Cable Briefs

Press, 18 July 1980, Page 6

Cable Briefs

Slump over soon? President Carter’s chief economic adviser, Mr Charles Schultze, has held out ' the possibility that the worst of the current economic recession may be over soon. “This recession will slow down shortly,” he told a group of economists. He spoke after the Government reported that industrial production fell 2.4 per cent m June, the same drop as in May. The declines of the last two months were the most since January, / 1975—Washington. SIBM libel suit ~ Mrs Arlene Crane, wife of Congressman Phillip Crane of Illinois, has filed an SUS 18 million libel suit against the West German magazine “Stern,” charging it with falsely saying she was sexually promiscuous. Mrs Crane, whose husband was for a time a contender in the Republican presidential primaries, maintained that “Stern,” in its August 2, 1979 issue carried a picture of her with a caption that . falsely said she bestowed sexual favours on other Congressmen.! The Cranes have seven daughters and one. son. ■ — New York. Zia help for Saudis ; Two divisions of the Pakistan Army are being sent to Saudi Arabia to protect, the Saudi royal family from attack, a 'London-based Urdu language newspaper has said. A report in the “Daily Millet” circulated to Pakistanis living , in Western Europe, said: agreement on, the protec-| tioh units was reached during • a recent meeting between President Zia ul-Haq, of Pakistan,/ and King Khaled of Saudi Arabia. The paper said the King’s request for protection was in anticipation of a “mass resistance” against the royal family, similar to the armed take-over of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Muslim dissidents late last year. — Moscow. ;', Suzuki confirmed Zenko Suzuki, aged 69; was elected Japan’s fifteenth ■ i post-World War Two Prime Minister yesterday . and immediately set about forming a Cabinet from opposing fac-. tion’s in- the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Mr Suzuki;- backed by strong 1 conservative majorities in ' both houses of the'Diet (Parliament), won easily — with' 291 of 509 votes'cast in the all-important Lower House. The Upper House, or House of Councillors, was certain to ratify that decision later in the day. Mr Suzuki’s choices for Cabinet posts were to be announced later. • —Tokyo. ■ Philby ‘still at u'orlt* i Harold “Kim” Philby,' the Soviet spy who came close to the top of British intelli- , gence in the 1940 s and es-, Scaped to Moscow in 1963, is still on active duty, the Gjv 7 ernment newspaper, “Izvestia” has said. The Kremlin organ also disclosed that the 68-year : old Philby, “third man” in the spy scandal of the British diplomats, Donald Mac Lean and Guy Burgess, who fled to Russia in 1951-, had been given a new Soviet award, the Order of the Friendship of the Peoples.— Moscow. Lebanese resignation The Lebanese. President (Mr Elias Sarkis) has accepted the resignation of the Prime Minister (Mr Selim Hoss), plunging Lebanon into a new period of political un- : certainty with no obvious successor in sight. Dr Hoss, aged 51, was asked to stay at his post in a caretaker capacity. He resigned on June •7 but it was held in abeyance: while President Sarkis unsuccessfully tried to form .a government of national unity that would include the heads of the main political parties and para-military groups. — Beirut. ’ “'