Cabled briefs

Press, 28 June 1977, Page 8

Cabled briefs

I ; i Charges dismissed i ' | Al! 24 charges against the. I father-and-son businessmen, i | Alexander and Thomas Bar- : (ton, relating to allegations of having made a false profit e statement to the Sydney f Stock Exchange, have been dismissed. Mr H. Berman, S.M., said the prosecution had failed to establish a ’ prima facie case against the Bartons, who will appear in the Central Court of Petty Sessions, Sydney, again to- ° day to face five additional; y charges involving company! = matters.—Sydney, ' 100.000 march □ I ■ i! About one hundred thoussjand people have marched I peacefully through the streets s of San Francisco in a “Gay ; Freedom Day” parade. Male - homosexuals, lesbians, and i thousands of supporters I r chanting slogans and carry- - ing protest placards marched - hand-in-hand and arm-in-arm through the heart of the city . under the watchful eye of the f police.—San Francisco. I Protest dispersed . I Policemen using tear-gasj; . and water-pumps have! blocked an attempt by several thousand environmental-; ). ists to halt the construction! > of a Swiss nuclear power! ! station. The demonstrators ] tried twice to isolate the site] ; at Goesgen, skm east of Ol- ■ . ten, by occupying all routesj; i to it. But they were driven;] > back and dispersed by nearly). 1000 policemen.—Olten.

I Jackson attacked i The Soviet Union has expressed alarm that Senator jHenry Jackson had a role in i helping to form Washington’s i proposals on strategic-arms 'cuts, and dubbed him “an ! arch-enemy of detente.” The j Communist Party daily, i "Pravda." was commenting {on the Strategic Anns Limitation Talks between the I two super-Powers, which it {said had shown no apparent {progress because the Amerii cans sought to secure onejsided advantages.—Moscow.

I Body missing j The body of the film pro-1 Iducer, Mike Todd, has been), )stolen from the Waldheim! Cemetery in suburban Forest! Park, Illinois. Officials say) that a woman visiting another grave at the cemetery) discovered that Todd’s 1 bronze coffin was empty and notified the police. The lid of the casket had been torn 'back and a rubber bag con- ! raining Todd’s body had been removed. Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1958 and his . body was burned beyond recognition. It was identified through dental records. The I authorities said they could i I find no motive for the appar-j f ent body-snatching. but), were attempting to contact) 1 the actress, Elizabeth Taylor, r to determine if any ransom i demand had been made for j the return of Todd’s remains. Miss Taylor was married to t Todd at the time of the s crash.—Chicago. f

I Appeal for writer ) An international group of (170 writers has publicly appealed to the Soviet Presi-i dent (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) to grant clemency to the Russian author, Edouard Kuznetsov, who is serving a 15-year prison term for treason. The writers, including France’s Jean-Paul Sartre, and the Nobel prizewinners, Heinrich Boell, of West Germany, and Saul Bellow of the United States, said they were concerned that long imprisonment would damage! Kuznetsov’s "authentic writing talent.” Kuznetsov, who served seven years in a labour camp for anti-Soviet propaganda, was sentenced to a 15-year prison term in 1970 for plotting to hijack a plane and escape to the West treason, and forming ar illegal association. —Paris.