News stories from Sunday January 6, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The hostages' captors in Teheran said they were being treated well and were getting American-style food, but they acknowledged that their prisoners' hands were still bound. The hostages are accused of treachery toward Iran in varying degrees. The captors say they will be "forgiven" when the Shah and his wealth are returned to Iran. If the Shah does not go back, the hostages will be tried for espionage. [New York Times]
- The Soviet Union was denounced by nations throughout the world as the Security Council of the United Nations continued its debate on the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Hungary, as a member of the Soviet bloc, defended the Soviet Union action as a "limited and temporary move at the request of Afghanistan authorities." [New York Times]
- Washington moved quickly to prevent disarray in the nation's markets for basic foodstuffs following President Carter's curtailment of the shipment of 17 million tons of grain to the Soviet Union. To help keep the commodity markets stable, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission suspended all trading Monday and Tuesday in wheat, corn, oats, soybeans, soybean oil and meal by exchanges in Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis. It was the first such suspension in peacetime. [New York Times]
- The freeze in relations with Moscow will last for "a considerable duration," Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher said. He said in a television interview that European allies, with whom he discussed the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan last week, urged the United States not to resume normal relations with Moscow in only a few months as the Western allies did following the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovkia in 1968. [New York Times]
- Washington sought China's aid in dealing with Soviet expansion in the Middle East. In a marked change in the Carter administration's attempt to follow an even-handed policy toward China and the Soviet Union, Defense Secretary Harold Brown asked China's leaders to join the United States in "complementary actions." [New York Times]
- A shift in the military balance in favor of the Soviet Union probably cannot be overcome by the United States before the end of the end of the 1980's, if then, according to American miltary officials. Unrest in the Persian Gulf region and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan are generally agreed to have warmed the climate in Washington for higher military spending. [New York Times]
- The government was blamed by five manufacturers of Agent Orange for any health problems to Vietnam veterans the military defoliant may have caused. Each company has filed a brief in Federal District Court in Westbury, N.Y.., in response to a class-action suit by a Vietnam veterans organization. More than 3,000 veterans are represented in the suit. [New York Times]
- Media advertising is a major item in the presidential candidates' campaign budgets as they battle for delegates at the Iowa precinct caucuses. They are expected to spend from $50,000 to $100,000 on advertising, mainly television commercials, and "live" call-in television programs. [New York Times]
- Joy Adamson may have been slain, not killed by a lion or another animal in a game preserve in Kenya, as was reported when her body was found on Thursday, her former colleagues believe. The police also doubt that an animal caused her death. [New York Times]
- A sweeping victory for Indira Gandhi and her branch of the Congress Party was indicated by early returns in India's parliamentary elections. The returns indicated that Mrs. Gandhi's party was leading in all parts of the country. [New York Times]
- A lack of uniform national policy in an important area of criminal justice has been found in a Justice Department study of federal prosecutors. This is said to account for the disparity in sentencing of persons convicted of similar crimes. According to the study, most prosecutors refuse to prosecute certain crimes because of secret written criteria that vary substantially. [New York Times]
- An oil barge that ran aground near Beach Haven Inlet, N.J., began leaking its cargo of 70,000 gallons of oil before being pulled free by tugs. The Coast Guard sighted "a long, thin stretch" of oil drifting in a southerly direction down the coast. [New York Times]