Cable news in brief

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32677, 5 August 1971, Page 13

Cable news in brief

Storms hit France 1 Three people were killed and 20 were injured yesterday, when violent storms ripped off roofs and uprooted; trees in central and south-' western France. In Paris.! two crane operators died! and two workmen were: injured when freak winds; toppled their cranes. One of the machines fell across a' railway line.—Paris, Aug. 4.! Aid suspended The United States Housed of Representatives has voted to suspend American mili-i tary and economic aid to! Pakistan and Greece, to show the United States’ concern over the internal political situations in those two countries. But an “escape” clause twill allow President Nixon to resume such aid. and the Republican leader (Mt Gerald Ford) says that Mt Nixon will probably use it in the case of Greece.— Washington, Aug. 4. Teaching resumed All universities and colleges in East Pakistan were reopened yesterday, after being closed for five months. All educational institutions were officially closed in March, when the' outlawed Awami League launched a non-co-operation movement. High schools resumed work last month.— Dacca, Aug. 4. Fishermen clash Eight fishing boats were sunk and three others were set on fire in a clash between rival Malaysian fishermen off the west coast town of Port Weld today, the, police report. Four fishermen were injured, and the fight caused damage estimated at 45,000 Malaysian dollars ($13,136). — Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 4. Trade slump

The American troop withdrawals from Vietnam have caused a slump in Thailand’s tourist trade, and many hotels are running at a loss, according to official sources in Bangkok. They quoted Lieutenant-General Chalermchai Charuvast, head of Thailand’s tourist organisation, as estimating eamings this year at the equivalent of SNZ3.Bm less than last year, when United States servicemen made regular visits to Bangkok for rest and recreation. —Bangkok, Aug. 4. New editor

The “Washington Post"; has announced the appointmeiit of Mr Howard Simons | as its managing editor, to succeed Mr Eugene Patterson, who has resigned. Mr Simons, who is 42, joined the newspaper in 1961 as a science writer. He became assistant managing editor in 1966 and deputy managing editor in 1970.—Washington,! Aug. 4. I

Bomb hoax A British Overseas Airways! Corporation Boeing 747 i jumbo jet with 381 people i abroad landed safely at New York yesterday, after being ; diverted to Denver, Colorado, i (because of a bomb hoax. “There was no panic,” com-;; imented Captain John Kelly,! who, with his crew, decided ,to fly to Denver when traffic' (controllers at Montreal Airjport, from where the jumbo! jet had just taken off for London, sent the crew an urgent message about the bomb threat. An anonymous ! telephone caller had dejmanded $U5250,000 in cash for information on how to defuse the bomb that did not, in fact exist.—New York, August 4. Propitious call An Italian policeman who had to make an early-; morning visit, at 4 a.m. to an ablution block saved the! lives of 30 of his colleagues! yesterday. He discovered a dynamite bomb, its fuse burning, under their Rimini barracks, and hurled it away I beforfe it exploded. A number i of windows in the area were , shattered, and explosives ■ experts later said that the I device had contained enough ■’dynamite to destroy the bartracks.—Rimini, August 4. ! Shooting condemned The two young men who were shot by Communist (border guards on the Berlin Wall on July 24 were trying to enter East Berlin to help ■ a girl to escape to the West, ■ the West Berlin Secretary of lithe Interior (Mr Kurt Neu- ■ bauer) said today. Werner ■ Kuehl, aged 22, who died I from his wounds, and his I companion, Bernd Langer, I also aged 22, were said by the Communist news agency, A.D.N., to have been concerned in “a dangerous frontier provocation.” Both were taken prisoner, and Langer is still . in hospital in East Berlin. , The shooting was condemned ! for the second time today by I the West Berlin Senate as showing “a disregard for ( human life.”—West Berlin, I August 4.

Britain's bridges The British Department of the Environment has called urgently for a copy of the Victorian Royal Commission’s report on the West Gate Bridge collapse. The department is continuing its appraisal of 42 steel box-gir-der bridges in Britain, and restrictions which came into I force on June 16 have not J been lifted. Sixty bridges of I another design are also being inspected.—London, August 4. iTrain derailed The driver and one passenger were badly injured when a train from Flushing to Roosendaal left the rails near Krabbendijke, in the Netherlands, last night. Fifteen passengers were slightly injured by shattered glass or by being flung from their seats. The crash occurred i during a severe thunder- ; storm. —Krabbendijke, Auigust 4. Premier threatened Three threats of death were made against the Queensland State Premier (Mr Johannes Bjelke- ■ I Petersen) and his family 'during the South African Rugby team’s stay in Brisbane, it was disclosed tojday. Mr Bjelke-Petersen said that three callers had threatened to kill him or his childwren unless he lifted the state of emergency proclaimed to ; guard against disruptions by ■ demonstrators opposed to i apartheid during the Springboks’ visit. “Extra police f protected me and my four . children during the week, but • I did not lose any sleep over I the threats,” he added.— i Brisbane, August 4. 1 Ulster blasts : Explosions damaged i severly a theatre, a store and •an electrical company’s i office in Belfast yesterday, I but there were no injuries. . At Castle Wellan, in County I Down, villagers discovered ’ two bombs planted near hayl stacks which had been set ■on fire. Army explosives , experts removed the chemical fuses.—Belfast. August 4.