CABLED BRIEFS

Press, 9 December 1976, Page 9

CABLED BRIEFS

Storm, toll 58 Week-long storms which have battered the Philippines have left at least 58 persons dead and caused widespread damage. Most of the casualties were drowned in flash floods or in landslides which engulfed flimsy homes. Roads, railway lines, and bridges were washed away in several central regions.— Manila.

Govt returned Mr Eric Gairy’s Government has won another five years in power in Grenada’s first General Election as an independent nation, winning nine of the 15 seats in the House of Representatives. A coalition of three Opposition parties took the rest in a strong showing. Previously the Opposition National Party held only one seat. Mr Gairy will be Prime Minister for another five years, and next year will be host to a conference of the Organisations of American States.— Grenada. Picket pressure

The homes of United States Central Intelligence Agency workers in London will be picketed as part of a campaign to persuade the British Government to rescind deportation orders on two Americans, one a former C.I.A. officer. The Americans, a journalist, Mark Hosenball, and a former C.I.A. officer, Philip Agee, face deportation for reasons of national security. Next month they will argue their case before an independent committee.— London. Avenger charged A man who spent months tracking the man he suspected of raping his wife has been charged with kidnapping, after holding the suspect in his basement before turning him in to the police. The captive, Carl Butler, aged 33, has been charged with rape, robbery, theft, assault, and indecent assault, the Philadelphia police said. They said Earl Patterson held Butler in his basement for nearly three hours and threatened him with a gun before delivering him to a police station.—Philadelphia. Thinking big The British Home Office has bad news for flat-chested ladies who want to join the fire brigade. It has stuck to an earlier ruling that women recruits must measure up to firemen. That means they must be at least sft 6in tall and have at least a 36-inch chest measurement. —London. Blacks restless Black unrest simmered in the Cape province township of Guguletu at the week-end despite a police swoop last week in which about 300 people were arrested. The police said a group of about 30 youths had set fire to five houses in the township near Cape Town and thrown stones at other houses. On Saturday, about 400 black youths surrounded a police vehicle and stoned it. The police opened fire, and hospital sources said later three blacks had been admitted with bullet wounds. — Cape Town.