Cable news in brief

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32802, 30 December 1971, Page 11

Cable news in brief

P.M. resigns The Prime Minister of Bermuda (Sir Henry Tucker), who is 68, has resigned because he has “reluctantly come to the conclusion that the leadership of the Government should pass into- somewhat younger hands.” He became a member of the House of Assembly 28 years ago, and, when party politics were introduced in 1963, he became Parliamentary leader of the United Bermuda Party. He became Government leader after the U.B.P. won 30 of the 40 seats in the 1968 General Election. Hamilton (Bermuda), Dec. 29. East-West project Russian and American space medicine experts have agreed to hold regular meetings to compare notes on the physical reactions of astronauts to space flights. The agreement was worked out in Moscow during meetings of a joint working group from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Soviet Union Academy of Sciences.—Houston, Dec. 29. Snow in Syria

Twelve old houses in the northern town of Aleppo were destroyed yesterday in Syria’s worst snowstorm in 20 years. Heavy rain and snow has been falling there for the last two days, and the Governor of Aleppo has provided relief to many stricken families.—Damascus, Dec. 29.

Bishop's request Roman Catholics living in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, on Long Island, were asked by their bishop to observe yesterday as a day of atonement for the deaths, through abortion, of the unborn. December 28 is normally observed -in the Roman Catholic calendar as the Feast of Holy Innocents, commemorating the day when King Herod ordered newborn male children killed after he had been informed that Jesus was born. —Rockville Centre (New York), Dec. 29,

Rezola dead Mr Josty Rezola, who has! been vice-president of the! Basque government-in-exile for the last 10 years, has died at his home near the Spanish border, at the age of 71. Sentenced to death by General Franco’s regime during the Spanish Civil War, but later released, Mr Rezola left Spain in 1945.—Paris, Dec. 29.

Sequel to Paris blast A man, aged 26, whose wife and son were killed in an explosion in a block of flats in Argenteuil, Paris, last week, died from a heart attack yesterday shortly before the mass funeral of the 14 victims of the blast. Paris, December 29. Murder alleged The police in the city of Anageles. 50 miles north of Manila, have arrested a woman karate instructor, Maria Labine, for allegedly killing her common-law husband with karate blows. They say that she dealt at least 20 karate kicks and chops to the face and chest of Mr Gonzalo Dimattra, aged 32. Manila, December 29. Ceylon’s currency Ceylon has announced that the country’s rupee will maintain its parity with the United States dollar. The rupee will remain at 5.9524 to the dollar, but the exchange rate for sterling changes from 14.8435 to 15.1649 to the pound.—Colombo, Dec. 29. Elephant runs amok The Indian police report that they have caught and chained a temple elephant which gored its chief trainer to death and then ran amok in a village area in the southern state of Kerala for two days. The elephant was returning from a religious festival on Saturday when it suddenly turned on the trainer, impaled him on its tusks, broke loose from a restraining chain, and disappeared/—New Delhi, Dec. 29,

Veto satellite The Soviet Union has announced the launching of the 470th in her nine-year programme of Cosmos space satellites.—Moscow, Dec. 29. Dayans divorced Israel’s Minister of Defence (General Moshe Dayan) and his wife, Ruth, were divorced yesterday after 36 years of marriage. The couple have two sons, a farmer and a film actor, and a daughter, who is a novelist.—Tel Aviv, Dec. 29. Iranians executed Three Iranians convicted by military courts of drug smuggling were executed today by firing squads in Teheran and Shiraz. This brings to 125 the number of such executions since the introduction of new anti-drug laws in 1970.—Teheran, Dec. 29. Maurice Chevalier Maurice Chevalier’s condition improved slightly last night after he had had more artificial kidney machine treatment at the Necker Hospital, Paris. Mr Chevalier, who is 83, has had eight such treatments since entering the hospital on December 13.—Paris, Dec. 29. Tupamaros raid The Tupamaros guerrillas of Uruguay stole blueprints of Montevideo’s sewer network in a raid on the municipal offices yesterday. The Tupamaros, who have reduced the small South American republic to a state of fear with bank raids, kidnappings and political assasinations, 1 freed 38 women guerrillas from a Montevideo prison earlier this year through a tunnel bored from a sewer.—Montevideo, Dec. 29. Train-bus crash Twelve people died and 21 were seriously hurt when a bus and express train collided at a level-crossing at Tandjung Baru, 60 miles west of Djakarta, Indonesia, last night.—Djakarta, Dec. 29. Prisoners’ aid Prison guards have seized a two-way radio which prisoners in San Vittore Prison, Milan, had been using to communicate with the outside world for at least three months. The find came after an amateur radio enthusiast had intercepted mysterious messages; he told the police who traced the radio calls to the prison and to a car belonging to the father of one of the prisoners.—Milan, Dec. 29. ! Hotel fire toll The death toll in the Christmas Day fire in Seoul ; rose to 164 today when six more bodies were found in ; the debris of the 22-storey Taeyongak Hotel. They were ’ identifiable only by their metal belongings. Among them were two Japanese guests, bringing to 10 the number of confirmed Japanese victims in the worst hotel fire in history.—Seoul, Dec. 29.