News stories from Monday May 28, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The United States is shorter of oil than any other country, perhaps bearing up to two-thirds of the total world shortage, according to government and industry officials. Analysts attribute the situation in part to an Energy Department policy, recently reversed, that had opposed purchases at high spot market prices by American oil companies. The department had contended that bidding in this market would drive prices higher without adding significantly to supplies. [New York Times]
- Gasoline stations had long lines, rising prices and limits on purchases in the New York metropolitan region as streams of travelers ended the Memorial Day weekend. A survey found that, by late afternoon, nearly 90 percent of the stations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had closed. Planes, buses and trains were packed. [New York Times]
- To avert a new plane disaster, the government ordered all airlines flying DC-10 jetliners to inspect or replace immediately engine mounting bolts like the one suspected of contributing to the crash Friday in Chicago of a DC-10 that killed 273 persons. The government also ordered inspections for cracks in the rear bulkheads after investigators found that this engine mounting component in the DC-10 had abnormal markings and had ruptured in a possibly critical manner. [New York Times]
- Unease in the Carter administration is greater than ever before. It has been hurt by a series of defeats in Congress, open defections to Senator Edward Kennedy, the indictment of Bert Lance on banking conspiracy charges and rising public concern and suspicions over the energy issue. The administration's early solidarity seems to have given way to increasing feuding. [New York Times]
- Herbicide use is bitterly debated 40 years since the concept of "plant growth regulators" began to appear in scientific journals. The controversy involves lawsuits potentially involving hundreds of millions of dollars and the source of a major mystery and disagreement over what herbicides do to and for people. Scientists are divided, the federal government is embarrassed and civilians and Vietnam War veterans believe that their health has been severely impaired.
A widened inquiry on Agent Orange has been ordered by the Carter administration to seek to detect the long-term effects of exposure to the herbicide, a high government official said. He said that the Air Force and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare would conduct studies supplementing one by the Veterans Administration into the defoliant that was used in Vietnam for nearly a decade.
[New York Times] - Prevention of grain elevator blasts is the aim of an Agriculture Department study, which said that many of the severe explosions in the elevators in the last two years might have been due to the operators' returning of "dust" to the wheat and corn they were processing. "Dust" involves minute particles of grain, husks and dirt generated in the process. When dry, it can be highly combustible. [New York Times]
- Recent leaks of Supreme Court rulings and new security curbs with which the Court speedily responded have further strained tense relations between the Court and reporters and have generated a pressroom debate about how the least accessible national institution should be covered. [New York Times]
- Ayatollah Khomeini was challenged over his declaration that all Iranians who did not subscribe to Islam and the leadership by the clergy were "enemies." His position was assailed by the director of Iran's national oil company. Later, Prime Minister Bazargan said on television that "the decision-making roles are so numerous in our country that they have paralyzed much activity." [New York Times]
- Greece joined the Common Market, becoming the 10th member of Western Europe's Economic Community in a signing ceremony within view of the Acropolis, the classic symbol of European civilization. Athens has long sought membership. [New York Times]
- Israel freed 11 Arab prisoners in what was termed a good-will gesture to Egypt. The release was said to be part of an accord under which President Sadat agreed Sunday to open the Egyptian-Israeli frontier. [New York Times]
- Black Rhodesian rule advanced as the new black-dominated Parliament chose Josiah Zion Gumede, a black civil servant, to be President when Bishop Abel Muzorewa's government takes power on Friday. Mr. Gumede is to be sworn in tomorrow. [New York Times]
- A hurdle for an arms accord was indicated by a high Soviet official, who said that Moscow favored a decision by Turkey to reject an American request to fly U-2 planes over its territory to monitor Soviet compliance with the treaty to limit strategic weapons. The Senate is concerned over adequate verification of the accord. [New York Times]