News stories from Monday September 18, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- With long applause, a joint session of Congress saluted Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat tonight as President Carter declared that their courage had made the "impossible dream" of peace between the two countries a possibility this year. Begin and Sadat flanked First Lady Rosalynn Carter in the VIP gallery of the House chamber. Carter said he was sending Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to consult with the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan to win their support for the Mideast accords. [Chicago Tribune]
- A 33 percent across-the-board tax cut, spread over three years, was narrowly defeated in the Senate Finance Committee. Democrats, led by Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D., Tex.) claimed the G.O.P. plan would cause "roaring inflation." Sen. William Roth (R., Del.), chief sponsor of the measure, said, "Once again, we have forgotten the middle class." [Chicago Tribune]
- Both sides in the Senate battle over natural gas pricing predicted a White House victory in the first showdown vote. The test comes Tuesday on a motion by opponents to return the compromise to a House-Senate conference committee for reworking, a move the administration claims would kill the bill. Leading opponents generally acknowledged they would lose Tuesday's vote but said the fight over the bill itself would continue. [Chicago Tribune]
- AFL-CIO President George Meany said that workers would be victims of employer-enforced wage controls under the Carter administration's plans to combat inflation. He said: "It does not make a difference whether the limitation is affected by voluntary guidelines or mandatory controls. The net effect is the same." He called the Carter anti-inflation program "really bad news for low-wage and unorganized workers." [Chicago Tribune]
- The top two fair housing officials of the Housing and Urban Development Department have resigned after reported high-level disappointment with their efforts to expand housing opportunities for minorities. Chester McGuire, the assistant secretary in charge of H.U.D's Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Section, announced his departure effective Sept. 30. His top lieutenant, Herman "Tex" Wilson, also quit. [Chicago Tribune]
- Eugene Thomas and Collie Leroy Wilkins, former members of the Ku Klux Klan, repeated their charge that a one-time F.B.I. informant fired the bullet that killed civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo in Alabama 13 years ago. They appeared before the Lowndes County grand jury and then repeated statements they had made on network television that Rowe killed Mrs. Liuzzo. [Chicago Tribune]
- Hurricane Greta, its strength reduced while passing along the Honduran coast, hit the small British colony of Belize tonight and moved inland. Hundreds of huts were reported destroyed on the coast of Honduras, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The storm was expected to drop below hurricane strength over land, but rains still threatened floods in the river valleys of Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala. [Chicago Tribune]
- Lee Harvey Oswald was a Chinese agent and his assassination of President Kennedy was planned jointly by Peking and the Mafia, a Soviet writer suggested today. The writer, novelist Yulian Semyonov, theorized that Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who shot Oswald two days after the President's death, was the link between China and the U.S. underworld. Publication of Semyonov's article marks the first time the Soviet Union has sought to implicate China in the killing, which Russian commentators earlier attributed to a right-wing plot. [Chicago Tribune]
- The stock market fell sharply after responding favorably at first to the Camp David peace accords. Brokers said investors later showed concern over uncertainties stemming from agreements and forecasts of higher interest rates. The dollar also dropped after an early gain. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 8.40 points lower at 870.15.
Roy Chapin, chairman of American Motors Corp., said he will retire from active management of the smallest U.S. automaker Sept. 30, but will continue to head the company's board of directors. A realignment of top management fast year and gradually improving business for the company finally cleared the way for Chapin's retirement, which was anticipated for some time.
Pillsbury Co. agreed in principle to acquire Green Giant Co. for about $165 million in cash and common stock. If the acquisition is completed, it will make Pillsbury a major factor in the fast-growing frozen food business.
