News stories from Wednesday September 24, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Iraqi troops pushed deeper into Iran and the two countries bombed and shelled each other's oil facilities again. Kharg Island, Iran's main oil-loading terminal, was attacked by Iraqi planes and the Teheran radio said that some storage tanks were on fire. Iraq said that its troops had seized a 10-mile-deep strip of Iranian territory east of Baghdad and Iran acknowledged that some of its forces had been forced back.
Most Arab nations favor Iraq's victory over Iran but hope that the fighting is limited and swift, according to Arab diplomats at the United Nations. They said they feared that if Iran was dismembered, this would provide a temptation for outside intervention.
[New York Times] - Iraq and Iran halted all oil exports from the Persian Gulf, removing about 2.7 million barrels a day from the world market. The cutoff could eliminate within a few weeks the excess oil supplies that have helped to moderate prices and could result in a new and sharp increase in world prices, industry experts believe.
Oil shipment contingency plans are being discussed by the United States and other countries in light of the Iran-Iraq conflict, President Carter said. Sixty percent of the world's oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz from the producing nations of the Persian Gulf. Sources said one possibility under discussion was the formation of an international naval force to insure that Gulf ports other than those in Iraq and Iran are kept open.
[New York Times] - No direct questioning of the President about Billy Carter's ties to Libya will be required by a Senate investigating panel. Instead, the chairman of the panel said, written questions directed to President Carter will be submitted to the White House staff. [New York Times]
- The expulsion of a Congressman was recommended by the House Ethics Committee. The chairman of the panel said that it had voted 10 to 2 in favor of the removal of Representative Michael Myers, Democrat of Pennsylvania, because of his bribery conviction in the Abscam scandals. [New York Times]
- The main owner of American Motors will be Renault, the French government-owned auto maker, under a $200 million accord. The American company sought the arrangement, which requires ratification by shareholders, to avoid the possible collapse of its auto-making operations. [New York Times]
- Corporate political fundraising has surpassed the efforts of labor unions, and Republican Party committees are raising up to 13 times the amounts received by Democratic groups, according to reports at the Federal Election Commission. Financing for Alfonse D'Amato was begun by the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. The national group gave $235,500 to his New York Senatorial race and he immediately earmarked the funds for a $1 million television campaign. In the party's primary Mr. D'Amato defeated Senator Jacob Javits, who is running on the Liberal Party line. [New York Times]
- Five hours before a missile exploded in its silo in Arkansas last Friday, officers monitoring the events from their headquarters in Omaha vetoed a recommendation by an emergency team at the site to vent leaking missile fuel into the atmoshere. Instead, they decided to wait in the hope that the situation would stabilize, as suggested by the silo manufacturer, which had no representatives at the site. The blast injured 22 men, one fatally. [New York Times]
- A school desegregation plan in Chicago is to begin operating by next fall under an accord between the city's school board and the Justice Department. The agreement was approved by a federal court after the board accepted it unanimously. [New York Times]
- The Navy is stretched very thin and is beset by shortages of skilled personnel, delays in the delivery of new vessels and aircraft and a shrinking supply of weapons, ammunition and spare parts. Members of all ranks fear that the Navy would not be able now to maintain a global conflict with Moscow that lasted more than a week. [New York Times]
- President Carter won a major victory as the Senate approved, by a vote of 48 to 46, the sale of 38 tons of enriched uranium fuel to India. Last week, the House opposed the shipments by a vote of 298 to 98, but disapproval by a majority in both chambers was required to block the sale. [New York Times]
- Poland's independent unions registered with a Warsaw court as a single national organization called Solidarity. The significance of the event was stressed in a speech to 5,000 cheering supporters by Lech Walesa, the leader of the recent Baltic Coast strikes who heads a workers' movement that is gaining many adherents. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 964.76 (+2.73, +0.28%)
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 23, 1980 | 962.03 | 129.43 | 64.39 |
| September 22, 1980 | 974.57 | 130.40 | 53.14 |
| September 19, 1980 | 963.74 | 129.25 | 53.74 |
| September 18, 1980 | 956.48 | 128.40 | 63.39 |
| September 17, 1980 | 961.26 | 128.87 | 63.99 |
| September 16, 1980 | 945.90 | 126.74 | 57.28 |
| September 15, 1980 | 937.63 | 125.67 | 44.63 |
| September 12, 1980 | 936.52 | 125.54 | 47.18 |
| September 11, 1980 | 941.30 | 125.66 | 44.77 |
| September 10, 1980 | 938.48 | 124.81 | 51.45 |