News stories from Sunday August 15, 1982

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

President Reagan's tax bill was approved by House-Senate conferees early this morning. In addition to raising taxes for smokers, travelers, corporations and families with big medical expenses, the $98.3 billion bill would reduce spending by about $17 billion in such areas as Medicare, Medicaid and welfare. The tax package is expected to face a tough battle when both the House and Senate take up the legislation this week. [New York Times] The aliens bill to be voted on Tuesday in the Senate would provide partial amnesty for some illegal aliens already in the United States, but every job applicant, whether a citizen or an alien, would have to show a prospective employer documents proving identity and eligibility to work in the United States. [New York Times] Political moves on arms control were taken by administration officials who met privately at the White House last week to discuss a public relations policy to enhance public confidence in President Reagan's arms control proposals. [New York Times] Israel accepted the deployment plan of the multinational peacekeeping force proposed for Lebanon and presented by Philip Habib, the United States special envoy. Its acceptance appeared to remove the most serious obstacle remaining in negotiations on the withdrawal of Palestinian guerrillas from west Beirut. The cabinet announcement also said that the Israeli government insisted that "a check be made of the lists of terrorists to leave Beirut and Lebanon." This also represented a softening of an earlier demand that Israel be provided with the names of the guerrillas being evacuated. [New York Times] Reports that Israel's stand had eased in the negotiations on the withdrawal of the guerrillas were treated cautiously by Lebanese and P.L.O. officials. Philip C. Habib, the special United State envoy, was expected back in Beirut tomorrow with the latest Israeli negotiating position, which reportedly makes concessions on previous demands that a list of all guerrillas leaving west Beirut be turned over before the evacuation and that a multinational peace force not be deployed until a week after the P.L.O. withdrawal begins. Both demands were unacceptable to the P.L.O. and its Lebanese intermediaries. [New York Times] The guerrillas were unaffected by the stepped up Israeli bombardments in west Beirut that began Aug. 1 and ended with a cease-fire after 11 uninerrupted hours of bombing last Thursday. While large sections of the city, particularly the Palestinian refugee camps along the southern fringe, have been pounded into rubble, the guerrillas are emerging from basement shelters, holes and sandbagged positions almost unscathed. "It is our tactics, we know how to protect ourselves," a Palestinian commander said. [New York Times] Medical care for all civilians injured in the attacks on west Beirut will be provided by the Israeli government, the Director General of the Health Ministry said. Dr. Baruch Modan said "it is our responsibility to provide medical care for every civilian wounded in west Beirut." He acknowledged that the timing of the announcement was directly related to the international outcry against the killing of civilians in west Beirut. [New York Times] Easing Poland's "invisible hatred" through a new dialogue between the authorities and the people was urged by the Polish Roman Catholic Primate, Archbishop Jozef Glemp, in an address to thousands of pilgrims who gathered to honor the nation's icon, the Black Madonna on the Feast of the Assumption. His sermon was dedicated to Poland's farmers, but it went beyond the problems of Polish agriculture. [New York Times]