News stories from Sunday November 29, 1981

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

Richard Allen is taking a leave as the President's national security adviser until the Justice Department completes its investigation of his receipt of $1,000 from a Japanese magazine that interviewed Nancy Reagan. Mr. Allen made the announcement in a television interview, the first of what are expected to be number of public appearances to give his own side of the controversy. He said that his leave had President Reagan's approval. [New York Times] Natalie Wood's body was found in a cove near Santa Catalina Island, off the Southern California coast, where the 43-year-old actress had been aboard a yacht with her husband, Robert Wagner. Officials said, pending further investigation, that Miss Wood had drowned accidentally. [New York Times] Municipal unions are challenging moves by cities, counties and other jurisdictions to reduce costs by turning to private business for some services, a consequence of cutbacks in federal funds. The unions representing public employees strongly oppose such steps, contending that they often fail to lower costs and do not improve services. [New York Times] The White House Conference on Aging starts its 1981 sessions tomorrow with an attempt expected by several state delegations to win a key change in conference rules approved last week by Richard Schweiker, Secretary of Health and Human Services. If the rules are changed, the 2,266 delegates will be able to vote separately on 14 different committee reports at a final plenary session Thursday. Under the rules set by Mr. Schweiker, only a single up-or-down vote on the combined recommendations of all the committees would be permitted. [New York Times] A draft of a U.S.-Israeli statement designed to clear the way for European participation in a Sinai peacekeeping force was discussed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and key cabinet members. No decision was reached on whether to accept the Europeans, Israeli government officials said. But Mr. Begin was described by an aide as willing to issue the proposed joint statement, which would reaffirm the Camp David agreement as the only existing framework for Middle East peace and the sole basis for establishing the Sinai force. [New York Times] A car bomb in Damascus killed 64 people and wounded 135, many of them children, the Syrian government press agency said. The government said the outlawed Moslem Brotherhood was responsible. The Moslem group has been opposed to President Hafez al-Assad and the governing Baath Socialist Party. The press agency said the Brotherhood acted on behalf of the "imperialist-Zionist conspiracy," code words for the United States and Israel. [New York Times] An election to end military rule in Honduras appeared to have given the right-of-center Liberal Party a clear victory. Early returns gave the party's candidate, Roberto Suazo Cordova, a 54-year-old physician, about 55 percent of the votes cast. [New York Times] Soviet-American talks begin Monday in Geneva on reducing medium-range missiles in Europe. Leaders in other countries are watching to see if the superpowers are ready for serious negotiations. Diplomats expressed uncertainty over how these talks will fit with other arms control negotiations, and whether much progress can be made in the absence of overall improvement in relations between Washington and Moscow. [New York Times] The subject of talks in Geneva are nuclear weapons classified as tactical, or theater, arms -- weapons that would be used in tactical support of ground forces. The issue of exactly what kind of weapons can be so classified and thus included in the negotiations is expected by State and Defense Department officials to dominate the opening sessions. [New York Times]