News stories from Saturday December 15, 1979

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

The Shah left Texas for Panama, where, a White House statement said, "He will establish residence there in response to a longstanding invitation from Panama." Jody Powell, the press secretary, said Panama was granting the Shah sanctuary in the hope that it will help "bring about a peaceful solution of the present crisis" in Iran. He revealed that the White House played a key role in the Shah's departure from the hospital at Lackland Air Force Base, and that Hamilton Jordan, the White House chief of staff, had flown twice to Panama to discuss the arrangements, and twice to Texas to speak to the Shah.Spy trials will "definitely begin" for the hostages in Teheran, a spokesman for their captors said soon after learning about the Shah's departure from Texas for Panama. [New York Times] The hostages' release was ordered by the International Court of Justice at The Hague. In an unanimous opinion, the court's 15 judges also told Iran to return the embassy in Teheran and the consulates in Tabriz and Shiraz to American control and allow their employees to leave the country safely, emphasizing the inviolability of diplomatic envoys and embassies. [New York Times] National energy needs are being met by American oil companies before they sell relatively cheap contractual crude at high prices overseas, but they have not necessarily acted in a way to benefit either smaller companies or domestic consumers, according to officials who conducted a secret review of international petroleum traffic. [New York Times] A high degree of racial segregation exists in Texas universities and colleges, according to federal investigators. Their findings, which are being reviewed by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, have not been made public, but a substantial part of their report was released under the Freedom of Information Act. Action on the report could cause political problems in Texas for President Carter's re-election campaign. [New York Times] The fiscal crisis has worsened for Chicago's Board of Education. The Internal Revenue Service has demanded that the board immediately pay $16 million in delinquent payroll taxes, and Gov. James Thompson has refused to go along with a rescue plan worked out by Mayor Jane Byrne and the state treasurer. [New York Times] Trainmen returned to work on the Long Island Railroad under a presidential order and began getting ready the 132 trains that will make up the line's first Monday rush hour in two weeks. About 500 men were back on the job. "We are aiming for a normal Monday morning rush hour," a Long Island Railroad spokesman said. [New York Times] An end to the Rhodesia conference in London was formally announced without a cease-fire agreement with the Patriotic Front guerrillas. British diplomats, however, were encouraged by the guerrillas' willingness to remain in London to continue informal talks on a cease-fire. But a spokesman for the guerrillas, Eddison Zvobgo, said, "It will now be a British war against us; make no mistake about that." [New York Times] The United States protested the use of troops under joint American-South Korean command during a revolt within the South Korean armed forces last week, military sources in South Korea said. Gen. Chon Too Hwan, a follower of the late President Park Chung Hee, ordered out South Korean units that are nominally under joint command for his seizure of 16 other generals and aides. [New York Times]