News stories from Tuesday June 12, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Two national health care plans, one proposed by President Carter and the other by Senator Edward Kennedy, were pitted against each other at news conferences in the White House and on Capitol Hill. The health care debate focused on the prospects of enactment of each plan and their respective costs, fairness and efficacy. [New York Times]
- A baby's crying may help detect diseases, according to a doctor and a biomedical engineer who have developed a computer model, or profile, of the cries of a normal, healthy infant. Comparing the model with the recorded cries of newborn babies, some healthy and some sick, the doctor was more often than not able to tell which babies were sick and which were not, simply from their cries. [New York Times]
- Cubans have custody of the hijacker who diverted a Delta Air Lines jumbo jet to Havana. The man has been tentatively identified as a defector from the Cuban air force, Eduardo Guerra Jimenez, who 10 years ago flew his Soviet-built MiG-17 jet fighter to political asylum in Florida. [New York Times]
- President Carter lost the first round of a show down that he deliberately sought with Congress over the economic sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia, when the Senate in effect voted 52 to 41 to force the lifting of the embargo. [New York Times]
- Economic changes for Britain were laid out in the budget presented by the new Conservative government. The Tories slashed personal income taxes and state spending, and at the same time imposed large increases in the national sales tax and interest rates. The minister who presented the budget called it "only the first step." [New York Times]
- A man-powered plane crossed the English Channel in three hours to win a small place in history for its American team. It was the first crossing of the Channel by a man-powered plane, and the feat was worth $205,000 in prize money and applause from a crowd of a few hundred spectators. [New York Times]
- Americans have reservations about the treaty with the Soviet Union to limit arms, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll. With the signing of the treaty only days away, a solid plurality of Americans believes that the U.S. has fallen behind the Soviets militarily, but stands a better chance of maintaining strategic equality with Moscow under the treaty, the survey showed. Nearly two-thirds of the public is reserving judgment on the treaty, with 27 percent in favor, 9 percent against, and 64 percent undecided. [New York Times]
- Soviet collectivism is giving way slowly and subtly to a new trend that has seen Russians withdrawing into a more private life. The trend, which has begun to erode the people's social conscience and ideological commitment, is visible in literature, drama, sociology, film and education. [New York Times]
- The U.S. sharply condemned Vietnam for forcing virtually all its ethnic Chinese to leave the country, and it also rebuked Thailand for forcibly returning thousands of Cambodian refugees to their war-torn country. The State Department told reporters the flow of refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia is a massive problem that is "simply overwhelming." [New York Times]
- Kuwait wants higher oil prices set at the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that opens June 26. In an interview, Kuwait's Oil Minister said the industrialized nations need a shock, in the form of sharply higher oil prices, to encourage them to adopt conservation measures and to develop alternative energy sources. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 845.29 (+7.71, +0.92%)
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* |
| June 11, 1979 | 837.58 | 101.91 | 28.27 |
| June 8, 1979 | 835.15 | 101.49 | 31.47 |
| June 7, 1979 | 836.97 | 101.79 | 43.38 |
| June 6, 1979 | 835.50 | 101.30 | 39.83 |
| June 5, 1979 | 831.34 | 100.62 | 35.05 |
| June 4, 1979 | 821.90 | 99.32 | 24.04 |
| June 1, 1979 | 821.21 | 99.17 | 24.57 |
| May 31, 1979 | 822.33 | 99.08 | 30.31 |
| May 30, 1979 | 822.16 | 99.11 | 29.25 |
| May 29, 1979 | 832.55 | 100.05 | 27.04 |