Cable news in brief

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32805, 4 January 1972, Page 11

Cable news in brief

Concorde expectation The Duke of Edinburgh is almost certain to take the controls of the Concorde in supersonic ■‘light when he flies over the Bay of Biscay in the British-French airliner next week. Test-pilots of the British Aircraft Corporation say that they will be glad to give the Duke, a fullyqualified pilot, a short flightdeck familiarisation talk before take-off from Filton, Gloucestershire, on January 11.—London, January 8. Muscat changes Sultan Qaboos of MuscatOman has announced the resignation through ill-health, of his uncle, the Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Bin Taimur, and' a reshuffle of the Cabinet. Muscat-Oman, a former British colony in the extreme south-east of the Arabian Peninsula, is now an independent Arab State, most of whose oil wealth is owned by the Shell company. Sultan Qaboos has taken over the Prime Ministership, amalgamated several Ministries, and abolished two.—Muscat, January 3. Cycling bid The British cyclist, Peter Duker, aged 38, now in Australia, will make a recordbreaking attempt across the ' United States in April. He has set a target of 16 days in which to complete the 2958-mile trip from Los Angeles to New York. Duker broke the world’s longest overland record, from London to Madras, India, on November 16, when he finished the 7600 miles in 77 days. Considered a permanent wheel chair case after a hit-and-run accident in England last year, he fought his way back to cycling and plans to ride round the world, taking in 15 countries. —Sydney, ; January 3.

Drivers’ complaints The drivers of Britain’s 100-mile-an-hour inter-city express trains have told British Rail that intense draughts in their locomotive cabs are impairing their concentration and putting the safety of thousands of passengers in jeopardy. They say that the draughts are so bad in the 22 Deltic 3300 h.p. diesel locomotives that operate between Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Kings Cross that crews carry bundles of newspapers to stuff between panels and doors.—London, January 3. Take-overs in Burma The Burmese Government has announced that it has nationalised 69 more industrial enterprises. An official statement last night said that the enterprises included those of 45 food manufacturers, eight chemical industries, and seven textile firms. —Rangoon, January 3. Belgrade prosecution Criminal charges have been filed against five people in Belgrade after the arrest last week of the president of the Serbian Chamber of Lawyers and an engineer for printing and distributing nationalist leaflets, the Belgrade newspaper, “Politika,” reports.— Belgrade, Jan. 3. Heath for Warsaw The British Prime Minister (Mr Heath) has accepted an invitation to pay an official visit to Poland, according to informed sources in London. Polish and British Foreign Ministers have exchanged visits in recent years, but this will be the first official visit to Warsaw since World War II by a British Prime Minister. Mr Heath has an outstanding invitation to go to Jugoslavia. — London, January 3.

Shipping tragedy About 40 people are believed to have been drowned when a Qatari ship sank during a storm off the island of Qais, in the Persian Gulf, last night. Only two passengers survived when the vessel, the Al-Rayyan, sank almost immediately in the storm. All the victims are believed to have been Qataris, and the Emir of Qatar (Sheikh Ahmad Bin Ali Al-Thani) has ordered the closing of his Court and Government Ministries and departments as a mark of sympathy.—Dohar, Jan. 3. M.P.’s hope

Mr John Stonehouse, a former Minister in the last British Labour Government, told a Hyde Park rally yesterday that he confidently expected to have the names of more than 200 M.P.s on his motion calling for British recognition of Bangla Desh by the time Parliament reassembles.—London, Jan. 3.