Cable Briefs

Press, 22 October 1980, Page 8

Cable B riefs

; Khmer Rouge claim i. The ousted Khmer Rouge [regime, buoyed by its recent I diplomatic success at the [United Nations, has claimed 'to have inflicted severe •losses on Vietnamese occupying . forces in Kantjprichea and vowed to do ’even better in the coming [dry season. A statement by ’ the office of the Prime Min« ister. Khieu Samphan. broadcast by the ousted proPeking regime's clandestine radio, said Khmer Rouge fighters had spread their [guerrilla war to al! areas of ■ Kampuchea and killed or hvbimdeci 65.000 Vietnamese [soldiers during the rainy ■ season, which is just ending. [ — Bangkok. ' Santa ‘Musi be male' Father Christmas is a man and cannot be played by a woman. Britain’s Equal Opportunities Commission has ruled. So John Shelton can advertise for a male Santa

at the department store he manages. Mr Shelton said he asked the commisson’s advice when someone told him that if he advertised for a Father Christmas, he might have to advertise for a Mother Christmas also. Except in special cases, the Sex Discrimination Act bars employers from advertising for a man or a woman. Instead they advertise for a “person.” But Mr. Shelton said that an official of the commission said the act was being waived for him* because being male was a "genuine occupation qualification" for Santas. — London.

Climber killed An Australian member of the American women’s expedition attempting to scale the world’s sixth highest mountain, has been killed: Lynette Ruth Griffith, aged 27, was swept to her death bv an avalanche on the 8171-met’re Mount Dbaulai-giri-I, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism said, — Katmandu.

: Wiar on vodlia ■ Soviet authorities have I declared war dn vodka, the national drink that they re- ; gard as 1 a threat to the ’ nation’s health. The Communist Party newspaper “Pravda, ’’ admitting that alcholism was a serious problem in the Soviet Union, has announced a series of measures aimed at curbing vodka consumption. Shops will no longer be accorded a percentage of the drink’s sale price. They will thus have no interest in promoting sales or in frustrating official anti-alcoholism campaigns. t— Moscow. /■ ! •