News stories from Wednesday February 6, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- An apparent showdown in Iran was pressed by President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who denounced the Moslem militants holding American hostages as self-centered "children" who were behaving "like a government within a government." The new President won the backing of the governing Revolutionary Council in stopping an attempt by the militants to discredit any official they thought might compromise with Washington.
Seeking to ease the Iranian crisis, Washington has decided to delay imposing economic sanctions against Teheran to avoid complicating possible behind-the-scenes efforts by the new government to negotiate release of the American hostages.
[New York Times] - Moscow accused President Carter of seeking to "starve" the Soviet people by curtailing grain shipments. Two Soviet publications depicted American retaliation for Soviet "help" to Afghanistan in terms evoking memories of the suffering in Leningrad during the 900-day German siege and during earlier famines. [New York Times]
- Taiwan's Olympic team was rebuffed because its delegation presented to Winter Games officials identity cards bearing the name Republic of China. Eight members of the Taiwanese delegation were turned away from Olympic Village near Lake Placid, N.Y., for refusing to comply with an International Olympic Committee rule that requires Taiwan to change its preferred name, flag and anthem to avoid conflict with mainland China. [New York Times]
- Inquiries into bribery allegations against members of Congress were pressed by the House and Senate ethics committees over the objection of the Justice Department, which warned that the congressional investigations could jeopardize criminal cases that the government might bring. Thus, the stage was set for a conflict between the right of Congress to judge the conduct of its members and the responsibility of the executive branch to safeguard both the government's cases and rights of the accused. [New York Times]
- A challenge to prayers in schools, permitted under a new Massachusetts law, is the subject of a suit filed by the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the American Jewish Congress and other groups. They have asked the state's highest court for an injunction barring enforcement of the law. [New York Times]
- A common ancestor of man and apes was a monkeylike primate, the size of a domestic cat, that roamed Africa 30 million years ago, according to American scientists. They also said that the primate had a complex social structure defended by the males. [New York Times]
- Edward Kennedy contended that his program of mandatory wage and price controls could "cut inflation by half within a year." In the Massachusetts Senator's first detailed economic policy statement of his presidential campaign, he conceded that the controls he proposes would be virtually
permanent -- an idea strongly opposed by nearly all economists, including his own advisers.
Ronald Reagan's backers are pressing his campaign in New Hampshire aggressively. His close, two-man battle with George Bush in the nation's first presidential primary on Feb. 26 has turned into something of a local Republican family feud with overtones of social class struggle.
[New York Times] - Broadening Britons' home ownership is sought by the Conservative government in a major shift in British social policy. Under the plan, all six million municipally owned houses and apartments will be offered for sale to tenants at discounts up to 50 percent. One goal of the program is to improve economic performance by making it easier for workers to move. [New York Times]
- Intimidation of Rhodesian voters was attributed by Britain to the backers of Robert Mugabe, the guerrilla leader who is a major candidate. Lord Carrington, the Foreign Secretary, also accused the group of violating the cease-fire accords. [New York Times]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 881.83 (+5.21, +0.59%)
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* |
| February 5, 1980 | 876.62 | 114.66 | 41.87 |
| February 4, 1980 | 875.09 | 114.37 | 43.06 |
| February 1, 1980 | 881.48 | 115.12 | 46.65 |
| January 31, 1980 | 875.85 | 114.16 | 65.89 |
| January 30, 1980 | 881.91 | 115.20 | 51.17 |
| January 29, 1980 | 874.40 | 114.07 | 55.48 |
| January 28, 1980 | 878.50 | 114.85 | 53.62 |
| January 25, 1980 | 876.11 | 113.61 | 47.09 |
| January 24, 1980 | 879.95 | 113.70 | 59.10 |
| January 23, 1980 | 877.56 | 113.44 | 50.75 |