News stories from Saturday July 11, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Sandra O'Connor's record shows a mix of political stands during the six years she spent as a member of the Arizona state senate, three of them as Republican majority leader. The records of the Arizona legislature disclose several occasions in which Mrs. O'Connor, President Reagan's nominee to the Supreme Court, voted in favor of making abortions more widely available. The Reagan administration moved swiftly to minimize the extent of her support for abortion. [New York Times]
- High American interest rates will be one of the principal issues at the economic conference of the major industrial democracies in Ottawa July 19-21. President Reagan, who will participate, will urge the leaders of the democracies to give him time to bring the high interest rates that are choking the economies of Europe. Mr. Reagan also plans to urge consideration of greater control over the transfer of technology to the Soviet Union, and a possible reduction of trade with the Russians. [New York Times]
- A greater F.B.I. role in drug control is being considered again by Justice Department officials, who have proposed placing the Drug Enforcement Agency under the F.B.I. or at least making it a "semi-autonomous subsidiary" of the bureau. [New York Times]
- Movie writers would share the profits of producers of programming for pay television and videodisks under a tentative contract agreement reached in Hollywood. The writers have been on strike for 13 weeks. The share-the-profits provision of the four-year contract was believed the first in the history of the entertainment industry. The chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America termed the contract as "truly historic." [New York Times]
- Rioting continued in London and two other cities after the worst night of violence since the rioting began in England eight days ago. A memorial service in the east London district of Walthamstow for an Asian family whose members died in an arson attack became a brawl involving 500 youths. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher held urgent meetings with Home Secretary William Whitelaw. [New York Times]
- NATO faces a paralysis of will in dealing with the Soviet Union and a growing erosion in common outlook, according to European and American political leaders, diplomats and foreign-policy experts. Lawrence Eagleburger, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs attributed NATO's problems at least in part to clashing views on the benefits of detente. [New York Times]