Cable briefs

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 7

Cable briefs

Probe clears aide President Ronald Reagan says he has been told "everything was fine" after an inquiry into a $lOOO payment to his' National Security Adviser (Mr Richard Allen) by a Japanese magazine which interviewed Mrs Reagan. The President did not say who had apparently cleared Mr Allen of wrongdoing. The money was found in a safe in September, almost nine months after the interview took place. The White House said last week that Mr Allen planned to turn over the money to the Government but forgot. The Justice Department is investigating the matter. — Washington. Consul death counts Flamboyant jewellery belonging to the slain Creek Consul-General, Constantine Giannaris, was pawned within hours of his body being found with a knife sticking out of his back, according to the Sydney police. They have charged two youths, aged 19 and 16. with the murder of Mr Giannaris, aged 47, and a schoolteacher, Peter Parkes. A pawnbroker's description of the person who pawned the jewellery matched that of a youth the police had questioned. — Sydney. Di flicks on lights Amid tight security, the Princess of Wales has performed the annual ritual of turning on the Christmas Lights in Regent Street, one of London’s main thoroughfares. A crowd of about 10.000 commuters stood in pouring rain to watch the Princess flick a switch on the second floor balcony of one of the many department stores on the street. Making her first “solo” public appearance, she made a brief speech telling of her pleasure in being invited to the ceremony. — London. Private space shuttle A group of private investors has approached the Reagan Administration with a, proposition to buy a space shuttle in what would mark the beginning of big privatesector involvement in the nation’s space programme, one of the people involved in the venture says. Officials at the Space Transportation Company of Princeton, New Jersey, want to buy a shuttle similar to the Columbia and rent it out to either the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or a private entity, the Dallas “Morning News” has reported. The firm had recently presented its proposal to . the Administration’s science adviser, George Keyworth, who heads a Federal study on long-range space policy, the newspaper said. — Princeton. Tungsten find South Africa has discovered a deposit of tungsten, the only strategic mineral which it does not produce, and a mine supplying all its needs should be in operation in late 1984, a senior oil company executive has said; Shell Oil’s executive director, John Wilson, said initial tests on the deposit, near the Namibia. border, had been extremely successful, and Shell would spend $25 million to exploit it. South Africa imports around 800 tonnes of tungsten ore annually, which is converted into tungsten carbide for use as a metal

strengthener in armaments and drilling equipment. — Johannesburg. Instant millionaire A building maintenance worker, who now plans to retire, has won New York State's record $5 million lottery prize. ‘Tve beeen eating bread all my life. Now I’ll eat cake ” said Louis Eisenberg, aged 53. He will get an initial cheque of $219,000 and then receive yearly payments of $239,000 for the next 20 years. There was no immediate estimate of what Mr Eisenberg could expect to keep after taxes. — New York. Connery wins The former screen James Bond, Sean Connery, won an off-screen battle this week, when his former financial adviser withdrew claims for a percentage share of his film earnings. Kenneth Richards, an accountant, also conceded a counter-claim that he had been negligent in handling the actor’s business. He was ordered to pay Connery’s legal costs estimated to be more than $NZ230,000. — London. Talks end abruptly A conference of radical Arab States summoned to align policy for next week’s Arab summit conference in Morocco has ended prematurely. A communique issued after nearly 10 hours of talks gave no indication of their position toward Saudi Arabia’s Middle East peace plan, which will be discussed at the summit meeting in Fez on November 25. It also gave no explanation of why the conference ended a day early, but said the Arab Steadfastness and Confrontation Front had reviewed the Arab and international situation, the Palestine issue and the summit meeting’s agenda. — Aden. Warning to nun A Rome magistrate has told Mother Teresa of Calcutta that she may face charges of financial irregularities under Italy’s stringent currency laws. Magistrate Fabrizio Danesi has given a formal warning that Mother Teresa may be indicted as titular head of her order of nuns, under complicated and restrictive foreign-exchange regulations which place heavy curbs on movements of capital. Some 15 religious institutions or orders are under investigation by Rome magistrates, who are probing their links with the Institute for Religious Works, the Vatican bank. — Rome?