Cable briefs

Press, 7 December 1981, Page 8

Cable briefs

Bomb blast Two women lost their legs when a bomb exploded at a crowded open-air market in what the police said might ' have been a Mafia attack to demand “protection money" “ from local vendors. The wounded women were aged 19 and 50: No terrorist organ- * isation has claimed responsi- ; bility for the blast. — Ca- ‘ fania. : Spanish oil deaths „■ Two women, aged 37 and < 25.. have died in Madrid fromconsuming poisoned , cooking oil, bringing the death toll in the seveh-month-old scandal to 215. the > Health Ministry has announced. In Valencia,, a researcher has put forward the theory that the adulterated oil came in contact with a powerful pesticide called paraquat, and together they ,: caused the disease that has ■; affected more than 16,000 Spaniards. — Madrid. Wheelchair robber An innovative bandit in Freeport, Long Island, rolled up to a hold-up in a new kind of getaway vehicle. Two night-shift employees at a gas station were taken by surprise when a rifle-wield- ~ ing man in a wheelchair approached the cash register and demanded its contents. . After giving him $2OO from ( the drawer, the two were even more astonished when — holding the gun on them — the robber asked to be pushed about 100 metres j down the road. The em- . ployees obliged and the ban- \ dit wheeled off to freedom. — Freeport. U.S. backs Turkey : The United States Defence Secretary (Mr Caspar Wein- ! berger) has declared Washington’s full support for Turkey at a time when its military Government is being sharply rebuked by its West European allies. Mr Weinberger said he felt it “entirely proper to be of as •; much assistance as we can ‘ ... both militarily and on - J economic aid.” Some West ■ ' European critics have criticised the Turkish military Government for not moving ‘' faster towards a restoration ’ of civilian rule. The European Economic Community has postponed $650 million in aid. — Ankara. Architect dies £ The architect Wallace > Harrison, who played a big ~ role in designing the United . , Nations building, Rockefeller ? Centre, and other New York. landmarks, has died aged 86. Mr Harrison's projects also included the Lincoln Centre and the 1939 World Fair in New York, city, as well as the Empire State Plaza in ) Albany, the capital of New • York State. — New York. Reagan to decide President Reagan will ) make the final decision on . > the future of his National - ■ Security Richard ' Allen, on the basis of reports . * by the Justice Department and the White House, a spokesman has said.- Mr Allen began administrative leave on Monday so he could be free to answer suggestions that he acted improperly ' when he received $lOOO from a Japanese magazine which interviewed the President’s wife, Nancy. — Washington.