News stories from Sunday March 30, 1980

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

A major diplomatic effort was said to have been started by the administration with its Western allies to pressure Iran to take steps to release the American hostages. Meanwhile, the administration insisted that it had made no conciliatory overtures to Iran. There were some signs from Teheran that the Iranian leadership was considering some fresh actions of its own to resolve the crisis. [New York Times] President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr of Iran announced that he had received a letter from President Carter and the message was described in Teheran as a threatening one. The precise contents of the letter were not divulged, but it was widely believed in Teheran that it contained a warning that the United States would initiate some kind of action against Iran unless steps were taken to release the American embassy hostages. A close associate of Mr. Bani-Sadr quoted him as saying, "They have sent me an ultimatum."Swiss emissaries in Teheran delivered two letters from President Carter to President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, one Tuesday and another today, according to the Foreign Ministry in Bern. [New York Times] Events in Teheran are emerging with new force as a political issue in Tuesday's presidential primary in Wisconsin, reflecting rising impatience among voters with the stalemate, according to political strategists. Led by George Bush, the Republican contenders in the primary have been concentrating on the hostage crisis all week. [New York Times] Explosions and gunfire in San Salvador broke up a funeral service for Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, a human rights leader in El Salvador who was assassinated last Monday. At least 26 people were killed and about 200 injured when rifle shots and explosions caused a stampede among 30,000 people in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, where the funeral service was being conducted. [New York Times] Guerrillas in Bogota released two hostages from the Dominican Republic's Embassy, which they seized Feb. 27, leaving 27 people still being held there. They freed a judge and a businessman, both Colombians. [New York Times] A second crater on Mount St. Helens in Washington's Cascade Range was discovered when gas clouds cleared away from the top of the volcano. The mountain has been throwing off gas and ash for several days, its first disturbance in 123 years. The United States Geological Survey was not predicting a spectacular lava eruption, however. [New York Times] Thousands of Jews are migrating to the Sun Belt, leaving industrial cities of the East and Middle West and taking with them their traditions, religion and culture. In northern San Diego County, Calif., a local rabbi said the influx had been "tremendous," with the Jewish population increasing at least 50 percent in two years. Other Sun Belt cities, which have had relatively few Jewish residents, are beginning to develop sizable Jewish communities. [New York Times]