News stories from Sunday May 2, 1982

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

A North Atlantic plane-fare pact giving airlines more freedom to raise or lower fares was reached by the United States and 10 European countries. The multilateral accord, initialed in Washington, guarantees governmental approval of fare changes within certain zones effective July 1. "The agreement put into the marketplace a much more competitive structure with not nearly as much government involvement," said the United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation. [New York Times] Exxon announced its withdrawal from the Colony shale oil project in Colorado, the most ambitious United States attempt to produce synthetic fuels commercially. Exxon withdrew because it was worried about combined petroleum production costs and stagnant high oil prices. it has a 60 percent share in the $5-6 billion Colony project. Its withdrawal appeared certain to doom the endeavor and to weaken the prospects for the development of a domestic synthetic fuels industry. [New York Times] The homeless are a national problem whether they sleep on New York City streets, in airport restrooms in the West or in railroad yards in between. They are a challenge to cities all over the country. Columbus, Ohio, was forced to open its first public shelter, and in booming Houston, the Travelers Aid Society has received as many as 1,000 needy people a month. Cuts in federal and state aid, more stringent administration of disability programs and a continuing decline in institutional support for the mentally handicapped are the causes most often cited by social workers and local government officials. [New York Times] An Argentine cruiser was torpedoed and severely damaged by a British submarine in the South Atlantic, the British Defense Ministry reported. The ministry said the cruiser General Belgrano had been a significant threat to Britain's fleet maintaining the air and sea blockade around the Falklands. The General Belgrano is Argentina's only cruiser. It was commissioned by the United States in 1939 and sold to Argentina in 1951. It carries a crew of about 1,000. [New York Times] Argentina denied the British report that one of its cruisers had been torpedoed and said that it was "a lie" and "psychological warfare." Western diplomats in Buenos Aires could not immediately confirm the statement by the British Defense Ministry. They said that the General Belgrano, a former American cruiser, was in poor mechanical condition and that they thought it was being withheld from combat. [New York Times] The kind of assistance Britain will get from the United States in its conflict with Argentina over the Falklands was described in general terms at meetings in Washington between Britain's Foreign Secretary, Francis Pym, Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. [New York Times] Polish internees have been frustrated in attempts to emigrate to the West. More than 700 Poles interned under martial law want to emigrate but have so far not been able to leave because most immigrant-receiving countries do not admit political refugees directly from their home country. Another obtacle is the ambivalent stand taken by most Western countries toward accepting internees whose departure is desired by the Polish government. [New York Times] Peace, unity and sacrifice were demanded by the provisional President of San Salvador, Alvaro Magana in swearing-in ceremonies. He said in an address that his country needed to pull to together to solve its problems and "that the world should understand that the people of El Salvador are not cannon fodder for any appetite, for any dictator, or for any cold war." [New York Times]