Cable Briefs

Press, 12 August 1980, Page 8

Cable Briefs

Hijacker detained

A man hijacked an airliner to Cuba from the United States at the week-end by threatening the pilot with a cake of soap disguised as a bomb. In Havana Cuban authorities boarded the plane and detained the man. The plane was then refuelled and returned to Miami with its crew and remaining passengers. — Miami.

80th bomb death

The death toll of the bomb explosion at the Bologna railway station on August 2 has risen to 80. A woman, aged 40, has died of her injuries. She took her 11-year-old daughter to the station when the bomb went off. Her daughter died last week. — Bologna.

Blackmail uncovered The New South Wales At-torney-General (Mr Frank Walker) has said the Corporate Affairs Commission had uncovered an attempt to blackmail him by trying to set up a Swiss bank account in his name. Mr Walker said the conspiracy came to light when Corporate Affairs inspectors were handed documents by an official of the Nugan Hand Bank. He said that recently he had seen evidence that a political motive could be involved, although he could only guess at what use the false bank account would be put to. Mr Walker said a senior figure in. the Liberal Party recently suggested to reporters that they should be investigating what were alleged to be Mr Walker’s Swiss bank accounts. — Sydney.

Oil money eroded

The oil revenues of 10 Arab States rose by 56 per cent last year, but inflation and currency fluctuations kept oil prices in real terms to the 1974 price level, according to an official report. Dr Ali Ahmed Atiqua, the secretary-general of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting , Countries said in his annual report that the States had $125.5 billion in oil income compared with $80.5 billion in 1978. “But the increased income cannot be regarded as real, because its real value had been eroded during the period through inflation and increases in the value of the currencies of the industrialised countries 'in relation to the United States dollar,” he said. Because of these factors, oil prices had not exceeded the .1974 leveL — Bahrain.

Car workers sacked

General Motors-Hqlden has begun issuing diniissal notices to workers at its Pagewood assembly plant in Sydney. A General Motors spokesman said 72 notices had been either issued or. would be issued to take effect from August 20 — nine days before the plant is due to close. He would not comment on a union plan to leave partly-built cars;? on the assembly line once production of . new . bodies ceased. The company announced in July that it would close the plant at the end of August at a cost of about 1400 jobs. — Sydney.