News stories from Sunday December 28, 1980

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

Another baffling move was made in the maneuvers of Prime Minister Mohammed Rajai as the Iranian leader released the documented American reponses to Teheran's conditions for freeing the 52 Americans. While his purpose in making the documents public was not known, the Prime Minister earlier summoned local and foreign reporters to tell them of a proposal that the United State return the money that it could agree belonged to Iran and that the the hostages would remain captive until disputed claims had been settled through arbitration. [New York Times] The administration made public its proposals for the release of the hostages, presented to Iran over the last two months, after the Iranians broke an agreement to keep the exchanges secret. According to the American documents, the United States offered to return to Iran about $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets almost immediately and to cancel outstanding claims against Iran when an international claims commission is established. It also agreed to freeze the property of the late Shah's family and to help Iran's legal effort to seize it. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan again assailed Iran and said its demand for an immediate payment of billions of dollars of its frozen assets was "ransom" sought by "barbarians." This was the second time in five days that the President-elect attacked Iran over the hostage issue, and it seemed to indicate that he would not approve paying Iran for the hostages' freedom. [New York Times] Foreign fishing in American waters will be phased out faster under a bill signed last week by President Carter. Foreign fishing off the coasts of Washington and Oregon has threatened to put local fishermen out of business. The bill also authorizes $87 million in aid for the fishing industry, including restoration of Northwest salmon and steelhead runs.Mexican-American fishing agreements are being terminated by Mexico. The decision, which is to be formally presented to the State Department tomorrow, may put many fishermen in the United States out of business. Mexico is attempting to build up a fishing fleet capable of competing with American, Japanese and Cuban fleets. [New York Times] The weather brewing in Arctic regions indicates that the United States will have a long and very cold winter when the Arctic cold air masses start to spread. The temperature climbed to a comparatively warm 40 degrees below zero in Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories, 4,000 miles from New York City, but it was cold enough to knock out electric power in a major community, and bring on a freeze of people and water pipes until power linemen came to the rescue. [New York Times] Moderate Senate Republicans intend to assume a watchdog role in the next Congress to block conservative proposals that they regard as threatening, especially those concerned with civil rights, protecting the environment and social welfare. One of the moderate leaders is Senator Charles Mathias of Maryland. [New York Times] Representative David Stockman became the first politician of national stature to be named as one of dozens of persons who apparently were spied on by the "Red Squad," an intelligence unit of the Michigan State Police. Mr. Stockman, the director-designate of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration, was a college student when he was involved in 1967 in an antiwar group on which the Red Squad kept a file. [New York Times] The Koch administration attacked a proposal by a presidential commission that the federal government encourage people in the Northeast and Middle West to seek opportunities in the Sun Belt states, calling it a "death knell" for Eastern cities. [New York Times] A cut in federal transit subsidies proposed by a Reagan transition team was criticized by two New Jersey members of Congress who said that it would set back mass transit programs in the New York area. However, an aide to the President-elect said that no recommendation from any transition team ought to be taken as a definite policy statement. The critics of the reduction proposal were Senator Harrison Williams and Representative James Howard. [New York Times] History has virtually disappeared over the last two decades as a specific study in American high schools as a growing number of students enter high school without sufficient reading ability to study history. In many schools history has become part of "social studies." The tradtional year-long history survey course in American history has been broken up in many schools into "mini-courses," but not necessarily in a rational order. [New York Times] More Saudi Arabian surplus oil income is being converted to West German and Japanese currencies in an effort to diversify Saudi investments, a possible indication that the Saudis are tying their fortunes less closely to the United States economy. [New York Times]