billion. The figures were given by the Israeli Defense Minister, Ezer Weizman, to Defense Secretary Harold Brown. American officials said that it was unlikely the United States would provide the total withdrawal costs, and that the American contribution would probably be about $2.5 billion, including $1 billion for Negev air bases to replace two in Sinai. [New York Times]
- A halt to summary trials and executions in Iran was ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini. The order stopped the trial in an Islamic revolutionary court of former Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida, the highest-ranking member of the deposed Shah's regime arrested since the revolution. [New York Times]
- Charges of theft and fraud against a former South African Information Ministry official, a key figure in a government influence buying scandal, were made by Prime Minister P. W. Botha. He said that an arrest warrant for the former official, Eschel Rhoodie, would be issued. Mr. Rhoodie, who is believed to be in Europe, is accused of the theft of secret government funds. Mr. Rhoodie had threatened to sell tape recordings and papers purporting to show that South Africa had bribed foreign politicians to get support for its racial policies. [New York Times]
- Ulster prisoners have been tortured while in police custody, a judicial commission's investigation of Northern Ireland prisons has concluded. The 140-page report was very cautiously written, and emphasized the limited scope of the investigation. The report said that much of the evidence had been unsubstantiated. [New York Times]
- A major military maneuver near the southern Chinese border in the Soviet Union was described by American intelligence officials as one of the largest exercises in recent years. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 852.82 (+5.80, +0.68%)
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* |
| March 15, 1979 | 847.02 | 99.86 | 29.37 |
| March 14, 1979 | 845.37 | 99.71 | 24.65 |
| March 13, 1979 | 846.93 | 99.84 | 31.17 |
| March 12, 1979 | 844.68 | 99.67 | 25.75 |
| March 9, 1979 | 842.86 | 99.54 | 33.41 |
| March 8, 1979 | 844.85 | 99.58 | 32.00 |
| March 7, 1979 | 834.29 | 98.44 | 28.94 |
| March 6, 1979 | 826.58 | 97.87 | 24.50 |
| March 5, 1979 | 827.36 | 98.06 | 25.96 |
| March 2, 1979 | 815.75 | 96.97 | 23.13 |