News stories from Friday August 21, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A worldwide reduction in oil prices at least for the remainder of this year will be encouraged by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of oil, to help bring about a general recovery from the recession, the Saudi oil minister, Sheik Amed Yamani, announced in Geneva, where the oil ministers of the OPEC nations had been meeting. The meeting, according to many participants, was one of the most divisive and difficult ever held by the cartel. The world's major oil exporters failed to reach an agreement on a new strategy for preventing a further decline in oil prices in a glutted market. Saudi Arabia did not support the strategy effort. It is expected to continue to insist on its pricing policy, forcing OPEC members to reduce their prices by deliberately underselling them. [New York Times]
- Objections to an air-based MX missile and to a more advanced "commmon missile" to be used by both the Air Force and Navy were raised by leaders of two key congressional defense committees at a meeting with President Reagan in Los Angeles. The Congressmen were Senator John Tower, Republican of Texas, and Representative William Dickinson, Republican of Alabama. [New York Times]
- 17 Cuban refugees were released from a federal prison in Atlanta where they had been held for more than a year because they did not have proper entry papers. They were the first of 381 Cubans ordered released from detention by Judge Marvin Shoob of Federal District Court in Atlanta. [New York Times]
- Nationwide protests were held by employees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who are seeking increases in funds and staff. Their union's president said that the protests were held to "focus attention on the problems created by uncontrolled immigration and the Reagan administration's failure to properly direct the agency and its employees." [New York Times]
- Expulsion of Harrison Williams from the Senate has been recommended by the special counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Mr. Williams disclosed in an interview. He said he had considered resigning but would instead fight to remain. The ethics committee is expected to consider the recommendation Monday. It held public hearings on whether the New Jersey Democrat, who was convicted last May of bribery and conspiracy charges arising from an Abscam investigation, had violated the rules of the Senate. [New York Times]
- Earth's atmosphere is warming up, according to a team of American scientists who say they have detected a such a trend dating to 1880. They say they believe this confirms the validity of the theory of the "greenhouse" effect in which increasing amounts of carbon dioxide are said to cause steady temperature increases. The seven federal atmospheric scientists predict a global warming of "almost unprecedented magnitude" in the next century that might even be sufficient to melt the ice cover of West Antarctica, leading to a worldwide sea level rise of 15 to 20 feet. [New York Times]
- An I.R.A. supporter won a by-election in Northern Ireland that gave him a seat in the British Parliament. Owen Carron, an unemployed high school teacher, will succeed Robert Sands, a hunger striker who died a few weeks after winning the seat in April. [New York Times]
- The price of arms Saudi Arabia wants to buy from the United States has risen to $8.5 billion, nearly $4 billion more than the rough estimate administration officials gave to Congressmen this spring. The increase brings the price of the arms considerably closer to the $12 billion the United States paid to import crude oil from Saudi Arabia last year. [New York Times]
- The Pentagon gave a detailed account of the shooting down of two Libyan warplanes by American pilots off the coast of Libya on Wednesday to support its contention that the Americans fired after being attacked. The information disclosed by the Pentagon contained excerpts of intercepted radio communications from the Libyan pilot, who was quoted as saying in Arabic, "I am preparing to fire," and, a moment later, "I have fired." [New York Times]
- A secret Israeli arms sale to Iran last October when the United States was negotiating the release of the American hostages being held in Iran was dislosed by diplomatic sources in Washington. They confirmed that Israel sold 250 spare tires for American-built F-14 fighter-bombers to help Iran in its war with Iraq, but Israel delayed further miliary sales at the request of the United States while the hostage negotiations were going on. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 920.57 (-7.80, -0.84%)
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* |
| August 20, 1981 | 928.37 | 130.69 | 38.27 |
| August 19, 1981 | 926.46 | 130.49 | 39.39 |
| August 18, 1981 | 924.37 | 130.11 | 47.26 |
| August 17, 1981 | 926.75 | 131.22 | 40.84 |
| August 14, 1981 | 936.93 | 132.49 | 42.57 |
| August 13, 1981 | 944.35 | 133.51 | 42.44 |
| August 12, 1981 | 945.21 | 133.40 | 53.65 |
| August 11, 1981 | 949.30 | 133.85 | 52.59 |
| August 10, 1981 | 943.68 | 132.54 | 38.37 |
| August 7, 1981 | 942.54 | 131.75 | 38.38 |