News stories from Wednesday May 13, 1981

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

Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded as he was standing in an open car moving slowly among more than 10,000 worshipers in St. Peter's Square. His accused attacker was identified as an escaped Turkish murderer who had threatened the Pontiff's life in the name of Islam. The Pope, who was struck in the abdomen, right arm and left hand, underwent 5 hours and 25 minutes of abdominal surgery. A hospital bulletin said he was in "guarded" condition, but the director of surgery expressed confidence that "the Pontiff will recover soon." Shock and indignation at the shooting of the Pope were expressed by political and church leaders around the world. [New York Times] The most serious damage was done to the Pope's intestines. Three sections of the bowel, or intestines, were removed in surgery, which was termed successful. A second operation will be required to reconnect portions of the bowel that were severed in a surgical procedure. Recovery is often complete, provided no complications develop. [New York Times] The man accused of shooting the Pope was described by the authorities as a militant 23-year-old Turkish terrorist who had been convicted of the murder of a Turkish editor and then escaped from a maximum security prison in 1979. Turkey's Ambassador in Washington said that "The Turkish police have been under instruction to shoot him on sight." [New York Times] Trims in Social Security benefits proposed by the Reagan administration were denounced by House Speaker Tip O'Neill and spokesmen for the elderly. Leaders of a coalition of about 100 organizations that successfully opposed changes in the program recommended by the Carter administration two years ago held an emergency meeting to plan a major lobbying campaign. [New York Times] Federal funding of legal aid for the poor was endorsed by the House Judiciary Committee, which rejected by a 22-to-6 vote President Reagan's plan to terminate the program. But the bill approved by the panel would reduce financing to $260 million in each of the next two years, from a current $321 million, and place new restrictions on the program, including curbs on class-action suits and lobbying. [New York Times] A major seizure of illegal weapons was reported by federal agents. They said they had bought $1.2 million worth of arms from a manufacturer, transported them by truck across the country and used them as bait to arrest six persons who were preparing to fly the guns to South Africa. [New York Times] Curbs on growth in Newport, R.I. are increasingly evident after the expansion of the 1970's. Residents of the scenic maritime city, which attracts many tourists, have rejected overwhelmingly a proposal to build a gambling casino and have approved a moratorium on condominium construction along the Ocean Drive. [New York Times] An American peace plan was pressed by Philip Habib, Washington's special envoy, in an effort to ease the crisis over Syria's deployment of antiaircraft missiles in Lebanon and Israel's insistence that they be removed. The plan was said to call for the placement of Lebanese regular army forces in two trouble spots. A high Israeli official was quoted as having said that the proposal had a chance of success, but a Syrian newspaper said the talks seemed to be deadlocked. [New York Times] The seizure of items on a Soviet plane and its detention by United States customs agents prompted a sharp protest by the Soviet Union. A spokesman for the Customs Service said that the agents had boarded and searched the cargo plane at an airport outside Washington after receiving information that the Aeroflot craft was carrying "high technology defense-related items" for which export licenses may have been required. [New York Times] Alexander Haig will visit China in late June in the first high-level contact by the administration with Peking's leadership. The State Department said that the Secretary of State's visit would be part of an Asian tour that would include Japan. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 967.76 (-3.06, -0.32%)
S&P Composite: 130.55 (-0.17, -0.13%)
Arms Index: 0.88

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	857	22.66
Declines	648	15.02
Unchanged	400	4.92
Total Volume		42.60

* in millions of shares

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*
May 12, 1981	970.82	130.72	40.34
May 11, 1981	963.44	129.71	37.63
May 8, 1981	976.40	131.66	41.85
May 7, 1981	978.39	131.67	42.59
May 6, 1981	973.34	130.78	47.10
May 5, 1981	972.44	130.32	48.99
May 4, 1981	979.11	130.67	40.66
May 1, 1981	995.59	132.72	48.35
April 30, 1981	997.75	132.81	47.96
April 29, 1981	1004.32	133.05	53.34