News stories from Saturday August 1, 1981

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

A strike by air traffic controllers seemed near after their union and negotiators for the government, which is their employer, recessed contract talks after a perfunctory half-hour session in Washington. Another round of talks was scheduled at 2 P.M. tomorrow. The controllers have set Monday as their strike deadline, the second in their long course of negotiations. A $40 million offer by the government was accepted by the union leaders in June, but was later rejected by a 20-to-1 margin by the rank and file. The union estimates that its latest demands would total $575 million. In addition to higher pay, the 15,000 union members want a shorter work week and an improved retirement plan. [New York Times] Conferees reached agreement on taxes after a night-long session reviewing the bills passed by the House and Senate. Final passage seemed assured, and the measure was expected to be signed into law by President Reagan in a few days. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan said the President got "95 percent" of what he wanted. The effect of the tax relief bill will be first felt by taxpayers in October, when withholding taxes will be cut by 5 percent. Additional cuts of 10 percent will be made July 1, 1982 and July 1, 1983. The bill will also give a substantial tax break to some businesses. [New York Times] Paddy Chayefsky died at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan after a brief illness. The television and movie writer's stories of everyday life won three Academy awards. He was 58 years old. [New York Times] The people of Gibraltar welcomed with cheers the Prince and Princess of Wales, who flew to the British colony to board the royal yacht Britannia, which will take them on a two-week honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean. There were no hostile demonstrations, although Spain, which has long demanded the return of Gibraltar, viewed the royal couple's visit as an insult. [New York Times] An agenda for a poverty conference in October to be attended by the leaders of 22 industrialized and developing countries was being prepared in Cancun, Mexico, where the October meeting will take place. Secretary of State Alexander Haig is attending the preliminary meeting. President Reagan plans to attend the October conference, which aspires to break the protracted deadlock between rich and poor countries. [New York Times] The Polish union was warned by the Politburo that further unrest could lead to "an explosion of nationwide conflict." The warning followed a wave of demonstrations and calls for strikes in protest against food shortages. The Politburo said that "strikes, and especially street demonstrations, create enormous dangers for the country." [New York Times] Panama's leader was killed in the crash of a Panamanian Air Force plane during "bad weather" over western Panama, the National Guard announced. The plane carrying Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, who was leader of the National Guard, and three other people, was found in a jungle between the town of Penonome, 65 miles west of the capital, and the nearby village of Coclecito, the announcement said. There were no survivors. The plane had been missing since Friday morning, when it took off from Penonome. [New York Times] South African blacks continue to defy the government's "influx control," which is intended to keep blacks who cannot prove that they are legal migrant workers out of Cape Town. For two weeks, hundreds of blacks have been living outdoors in defiance of raids on their campsites, imprisonment and court orders to make them return to a rural "homeland." [New York Times]