CABLED BRIEFS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32222, 14 February 1970, Page 11

CABLED BRIEFS

Queen 111 The Queen has larynm and is confined to her rodn at Buckingham Palace. Sni| ) is due to leave London at the’; end of this month for S Canada, where she will join “ ) Prince Philip and set out ) for a tour of Australia and j New Zealand. London I February 13. I Offices Attacked I A series of explosions (rocked five Inland Revenue ! offices in different parts of i Lyons, France, early today, j The police say that the blasts | were caused by explosives (placed at the front doors of the buildings. Doors and winI dows were damaged, but no injuries have been reported. ) —Lyons, February 13. Fill On Test ' The United States Air ) Force has released seven ) heavily-instrumented Fill jet (fighters for test flights under high-gravity stresses. The ) remaining 255 Fills in ser•l vice will remain grounded while experts try to deter- : mine the cause of a wing- ; pivot crack which resulted in the fifteenth crash of an Fill on December 22.—Washington, February 13. Peaceful Rally About 20,000 Manila students, urging Government re- : forms, ended a peaceful ■ demonstration in one of Man- : ila’s main squares yesterday, ■ without violence or a single : arrest. The mood of the • rally was in sharp contrast to : the bitter clashes of January ■ 26 and 30, when more than 400 people were injured and , six died in clashes with the (police outside the Presidential Palace.—Manila, February 13. ; Underground Blast An underground nuclear device equivalent to 20,000 ■ tons of TNT. was detonated at the Nevada test site yesterday 1300 feet below ground. The device, codenamed “Diana Mist,” was the fifth I tested underground in Nevada this year and the ; two hundred and fifth since the ban on atmospheric testing in 1963. Nevada, February 13. Saigon Talks United States Defence Secretary (Mr Melvin Laird) I spent about three hours in ) discussions with President I Thieu of South Vietnam in , | Saigon yesterday. Also prej j sent were General Earle ,j Wheeler (Chairman of the II United States Joint Chiefs of /Staff), Vice-president Ky, , | General Cao Van Vien (Chief lof the Vietnamese Joint General Staff) and other senior I American and Vietnamese ’officials.—Saigon, February 13.

Otven Remanded | The Labour member of parliament for Morpeth, William Owen, aged 68, has been remanded in custody again on charges of betraying official secrets. It was Owen’s fifth appearance in the Bow Street Magistrate's Court since his arrest last month. The police said that they were still not ready to proceed with the case, and the next hearing was set for February 20. London, February 13. Arson Admitted A part-time fireman in Scotland whose “greatest pleasure in life was being in the role of the gallant firefighter” lit 13 fires in a little more than a year, causing damage totalling about $65,000, a magistrate’s court was told yesterday. The fireman, Michael Wheelams, aged 22, of Cupar, Scotland, admitted the offences and was remanded to the Scottish High Court for further examination.—London, February 13. Aust. Lamb Prospects The home market will continue to be the most important outlet for Australia’s lamb production in the foreseeable future. This view was confirmed at a meeting between representatives of lamb producers in all states and of the Australian Meat Board in Sydney. The meeting agreed that, because of rising production costs and ( other factors affecting lamb producers, there was no pros- ; pect of developing largeI scale export markets. —Syd- : ney, February 13. Report ‘Exaggerated’ ! Pakistan has described as highly exaggerated a “New ) York Times" report that it i recently sent between 2000 j and 3000 troops to Jordan to ! help the Arabs in their conj flict against Israel. But, a j Government spokesman said, Pakistan had been providing military training assistance to Jordan and other friendly countries. Informed sources in Islamabad described the present visit of a Pakistani military mission to Libya as being of an explanatory nature.—lslamabad, February 13. Gazelle Plan About 19,000 acres of Government-owned land is to be made available in 302 blocks for development by native families on the Gazelle peninsula of New Britain. An acute land shortage is widely believed to be one of the causes of recent political disturbances in the area. Families showing that they need land and have the skills to develop it will be encouraged to embark on cocoa, copra and market gardening projects.—Port Moresby, February 13.