News stories from Thursday May 15, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The boycott of the Moscow Olympics gained momentum as the West German Olympic Committee approved the step in a decision expected to influence other Western European countries. Under strong pressure from the government and the major political parties, the committee voted, 59 to 40, not to take part in the Games. [New York Times]
- Measures to halt the flood of Cubans arriving in Florida on private boats are being vigorously pressed, according to federal officials, who said that Cuba had indicated no favorable response to President Carter's proposal for an official American airlift or sealift. Federal officials are moving more aggressively to impose fines on boat operators for carrying refugees, to seize boats to guarantee payment of fines and to detain unsafe vessels.
Cuban refugees kept pouring in to Key West, Fla., on packed commercial fishing boats. Captains said that Cuban officials had warned them of fines or seizure of their boats if they refused to accept the refugees and others told of situations in which Cuban exiles who had chartered the craft threatened violence if the refugees were barred from boarding.
[New York Times] - A positive report on the Cuban refugees was given by federal officials screening the 46,000 arrivals. The officials said that despite fears that Havana was freeing its worst elements the refugees so far reflect a generally healthy and potentially productive cross section of Cuban society. [New York Times]
- Action to keep the food stamp program continuing through the summer was taken by a House-Senate conference, which agreed on a $2.56 billion supplemental appropriation. The House and Senate speedily approved the committee's action and President Carter is expected to sign the bill. [New York Times]
- A Carter-Kennedy debate was pressed by Senator Edward Kennedy. He said he would withdraw from the Democratic presidential race if President Carter would debate with him before the final round of primaries on June 3 and if he lost that round to Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter, a spokesman said, will not debate. [New York Times]
- Reforms in a Teamsters pension fund remain at issue three years after the government announced that the fund's trustees had agreed to take specific actions to resolve Washington's demand for reform. Many of the changes are not being carried out and critics in Congress are raising questions about allegations of continued improprieties in the way the union's Central States Pension Fund is managed. [New York Times]
- A speedy world summit conference was urged by the Soviet-bloc nations to discuss an easing of "international tension and preventing war." The appeal, which said that "particular attention should be paid" to preserving peace in Europe, was described by a Western diplomat as too vague to be meaningful. [New York Times]
- Moscow drew Washington's skepticism over a complex and conditional plan for withdrawing Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Secretary of State Muskie, who will confer tomorrow in Vienna with Foreign Minister Gromyko in the first high-level American-Soviet meeting in eight months, termed the plan "cosmetic and not meaningful."
Appeals for new Afghan resistance against the Soviet forces and the Moscow-installed Afghan government are again being distributed nightly in clandestine leaflets in Kabul despite a curfew and armed patrols. Informed travelers from the Afghan capital say they believe that 56 young people, 36 of them girls, were killed in anti-Soviet demonstrations in late April.
[New York Times] - Egypt will not resume talks with Israel and the United States on Palestinian autonomy unless Israel "reconsiders its position" on key issues, Cairo announced. The communique, which reversed a statement made Wednesday by President Sadat, denounced Israeli's Parliament for its approval of legislation Wednesday to make Jerusalem an integral part of Israel. [New York Times]
- Major protests in South Korea led the government to announce that it would try to meet some demands for speeding a plan for democratic reforms, but it set no specific schedule. Tens of thousands of students have held anti-government demonstrations for three days in Seoul and five other cities. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 822.53 (+2.91, +0.36%)
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* |
| May 14, 1980 | 819.62 | 106.85 | 40.84 |
| May 13, 1980 | 816.89 | 106.30 | 35.45 |
| May 12, 1980 | 805.20 | 104.78 | 28.21 |
| May 9, 1980 | 805.80 | 104.72 | 30.28 |
| May 8, 1980 | 815.19 | 106.13 | 39.29 |
| May 7, 1980 | 821.25 | 107.18 | 42.59 |
| May 6, 1980 | 816.04 | 106.25 | 40.16 |
| May 5, 1980 | 816.30 | 106.38 | 34.08 |
| May 2, 1980 | 810.92 | 105.58 | 28.14 |
| May 1, 1980 | 808.79 | 105.46 | 32.48 |