Cable news in brief

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33450, 4 February 1974, Page 17

Cable news in brief

Death Squad in action Four corpses riddled with bullets and bearing cards saying, “For Being an Extortionist — The Death Squad,” have been found near Guatemala City, Earlier this week, newspapers had received a note from the Death Squad, saying that it would “clean the country of criminals.” Each of the bodies had been given a coup de grace in the head after body wounds had been inflicted. It was the first known action by the Death Squad—often alleged to comprise offduty policemen, though ofiijcials deny this—for more than two years.—Guatemala I City, February 3.

Gromyko for L.S. The Soviet Union Foreign Minister (Mr Andrei Gromyko) will meet President ; Nixon on Monday. He will fly to Washington in a Russian airliner from Cuba, where he • has been accompanying the [Soviet Union Communist [Party leader, Mr Leonid Brezhnev, on a visit to the Cuban Prime Minister (Dr Castro). Mr Gromyko has been invited to Washington by the Secretary of State (Dr Henry Kissinger), and, the iWhite House savs the discussions will include United IStates-Soviet relations, international issues of mutual) (interest to the two countries, (and Mr Nixon’s forthcoming [visit to Moscow.—Washington, February 3. Glaswegian for trial Alexander Paton, aged 29. I the Glasgow barman who has been detained in the So- | viet Union since early December after a fire in a Leningrad hotel, will go on trial in Moscow this week, the British Embassy reports. ' Paton was released last week from hospital, where, he was treated for a nervous; complaint which apparently developed after his deten-[ tion. He was staying at the hotel with a tour group [ when the fire broke out.—Moscow 7 , February 3. Piracy on Ganges I Fifteen youthful pirates i armed with automatic weapons held up 10 river launches on the River Ganges yesterday, about 30 miles south of Dacca, and robbed passengers of jewellery and cash worth 1,0 0 0.0 0 0 takas; (sBo,ooo).—Dacca, February! 2.

Aew I en us mission The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced that the Hughes Aircraft Company will build a twin spacecraft system, Pioneer Venus, for a photographic-landing mission to Venus in 1978 under a SUSSSm contract. One of the spacecraft will orbit the planet for a full Venusian year (about eight months), while the other will contain one large and three small J probes which will be ejected I into the dense Venusian atmosphere. They will transjmit data during their hour'iong descent to the planet's ■surface. The Mariner 10 I spacecraft is due to be close ■to Venus next Wednesday.—El Segundo, California. ■February 3. Etna still erupting The Etna volcano is pouring out lava for the fourth day in succession from two new fissures on a slope which had been dormant for I two centuries, but local officials say that no inhabitled areas are endangered by 'the two 120-yard wide lava flows, or by the explosions (which again hurled tons of brimstone and ashes down the mountainside and lit up the sky during the night. Both lava rivers are flowing 'in a north-westerly direction, away from Bronte, the nearest village, and towards the nearest plateau. More than 300 eruptions from Etna (have claimed an estimated 1 million lives in its recorded i history. Three people have ; died in this century, all in •1952—Catania. Itah Febru* lary 3.