News stories from Sunday May 25, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Several diplomatic undertakings to win the release of the hostages in Iran were initiated by nations and groups not closely identified with the United States. The administration has chosen to say little about the situation and let others do the negotiating.
A fact-finding mission in Iran was begun by three European Socialist leaders, in an apparent effort to resolve the American hostage crisis. The party was led by Chancellor Bruno Kreisky of Austria, the first head of state to visit Iran since the revolution last year. He was accompanied by former Prime Minister Olaf Palme of Sweden and Felipe Gonzalez, leader of the Spanish Socialist Party.
[New York Times] - Greater support for the boycott of the Olympics will be sought among individual sports federations in those countries planning to attend the Moscow Games. Administration officials reported that the French equestrian, yachting and shooting teams are planning to boycott the Games, even though the French Olympic Committee refused to boycott them. Similar groups in Britain, whose Olympic officials are against the boycott, are also expected to join it. [New York Times]
- Mount St. Helens erupted again, but less severely than the explosion a week ago. Volcanic ash soaring miles into the atmosphere was carried by the wind over the most populous areas of coastal Oregon and Washington. Inch-thick accumulations of ash caused traffic emergencies and many one-car accidents. [New York Times]
- George Bush might have to give up his presidential campaign because of an accounting error that appeared to make his campaign seem $300,000 richer than it was. The error would leave the campaign in debt by a similar amount if a serious campaign effort were made in a major state, such as New Jersey. [New York Times]
- The Chappaquiddick issue has been indirectly and unfairly raised in the Carter campaign advertisements in Ohio, according to political neutrals and some Carter campaign supporters in the state. President Carter's campaign aides have put top priority on a tough, all-out drive to cinch the Democratic nomination with a June 3 primary victory in Ohio that they hope will thwart Senator Kennedy's plans to carry his challenge into the Democratic convention. [New York Times]
- Hundreds of Cuban refugees protested delays in their processing as immigrants at a refugee tent city near Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. They threw stones and scuffled with military police. Most of the nearly 9,000 refugees have been at the camp three weeks or more, and only 1,150 have been resettled, a spokesman said. [New York Times]
- Pilots received false instructions from a man posing as a controller at Tampa International Airport in Florida last week. The pilots of at least six jet airliners were misguided in landings and takeoffs, but no planes were in jeopardy because of the intervention of the regular air traffic controllers, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administrtation said. [New York Times]
- An army attack on Kwangju appeared near. South Korea's military leaders warned that residents of the provincial capital, which has been taken over by students and others opposed to martial law, wanted the army to restore order as quickly as possible. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul advised embassies to remove their nationals from Kwangju, which was regarded as an indication of impending military action. [New York Times]
- Israel's Defense Minister resigned. The cabinet lost a relatively moderate voice when Ezer Weizman, frustrated by his lack of impact on government policy, resigned after a brief meeting with Prime Minister Menachem Begin. His resignation was regarded as a symptom of the government's gradual move toward a narrower political base on the right. It brought expressions of regret from moderate Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories. [New York Times]
- National parks may reduce services because of cuts in the federal budget and the effect of inflation, Russell Dickenson, the new director of the National Park Service, said. Economy steps might include earlier-than-usual park closings, fewer garbage collections at campsites, and fewer patrols by rangers. [New York Times]