Cable Briefs

Press, 8 January 1980, Page 6

Cable Briefs

Oil rigs shut . f Two oil rigs off the coast of Western Australia have shut down as a precautionary measure, as Cyclone Amy continued to approach the area. A Weather Bureau spokesman said' that Amy was about 450 km north-west of Broome and heading slowly towards the coast. —Perth.

U.S.-China talks

The United States Secretary of Defence (Mr Harold Brown) has started formal talks with Chinese leaders aimed at developing strategic qnd defence contacts;, between.'the two countries, American officials have said. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was. expected to be an important topic, with the American ■ side exploring whether the.' two countries could make" complementary responses to the crisis, American officials, said. — Peking.

Praise for army

King. Juan Carlos has praised Spain’s military chiefs for maintaining discipline in the face of guerrilla attacks, and cautioned them against extremist attempts to incite them. In a speech marking traditional armed forces festivities, the king said he shared their “most intense sorrow when our. companions are vilely assassinated” — a reference to the death of II military men last , year in guerrilla attacks. He said the serenity, discipline, and silent suffering of the armed forces was an example for all Spain to follow. — Madrid.

Gunmen shot

A man fired about a dozen rifle shots at random into a Dallas, Texas, park yesterday, and then was killed after a., police officer fired on his car as it sped towards a roadblock. A police spokesman said the man, identified - as Jose Angel Vargas, aged 29, was struck by at least one of three bullets fired by a tactical officer. Vargas may also have shot himself with a pistol he was holding. Noone in the park was injured. — Dallas. .. .

Tito consultations

President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia hqs consulted the renowned American heart. specialist, Michael de Bakey, and a ranking Soviet physician about further treatment of what officials described. as a blood-vessel problem, the Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, has said. Mr Tito, who is 87, met and lunched with Mr de Bakey and Mr Marat Knyazhev at his mountain residence m Slovenia, Tanjug said. Mr Tito had gone to the area after two days of examinations at a hospital fn Ljubljana for what his medical panel described as problems with his blood vessels in his legs. — Belgrade.

Young patient

A 14-year-old boy became one of the world’s youngest heart transplant recipients when he received a second heart in a six-hour operation in Cape Town at the weekend. A Groote Schuur Hospital spokesman described the boy’s condition as satisfactory. In double heart surgery, a second heart is sewn into the patient’s chest next to the original, diseased heart and linked up to it in order to absorb most of the strain.—Cape Town.

Surgery on princess

Princess Margaret has left hospital after a five-day stay for a minor operation, Buckingham Palace has said. The minor operation on the Princess waif; for the removal of a skin i Jlesion, a palace spokesman said. No details were released but it was probably for the cutting out of a non-malignant cyst or wart. — London.