News stories from Saturday June 13, 1981

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

Pistol blanks were fired at Queen Elizabeth II as she rode on horseback to a military display in London marking her official birthday. A 17-year-old youth stepped from the crowd and fired at the Queen, who kept her frightened horse under control, and, shaken but unhurt, continued to lead the procession. [New York Times] Monitoring the nuclear power industry cannot be adequately done by the present federal inspection system, a congressional subcommittee said following an investigation of last October's water spill at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York. The panel said the federal system "is not capable of offering genuine assurance that the nuclear power industry is being safely operated." The Government Operations Committee adopted the finding without dissent. [New York Times] The way the F.B.I. has conducted its investigation of the missing blacks in Atlanta is resented by local officials. They say that the murder cases could have been been solved by now if its agents had cooperated with local law enforcement authorities. Atlanta officials are especially critical of the way the F.B.I. dealt with a suspect, who has been neither arrested nor absolved of the killings, although he had been under surveillance. [New York Times] Revival of the death penalty for federal crimes, such as treason, espionage and presidential assassinations, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 13-to-5. Meanwhile, the death penalty, invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1972, has made a comeback in 35 states, which enacted statues that met constitutional standards. [New York Times] The Bronx and Brooklyn led the nation in the past decade in the number of housing units lost through abandonment or demolition, according to the 1980 Census. The Bronx had a loss of 56,459 houses or apartments, amounting to 11.1 percent of its 1970 total of 508,789 units, and Brooklyn lost 22,428 units, or 2.5 percent of its 1970 total of 902,622. [New York Times] An end to union agitation in Poland for reforms was urged on members of the labor movement by its leader, Lech Walesa, who said that the disputes were causing the country's crises. A similar call was made by the official Polish press, and both followed a warning by the Soviet leadership that the Polish Communist Party must contain a growing reform movement and pledges by the Polish government that it would take firmer action against activists. [New York Times] Philip Habib went to Saudi Arabia from Beirut, Lebanon, where he had been for five days, continuing his efforts on the the behalf of the United States toward a peaceful solution to the dispute between Syria and Israel over the Syrian missile installations in Lebanon. He is expected to urge the Saudis to exert a moderating influence on the Syrians. [New York Times] Israel was repeatedly denounced by third world and Soviet-bloc countries in the Security Council of the United Nations for its bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor. Insisting that condemnation was not enough, they demanded that the Council place an embargo on any trade that strengthened Israel's "aggression." [New York Times] Closer U.S. ties with China are a "strategic imperative" because of a growing Soviet threat to both nations, according to Secretary of State Alexander Haig. This will be theme of his talks in Peking this week with China's leaders. On the eve of Mr. Haig's departure for Peking, State Department officials said that President Reagan would meet privately in Mexico in October with Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang when they attend a North-South summit meeting, and this probably will be followed by a trip to China by President Reagan. [New York Times]