News stories from Sunday July 18, 1982

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

A strain on unemployment benefits in the recession is depleting compensation trust funds in 16 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are having to borrow regularly from the federal government to keep up the payments. More states are expected to have the same problem before the economy recovers. More than 4.2 million unemployed people are drawing benefits, an increase of 1.5 million in the last year. [New York Times] U.S. armed forces are reviving units for guerrilla operations and such other forms of unconventional warfare as sabotage and clandestine assault, according to administration officials and military officers. The Joints Chief of Staff, under instructions from Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, have started tightening the command and control of special operations forces to enable them to respond more quickly to orders from President Reagan or Mr. Weinberger. [New York Times] The proportion of non-Hispanic whites in the United States will decline at a rapidly accelerating rate in the next two decades, according to an analysis of population trends by a California research organization. The researchers concluded that the proportion of Americans who are white and non-Hispanic will make up 77 percent of the population in 1990 and 75 percent by 2000, as against about 80 percent in 1980. They predict explosive rates of growth for persons of Asian as well as Hispanic ancestry. [New York Times] An officially sanctioned deer hunt in the Florida Everglades began, and members of animal protection groups tried to rescue as many live deer as possible. [New York Times] Cultural activities are booming in New York City despite the recession. Arts leaders offer a number of explanations for all this activity in hard times. One is the proverbial need for release when things are bad. Another is that that the many cuts in appropriations by the National Endowment for the Arts have not yet been felt by the beneficiaries in Lincoln Center and elsewhere in the city. [New York Times] Iraqis are fighting fiercely to repel an Iranian invasion of southern Iraq. The fighting has continued for five consecutive days near the port of Basra, the apparent target of the Iranian thrust, according to a report by the Iraqi high command. The statement did not make clear whether the fighting was taking place inside Iraq. [New York Times] Israel has officially acknowledged to the United States that it used cluster bombs in its invasion of Lebanon, according to diplomats familiar with an Israeli message delivered Friday. But the Israelis said that the actions were consistent with Israeli-American agreements on the use of those weapons, the diplomats said. [New York Times] Thousands of Palestinians are refugees again, repeating an experience many have had over the last 30 years. In southern Lebanon, excluding Beirut, the Israeli army estimates that 20,000 Palestinians have no homes. Some Israeli relief officials believe the figure is at least 60,000. [New York Times] Syria will seek help in Washington on ways to end the Israeli presence in Lebanon. The Syrian Foreign Minister, Abdel Halim Khaddam, has gone to Washington, also hoping to make progress toward a settlement of the larger Palestinian problem. He and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, have been delegated by the Arab League to take up the Lebanon crisis with the Reagan administration. [New York Times] Poland's economic crisis still seems far from a solution after six months of martial law, although food lines are shorter than they were last summer. Despite a superficial air of discipline and calm following the breakup of the Solidarity movement, industrial output continues to plummet. [New York Times] The British Rail walkout ended after striking engineers and firemen decided to accede to management demands for increased productivity. British Rail had threatened to close down Wednesday and dismiss employees who refused to return to work. The end of British Rail's most severe disruption in 55 years was a major victory for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose government had urged the nationally owned railroad to take a firm stand. [New York Times]