News stories from Saturday February 2, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Mass demonstrations of solidarity by Iranians were called for by the captors of the hostages at the American Embassy in Teheran who fear a political compromise between Iran and the United States might lead to the hostages' freedom, weakening their political influence in favor of the secular politicians who made a comeback in the recent presidential election. [New York Times]
- Inmates seized a prison in New Mexico and took 11 guards hostage. The state police quoted prisoners who fled the rioting as saying that 10 to 15 inmates had been killed. The inmates in control of the prison threatened to kill the hostages if state officials did not meet a series of demands, chiefly an end to what were described as overcrowded conditions and harassment by prison guards. About 175 inmates fled the prison after the takeover. [New York Times]
- Six members of Congress are accused of questionable dealings with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who posed as businessmen and Arab sheiks offering them bribes. According to law enforcement authorities, the officials include Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey and at least five members of the House. [New York Times]
- A vote in the Security Council called on Britain to insure fair play in the Rhodesian elections scheduled for the end of the month and halt practices allegedly favoring Bishop Abel Muzorewa and discriminating against the Patriotic Front guerrilla organization. The vote was 14 to 0. [New York Times]
- Pakistan's President responded warmly to American efforts to repair recent strains with Washington. Following a meeting with Zbginiew Brzezinski and other American officials in Islamabad, President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, said, "It is heartening to see that our traditional ally, a country Pakistan has loved and respected, is giving us the impression of finding a lost Asian ally." [New York Times]
- The spirit of detente is dying in the United States, public opinion surveys and reports from New York Times correspondents show. Americans are expressed a confused ambivalence after President Carter's assertion that the United States would fight to preserve its vital interests in the Persian Gulf region. They seem to believe that the country's basic interests, even its survival, are at stake, but they shrink from armed intervention. [New York Times]
- Genetic screening of many employees of petrochemical and related industries has been clone to determine whether they have what company doctors call "defective" genes that would make them vulnerable to toxic chemicals. Employers say the purpose of the tests is keep employees they term "hyper-susceptible" away from potentially dangerous poisons. The screening has aroused strong criticism among union leaders, academics and industrial hygienists. [New York Times]
- Fires and deaths have kept pace with the increasing use of wood stoves, which now heat two-thirds of the houses in Maine, half the houses in Vermont and growing numbers of homes elsewhere. Most of the accidents have been caused by improperly installed and ineptly operated stoves. [New York Times]