News stories from Sunday May 16, 1982

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

Court rulings on school integration are a principal target of conservatives in the constitutional battle going on in Washington. The conservatives who have won control of the executive branch and the Senate and who have gained influence in the House are attacking the federal courts for intruding too deeply into American life in their decisions on social issues. Their favorite example of excessive authority is the courts' management of desegregation through busing. [New York Times] American sailor was slain in San Juan, P.R., in a gunfire attack in which three sailors were seriously injured as they were returning to their ship from liberty. They were fired on from a car that pulled up near them, the police said, No group claimed responsibility. [New York Times] The center of U.S. population growth continues to be the Sun Belt, with the South and West accounting for more than 90 percent of the rise of 2.8 million people since the 1980 census, the Bureau of the Census said. [New York Times] In defiance of presidential orders, the government recruited hundreds of Russians believed to have committed World War II atrocities and smuggled them into the United States shortly after the war for intelligence purposes, a former Justice Department investigator said in a CBS News interview. The secret operation, the outgrowth of a sort of bidding battle for intelligence that proved to be of little value, was later covered up by federal agencies, according to John Loftus, a former prosecutor for the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations. [New York Times] Refurbishment of the Love Canal area is planned and the houses and apartments abandoned four years ago by their occupants because of the danger from buried toxic chemicals will be offered for sale. While officials await the long-overdue results of a $5.6 million federal health study of the area, more than 160 people have indicated to authorities that they are interested in buying a home there, but whether the houses can be sold will depend on the health report. [New York Times] Two Argentine ships were attacked by British planes in the channel between the two main Falkland Islands, and one of the ships was abandoned by its crew, the Defense Ministry announced in London. The attacks were carried out by harrier jets from the carrier Hermes. One of the jets was struck by Argentine antiaircraft fire, but returned safely, the British said. The two ships were believed to be supplying food to the Argentine troops on West Falkland, the more sparsely populated of the two islands. [New York Times] The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires denied that it was guilty of any "inappropriate conduct" in the Falklands crisis. The unusual statement followed Argentine newspaper reports that Ambassador Harry Shlaudeman and other embassy officials had met with opposition political leaders in an attempt to "destabilize" the military junta lead by Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri. The newspaper reports had cited unidentified sources high in the government. Argentine journalists and Western diplomats said the sources for the accusations were leading officers in the junta. [New York Times] The Common Market failed to agree to extend economic sanctions against Argentina. The foreign ministers of the 10 Common Market countries, meeting in Luxembourg, will convene again tomorrow night in a final attempt to agree on a continuation of the measures. The sanctions are scheduled to expire at midnight Tuesday. [New York Times] Palestinian self-rule talks are expected to resume soon after President Reagan meets with Prime Minister Menachem Begin next month in the United States, American officials said. The negotiations have been blocked by Mr. Begin's insistence that Egypt accept Jerusalem as a rotating site for the talks and Egypt's reluctance to seem to give implicit recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital when Cairo is trying to restore relations with other Arab nations. The American assessment that these obstacles could be overcome was based on a report to Secretary of State Alexander Haig from his special Middle East representative, Richard Fairbanks. [New York Times] China's bureaucracy was cut back with staff reductions of up to 17 percent in the 30 departments of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the New China News Agency announced. Some new party posts were also given to supporters of Deng Xiaoping, China's pre-eminent leader, and especially of his protege Hu Yaobang, the Communist Party chairman. [New York Times]