News stories from Sunday November 11, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Ayatollah Khomeini in a tirade upbraided the Pope, called President Carter "an enemy of humanity" and challenged the United States to use economic or military force to free the hostages being held at the American Embassy in Teheran. He rejected the offer of papal and other mediation and said that the hostages would be released only if the Shah was sent back to Iran.
American officials saw no progress in their efforts to free the hostages in Teheran, and they were confused by reports reaching them. The only encouragement came from the continuing international and individual efforts to bring about their release.
[New York Times] - The seizure of the hostages in Teheran is viewed as symbol of a decline in American authority and prestige in Cumberland, Md., which 185 years ago started the Whisky Rebellion against a federal tax on the spirits shipped East by local distillers. "It is the last straw in a series of humiliating events, starting in Vietnam," said one of the residents in a series of interviews. Supporters of an exchange of the hostages for the Shah were few. [New York Times]
- Pessimism among Americans about the nation's present and future tends to be confirmed by a New York Times/CBS News Poll. The poll of 1,385 voting-age Americans found that five times as many people say that the country's situation is worse than it was five years ago as against those who believe that it has improved. Nearly twice as many people expect a further decline than those who expect improvement. Inflation was found to be the principal cause of discouragement. [New York Times]
- Charitable groups are planning to present a united front against inflation, government regulation and tax policies that they believe have discouraged contributions. As a first step, the National Council on Philanthropy and the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations, the nation's two largest philanthropic umbrella organizations, announced at a meeting in Denver that they would merge and start functioning as a single group in January. [New York Times]
- China's Ambassador plunked a banjo in Nashville, where he had been invited by the Country Music Association, which would like to sell more records to the many country music fans in the Orient. Ambassador Chai Zemin frequently expressed his desire for friendly relations and expanded trade with the United States. He and his wife spent three days in country music's capital. [New York Times]
- Margaret Thatcher will insist on major changes in the way Northern Ireland is governed, hoping that political evolution will lead to reduced violence in the British province. The Prime Minister, in the first newspaper interview she has given since taking office, said she would propose the return of some local government to the province, now administered from London. [New York Times]
- Israel arrested the Palestinian Mayor of one of the West Bank's major cities pending a court ruling on a move to deport him to Jordan for allegedly expressing sympathy for Palestinian terrorists. The arrest of Mayor Bassam Shaka of Nablus was followed by the resignation of the entire Nablus city council, demonstrations by his supporters and threats from most other mayors and municipal officials in the occupied territories that they would resign en masse if Mayor Shaka is expelled. It also caused an uproar among Israelis. [New York Times]
- Morocco appears far from defeated in the Western Sahara despite several military setbacks at the hands of the Polisario guerrilla movement, which is seeking to make the region an independent state. Moroccan forces have consolidated their hold on the region's few population centers, and it appears that King Hassan II has decided on a war of attrition. [New York Times]