. . . or click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – January 9, 1980 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
With the hostage situation at the American Embassy in Tehran continuing and the Soviets settling in around Afghanistan, the 80s were getting off to a shaky start at best.
Threats and saber rattling weren’t doing a lot of good. Sanctions and grain embargoes were having little impact, except for American farmers who were taking the hit. The United Nations was having trouble getting enough non-aligned nations to join in on condemning and implementing a plan to extricate Moscow from Kabul.
Meanwhile, fighting was stepping up between rebels and Soviet forces. So rather than face the possibility of an armed intervention and confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the Afghan rebels were putting up a tough fight on their own. As of this January 9th, fighting was going on in six Afghan provinces with Afghan rebels making claims of capturing a Soviet position near the Russian border. Casualties on both sides were reported as heavy. Despite these reports, there was nothing to indicate the Rebels were gaining any ground in any of the towns and cities in the country.
Taking advantage of the volatile situation in Afghanistan, President Carter indicated that Iran‘s real problems were with the threat of Soviet Expansion in the region, and not the U.S. – he also went on to say the terrorists holding the Americans hostage at the Embassy had become the country’s most powerful single political entity.
Protests were erupting all over Iran on this day between supporters of Ayatollah Khomeni and Ayatollah Sharif-Modari with tense scenes and violent outbursts, particularly in Tabriz where clashes turned deadly.
Talks began between the U.S. and China – and were being watched with interest by many in light of the current situations. Everyone seemed pleased with the outcome so far, except perhaps Moscow.
Wall Street had its biggest gain in recent years, advancing 19 points leading some to exercise optimism that maybe a recession wasn’t around the corner. The price of Gold however, was heading south, closing at $599.75 an ounce, down almost $18.00 since the previous day.
And Saudi Arabia announced beheading some 63 of the terrorists who seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca the previous November. On Corsica, a drama was unfolding as a group of armed Separatists took about 30 hostages at a Hotel in the capital of Ajaccio.
And that’s a small slice of what went on this January 9th in 1980, as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.
