News stories from Sunday August 19, 1979

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

U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that the State Department knew about the substance of Andrew Young's meeting with a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization before the department asked the United States representative to the United Nations to provide an account of the conversation. But they denied that American intelligence agencies had spied on the meeting. [New York Times] Some black leaders have shifted, moving to establish closer ties with the Palestinians and to try to force a change in American Mideast policy. The leaders are now publicly calling for direct talks between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israelis. And they reject branding the P.L.O. a terrorist group, asserting that the Israelis have used violence too.The U.S. policy of shunning contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization was characterized as "kind of foolish" by Andrew Young, who resigned last week as chief United States delegate to the United Nations after his unauthorized talk with a P.L.O. official in New York. He made the remark today on a television show. [New York Times] President Carter worked the crowds on both sides of the Mississippi River as the Delta Queen riverboat steamed between the politically potent states of Iowa and Wisconsin. The day bore the trappings of a whistle-stop campaign as Mr. Carter greeted a crowd of 500 persons after the boat docked in Wisconsin. [New York Times] Soviet astronauts made a safe landing after orbiting the earth in the Salyut 6 space station for a record total of 175 days. The two men returned aboard their Soyuz 34 craft, landing in the Soviet Union's central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan. [New York Times] Blacks are waging a battle in the music business to break white control over the marketing of black stars. The controversy has deeply divided the multi-billion-dollar music industry, and has led some black performers to actively seek out local black promoters to handle their concerts. [New York Times] The most violent 10 miles in America are along the border between San Ysidro, Calif., and Tijuana, Mexico. Almost every night, agents of the United States Border Patrol encounter gunfire or barrages of stones from across the fence that divides the U.S. from Mexico. The border area has become a combat zone, and the beleaguered agents have sometimes responded with what many Mexicans and Americans feel is unwarranted violence against illegal Mexican aliens. [New York Times] The state tax on casinos disappoints the elderly of New Jersey who say the tax has brought them only "meager" benefits. Interviews with elderly New Jerseyans indicate that most voted for legalized casino gambling, which was approved in a second referendum two years ago. But many say they are still struggling to live on fixed incomes, and that the casino tax has offered them little new relief. [New York Times] Washington will consider dropping its proposal to sponsor a moderate resolution in the Security Council on Palestinian rights, because the resolution lacks support in Israel and Egypt, according to Robert Strauss. Mr. Strauss, President Carter's special envoy to the Middle East, refrained from saying publicly that he would urge Mr. Carter to cancel the Palestinian initiative, but aides said he would do so to ease the crisis in United States-Israeli relations. [New York Times] The Indian Prime Minister resigned. Charan Singh quit when it became apparent that his four-week-old government could not muster a majority in a parliamentary vote of confidence in the lower house. [New York Times] Iranian forces converged on the Kurdistan capital, Sanandaj, after Ayatollah Khomeini ordered a general mobilization to crush what he called a Kurdish rebellion there. He said over state radio that an Iranian division there was surrounded by the Kurds. All military leave was canceled after the message. But the governor general of Kurdistan said the town and barracks were peaceful and the information given the Ayatollah about the situation was "a total lie." [New York Times] A home-buying frenzy grips Florida, and is propelling the state's real estate market to its dizziest heights since the boom years of the late '60s and early '70s. Strangely, the present boom appears to be fueled by the energy crisis, the impending recession and worldwide inflation. [New York Times]