News stories from Wednesday February 20, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Doubts about the release of Americans held in Iran were renewed as an international commission of inquiry delayed its mission for at least three days and Ayatollah Khomeini issued a strong statement supporting the militant captors and their demand for the return of the deposed Shah. Diplomats at the United Nations said that President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr had asked for more time to gain the assent of the militants in giving up the captives. [New York Times]
- A U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics this summer was termed "final and irrevocable" by the White House as President Carter's deadline for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan expired. Officials said that even if the troops withdrew, the American Olympic Committee was expected to abide by his decision.
Soviet troops held their Afghan posts and Moscow has been expanding its force in Afghanistan, according to Western diplomats in Kabul. Western sources also said that the rebellion had increased sharply, that it was well beyond the control of Afghan troops and that a sudden Soviet withdrawal would probably lead to the collapse of the Soviet-backed government.
[New York Times] - Alice Roosevelt Longworth died at the age of 96 in her Washington mansion. Mrs. Longworth, the elder daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, had reigned for 80 years as the capital's dowager empress, renowed for her constantly fascinating personality, caustic wit, happy iconoclasm and influential political connections. [New York Times]
- Seven Republican presidental hopefuls accused the Carter administration of inaction on inflation and weakness on national defense, chiding each other mildly as they joined in a nationally televised forum each hoped would bring him success in next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. [New York Times]
- Fears of jeopardizing prosecutions prompted the House Judiciary Committee to reject, 27 to 0, a resolution that would have directed the Justice Department to give to the House all evidence it had compiled against seven members of Congress mentioned in a federal undercover investigation of alleged political corruption. [New York Times]
- Draft registration was opposed by the leaders of several women's groups at a House hearing. The groups were united in opposition to the military registration of both men and women, but they were divided on the issue of whether women should be registered in the event that President Carter orders the registration of men. [New York Times]
- A racial slur prompted the censure of a Connecticut legislator. Despite an apology and a plea for forgiveness by Representative Russell Reynolds, the state's House of Representatives voted 87 to 50 to censure and reprimand the West Haven Democrat for answering a questionnaire on legislative issues with an epithet against blacks. [New York Times]
- An effort to protect press freedom will be made tomorrow by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who said that he will seek to remove from a bill a provision that would make it a criminal act for the press to disclose the names of intelligence agents. Senator Moynihan, a New York Democrat, said that such a penalty "might have a chilling effect" on the rights of the press. [New York Times]
- Rebuffing university faculty unions, the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, that the teachers are "managerial" employees whose moves to unionize are not protected by federal laws. The decision threatens the stability of about 80 collective bargaining accords at private universities around the country. The opinion in effect holds that the National Labor Relations Board exceeded its authority for a decade in certifying faculty unions. [New York Times]
- Progress on the "windfall profits" tax planned on oil companies was made by House and Senate conferees. They agreed on a nonbinding method of distributing the $227.3 billion that the proposed levy is expected to raise and formally approved a tax provision that would give individuals an exemption for some interest income. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 886.86 (+10.84, +1.24%)
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* |
| February 19, 1980 | 876.02 | 114.60 | 39.48 |
| February 15, 1980 | 884.98 | 115.41 | 46.67 |
| February 14, 1980 | 893.77 | 116.72 | 50.55 |
| February 13, 1980 | 903.84 | 118.44 | 65.22 |
| February 12, 1980 | 898.98 | 117.90 | 48.08 |
| February 11, 1980 | 889.59 | 117.12 | 58.66 |
| February 8, 1980 | 895.73 | 117.95 | 57.86 |
| February 7, 1980 | 885.49 | 116.28 | 57.69 |
| February 6, 1980 | 881.83 | 115.72 | 51.95 |
| February 5, 1980 | 876.62 | 114.66 | 41.87 |