News stories from Saturday August 18, 1979

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

The State Department learned -- within four days -- of the meeting between Andrew Young, the chief United States representative at the United Nations, and the Palestine Liberation Organization's representative, Mr. Young said in an interview. He said that by then, a virtually verbatim account of the talk was circulating at the highest levels of the State Department. [New York Times] Reconciliation is sought by black and Jewish leaders who are looking for ways to improve relations that they agree have been gradually declining for more than a decade. The resignation of Andrew Young as United States representative to the United Nations touched off a controversy that is prompting the leaders to move quickly to counter a growing hostility to Jews among many blacks. [New York Times] New federal rules on the disabled that require cities to make mass transit vehicles accessible to the handicapped, or lose badly needed federal funds, alarm many city officials. The rules were added last month, and many transportation officials say the required modifications may cause equipment failure and that they are too costly to be practical. [New York Times] Microsurgery has benefited millions of people and newer applications of the technique are creating a medical revolution that is having an impact on virtually every type of surgery. Microsurgery, which is any operation done with the aid of microscopes, is helping almost everyone from the cancer patient to the accident victim. [New York Times] Haitians are flowing into the Florida, and while the refugees say they are political exiles escaping the oppression of the Duvalier regime and its state police, the immigration authorities say it is not politics but poverty that they are fleeing. The refugees are smuggled into this country by night, risking death and discovery. [New York Times] Egypt's leaders had mixed reactions to the new plan for a compromise resolution on Palestinian rights, which the United States may put before the United Nations Security Council, American officials said. The compromise resolution, rebuffed by the Israelis on Friday, was outlined to top Egyptian leaders by Robert Strauss, President Carter's special envoy to the Middle East. He is trying to win Egyptian and Arab support for the move. [New York Times] Iran crushed a Kurdish revolt in the town of Paveh, near the border with Iraq, the state radio announced. The Iranian forces acted on direct orders from Ayatollah Khomeini, who went over the heads of the military leadership and the government. Moderate officers who dominate the army had been reluctant to send units to combat internal unrest. [New York Times] The cost of living in Britain is rising, and that fact became a major political issue again this week, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government released figures showing the annual inflation rate in the country at 15.6 percent. The government then came up with a new "tax and price index" which purported to show things were not so bad after all. [New York Times]