Cable Briefs

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 8

Cable Briefs

Hua visit The Chinese Communist Party chairman (Mr Hua Kuo-leng) will visit Yugo siavia and Rumania at the end of August, top Yugoslav party sources have said. The trip will only be Mr Hua’s second abroad since succeed ing Mav Tse-tung. who died in September. 1976. The sources said that Mr Hua would confer with President Josip Tito. who visited China last August, and with :he Rumanian President (Mr Nicolae Ceausescu), who returned from a trip to China less than a month ago. — Belgrade. P.A.G. incursion The Prime Minister of ’ Papua New Guinea ( Mr Michael Somare) has said that he expects no repetition of an Indonesian militan inicursion into his country this week. Mr Somare told reporters in Port Moresby that villagers had fled their homes when the Indonesians arrived, apparently killing rebels. About 100 Indonesian ’soldiers entered the northern village of Mamambra, about [6km inside the P.N.G bot!der. Mr Somare said his Government had received reports that the Indonesian ’soldiers were hungry when [they arrived, and had raided gardens in the village. Thev left on Thursday. — Port : Moresby. | Sovirf shift The Soviet block, in a sui- ' prise policy shift, has agreed that West Germans can boost army strength on a small scale even if force levels in Central Europe are frozen. Communist diplomats at the 19-nation Vienna conference on troop reductions, disclosing the negotiating i offer, said it was part of a [“significant compromise” [package tabled by the Warsaw Pact two weeks ago. In [five years of deadlocked negotiations so far, the Comi munists insisted on national ceilings that would set un-

: breakable limits for each of 111 countries with troops in 'Central Europe. — Vienna. ; Nuclear rote Austria’s ruling Socialist I Party has decided to call a [national referendum, possi(bly in Ocrober, on its hotly [contested plans to start up ' the country’s first nuclear power station. Chancellor Bruno Kreisky said after a meeting of the party hierarchy that the Government would go ahead with the plans only if a majority of [voters agreed that the plant should be put into operation. —Vienna. Lebanese battle Norwegian soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon have fought a fierce gun battle with Palestinian guerrillas [in south Lebanon, residents [of Metullah, in north Israel. ; have reported. They quoted [ the Norwegians as telling them that mortars, machineguns, and rifles were used in ithe battle in the Rash Yeh area. The United Nations 'soldiers said the incident started after they noticed a (large group of armed Palestinian guerrillas setting up a camp near a village. The Norwegians said none of their soldiers was hurt, bm ihe guerrillas had directed mortar fire at surrounding villages. — Metullah. Laser warning Laser lights used by many popular rock groups could impair vision, an official of the United States Food and Drug Administration has said. The lights could cause a temporary or permanent blind spot in the eye, the official told reporters. F.D.A. , researchers however, empnasised there had been no evidence that anyone’s eyesight had been harmed, but they were worried that it could happen. Laser lights, lowpowered versions of the, highly-focused beams capable of burning through steel, are used at concerts and discotheques to bathe the audience in a kaleidoscope of lights that throb to [the beat of the music. — ’Washington. ( arter comment President Jimmy Carter, in his first public comments on the Middle East after Israel's refusal to make a specific commitment on the future of occupied territories. has praised Egypt's reaction as "very constructive, verv moderate.” Mr Carter opened a meeting with the Speaker of the People’s Assembly of Egypt (Mr Sayed Mareii b\ referring to comments made by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt on the Israeli inaction. Mr Carter said: "We appreciate his willingness to continue the peace process.’ — Washington. Rocket fails A Trident missile has crashed into the South Atlantic after an undisclosed problem developed in the missile’s second stage during a land-based test launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the United States Navy has said. The Trident missile launch, part of a $2l billion programme to upgrade America's fleet of ballistic missiles and an integral part of the new Tri-dent-class nuclear subma rines, was launched at the Cape Canaveral Air Force station. It was th? thirteenth launch and second failure. —Cape Canaveral.