News stories from Saturday June 6, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Ernest Lefever blamed his rejection by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights on the committee's chairman, Senator Charles Percy, the Illinois Republican. Mr. Percy and four other Republicans on the committee voted against Mr. Lefever after hearing allegations of conflict of interest and complaints that he was insensitive to human rights abuses in much of the world. [New York Times]
- Striking miners approved a contract offered them by negotiators of the United Mine Workers and the bituminous coal industry, according to union officials who said that the tally was unofficial. The officials said that the contract, the second one put before the membership for approval, was approved by the widest margin in the union's history. [New York Times]
- Resistance to increasing military spending is beginning to be felt by the Reagan administration as Congress prepares to debate proposals for a new fleet of bombers, the MX intercontinental missile and the costly military budget for the 1982 fiscal year. Discussions with a variety of officials suggest that the initial enthusiasm for increased military spending has begun to fade. [New York Times]
- The race for New Jersey Governor will also be a referendum on the economic policies of the Reagan administration. Both candidates -- the Republican, Thomas Kean, and the Democrat, Representative James Florio, have indicated the importance of the Reagan policies in discussions on how they intend to lead the state. [New York Times]
- Britain will cut its oil prices by $2 a barrel, enhancing the prospect of a substantial reduction in world oil prices. The move by one of the major producers of oil from the North Sea will lower the official price to $37.25 a barrel and add to the already intense pressure being felt among other exporters to reduce their prices. [New York Times]
- The United States and France seemed to be in harmony on their views of most of the world scene as the Reagan administration and the new French Socialist government concluded their first extensive talks. But the French stressed their unhappiness with the impact on Western Europe of high interest rates in the United States. [New York Times]
- South Africa's gold mining industry, once projected to be on its last legs in the 1980's, has reclaimed a position of dominance in the country's economy and is the focus of a multibillion dollar expansion program. Unless the price drops sharply, gold seems likely to continue to insulate South Africa against threats of boycotts. But, with the increasing dependence on skilled black labor to operate the mines, gold could also lead to an easing of South Africa's apartheid policy. [New York Times]