Cabled briefs

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 8

Cabled briefs

Spy charge A 20-year-old public servant was yesterday charged in the Canberra Court of Petty Sessions under the official secrets section of the Commonwealth Crimes Act. Janies Neil Grant, of no fixed abode, was remanded in custodv until tomorrow. No plea was taken and no evidence offered. — (anberra. Dayan stays

Leaders of the Right-wing Likud bloc, defying widespread protests. have decided to keep General Moshe Dayan on its list of Ministers in Israel’s probable next government. But they

refrained from saying outright that the retired general [would be given the Foreign portfolio offered him by the head of Likud. (Mr Menachem Begin. — Tel | Aviv. Uomb attack 1 Demonstrators fighting to I stop the opening of Japan’s (new international airport (near Tokyo have rammed a (police convoy with a radioIcontrolled car laden with ! petrol bombs. It caused only (minor damage after failing Ito explode on impact. But 7(1 people were arrested after (clashes between more than (8000 protesters and 500(1 (police. — Tokyo. I Envoy kidnapped ■ The Ambassador of El Salvador to Guatemala (Colonel Eduardo Casanova Sandoval) has been kidnapped near bis home in Guatemala City. A police spokesman said five people in a car intercepted and abducted the 56-year-old diplomat. The ambassador’s wife was with him at the time but was not taken by the kidnappers. — Guatemala City.

Economy ‘strong’’ President Carter says that fresh consumer confidence is behind the present strength of the United States economy. In an interview with “U.S. News and World Report,” the President pointed to reductions in unemployment and an improved outlook for business investment as signs of the country’s continued economic recovery. — Washington. Train crashes The engine and foui] coaches of an express passenger train have plunged into a flooded river in Kahibari, in the north-east province of Assam. Heavy casualties are feared. Five bodies have so far been recovered. — New Delhi. Trade pact Japan and the Soviet Union have signed a new five-year trade agreement, stalled since last September after a Soviet pilot flew a top secret MiG25 jet fighter to Japan. The signing was seen in Tokyo as a partial thaw in relations between the two countries, strained after the MiG incident. The aircraft has since been returned to Russia, but the pilot was granted political asylum in America. — Tokyo.

China’s warning China has warned that the “bitter global contention” for the world’s straits between the Soviet Union and the United States will lead to a new world war. The official “People’s Daily.” in a commentary yesterday, charged that, prompted by its ambitions for world hegemony, Moscow had thrown itself into an intense contest with the United States for the domination of the seas, and its global effort for the control of the straits was a major aspect of this contest. — Hong Kong.