[Chicago Tribune] - A Soviet translator at the United Nations has been given permission to remain in the United States along with his wife and daughter, a State Department spokesman has confirmed. Spokesman Ken Brown identified the man as Imants Lishinskys, a translator who worked for the United Nations in New York City. [Chicago Tribune]
- Fraud and related white-collar crimes against the federal government cost American taxpayers between $2.5 billion and $25 billion each year, a report from a congressional watchdog agency estimates. The report by the General Accounting Office was released today as the administration agreed to set up an interagency strike force to investigate the growing scandal at the General Services Administration, the federal government's housekeeping agency. [Chicago Tribune]
- Arab hard-line states condemned the Camp David summit conference, Libyans called for the death of President Anwar Sadat, and the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to continue its fight against Israel. The official Libyan radio said P.L.O. chief Yasser Arafat conferred with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Khadafy in Tripoli, where thousands of people chanted slogans denouncing the Camp David accords. The Arab leaders opposed to Sadat scheduled a summit meeting in Damascus opening Wednesday to draw up a counterstrategy. [Chicago Tribune]
- Some Israelis wept with joy and relief in learning that a peace treaty with Egypt was only three months away. Bottles of wine were opened and children, danced in the streets, singing "Shalom Aleichem" [peace to everyone]. The stunning results of Camp David took Israel by surprise. Most Israelis learned the historic details of the agreement as they routinely listened to their radios over breakfast. [Chicago Tribune]
- Egyptian President Anwar Sadat has confirmed that his foreign minister, Mohammed Ibrahim Kamel, has resigned. He told a television interviewer that he had accepted Kemel's resignation on Friday, two days before the end of the Camp David Middle East summit. Sadat said Kamel will accompany him to Morocco on Wednesday and will later be appointed an ambassador. [Chicago Tribune]
- The United States will build two airfields in Israel to replace two military airfields in the Sinai that Israel agreed to return to Egypt for civilian use, it was disclosed. Construction of the airfields will be undertaken as part of specific responsibilities the U.S. has agreed to assume in the Middle East under terms of a plan negotiated at Camp David. Jordan's King Hussein so far has refused to enter the talks, but U.S. officials said President Carter will consult with the monarch later. [Chicago Tribune]
- Government forces were airlifted into positions around Esteli in northern Nicaragua Monday to attack the last guerrilla strongholds there. Esteli has been in rebel hands since Sept. 9 although the National Guard said Saturday it had overpowered sniper positions in the town of 30,000. Earlier, the Guard, Nicaragua's 7,500-member army, recaptured the towns of Masaya, Leon, Chinandega, and Penas Blancas. [Chicago Tribune]
- A Soviet Tupolev-14 supersonic airliner is believed to have crashed on a test flight earlier this year, Western diplomatic sources said. The sources indicated that the plane may have crashed on a flight from the large air base at Ramenskoye, southeast of Moscow. The sources hinted that signs of the crash showed up on U.S. satellite reconnaissance photographs of Soviet territory. [Chicago Tribune]
- Prime Minister Ian Smith and his three black executive council colleagues announced they have accepted in principle an invitation to visit the United States. The acceptance came despite U.S. refusal to recognize the interim biracial government. A spokesman for the four men, who form Rhodesia's ruling executive council, said a message has been sent "accepting in principle" the invitation from a bipartisan bloc of 27 American Senators. [Chicago Tribune]
- Imelda Marcos, the Philippines' first lady, is not fond of American Congressmen, according to a magazine interview just published. Mrs. Marcos accused the Washington lawmakers of being rude to her last July when she met with a group of 15 Congressmen in Washington at her request. They asked her about human rights and alleged irregularities in Philippine elections. Marcos says she told the Congressmen, "I've visited many Communist countries, but I've never been treated as rudely as you treated me today, and we're supposed to be friends and allies." Rep. Pete Stark (D., Cal) saw it differently. After the "rude" meeting he said: "The questions were tough. The answers were nothing. We were talking to the tooth fairy." [Chicago Tribune]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 870.15 (-8.40, -0.96%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| September 15, 1978 | 878.55 | 104.12 | 37.29 |
| September 14, 1978 | 887.04 | 105.10 | 37.40 |
| September 13, 1978 | 899.60 | 106.34 | 43.33 |
| September 12, 1978 | 906.44 | 106.99 | 34.41 |
| September 11, 1978 | 907.74 | 106.98 | 39.66 |
| September 8, 1978 | 907.74 | 106.79 | 42.07 |
| September 7, 1978 | 893.71 | 105.42 | 40.30 |
| September 6, 1978 | 895.79 | 105.38 | 42.61 |
| September 5, 1978 | 886.61 | 104.49 | 32.18 |
| September 1, 1978 | 879.33 | 103.68 | 35.07 |