Cable briefs

Press, 29 January 1982, Page 6

Cable briefs

Alert ‘ignored’ A passenger on the DCIO jetliner that skidded off a runway into Boston Harbour on Sunday says he was ignored when he tried to tell authorities he saw someone disappear into the icy water. Divers returned to the harbour yesterday searching for the bodies of two passengers missing and feared drowned from the World Airways accident. It had been thought that everyone aboard the flight survived until Audrey Metcalf reported on Wednesday she had not heard from her father, Walter Metcalf, aged 69, or her brother, Leo, aged 40. A passenger, Donal Welsh, said he saw a person struggling to stay afloat in the water on the left front side of the plane, minutes after the accident, but the person disappeared before he could offer assistance. He reported it but the authorities apparently disregarded him. — Boston. Apartheid deplored President Reagan has reaffirmed his opposition to apartheid but said it is important to co-operate with South Africa to achieve a free and independent Namibia (South-West Africa). “There is no question about our repugnance for apartheid,” he said in an interview with Dan Rather of C.B.S. News. “(But) you cannot settle the question of Namibia without South Africa’s cooperation.” He added: “My own feeling about South Africa ... is that maybe you can have a far better effect if you try as a friend . . . tc help them resolve their problem (of apartheid) rather than just turning your back on a country that has been an ally and that has fought with us in all the wars we have had in this century.” — Washington. Rail boycott off About 300 London railmer have called off a boycott ol some of Britain’s main newspapers after a mass-selling daily, the “Sun,” printed their response to allegations it published five days ago ol widespread cheating over work rotas. Furious at the charges, the men at London’s King Cross station refused tc handle the “Sun” and other nationally distributed newspapers in Rupert Murdoch’s News International group, which includes “The Times.” But they lifted their boycott when the “Sun” printed a statement by two rail union officials denying the allegations made by two young jail employees. — London. 11 miners hurt A gas blast that ripped through a Scottish coal pit more than 600 metres underground has injured 41 ■ miners. Thirty-three are still in hospital, with six “seriously ill,” as a major investigation was launched into the accident. It happened at Cardowan colliery, near Glasgow, in a seam where miners work on their stomachs in a space less than one metre high. — London. Remains found The remains of a wealthy British woman and her Italian companion have been found in a lake near the scattered mountain community of Fiastra in central Italy. The bodies, found by hunters, were identified by documents as those of Jeanette May and Gabriella Guerin- who disappeared in November, .1980. Mrs May, a former model, was the wife of a British chain store executive, Stephen May, and former wife of the millionaire banker, Evelyn de Rothschild. Her disappearance led to fears that she had been kidnapped but no ransom note was received. — Fiastra. Cuba accused The American State Department says it has evidence that links the Cuban Government. to drug smuggling activites in the United States. The allegation centres on the activities of Jaime Guillot Lara, a Colombian who allegedly funnelled arms and money to a Colombian ‘ Leftist group in return for Cuban aid in smuggling marijuana shipments to the United States. “This was a real shocker,” said a State Department official. “We had always assumed that Cuba was puritanical about drugs. This represents a real change in Cuba’s attitude.” The officials allege that the narcotics ring was headed by Guillot, who is in custody in Mexico on contraband charges. — Washington. ' Marches banned The British Home Secretary (Mr William .Whitelaw) has banned all political marches in the industrial city of Coventry in the English Midlands this week-end amid fears they would spark violent clashes between I.R.A. supporters and opponents. The move, announced by the Home Office, came after warnings by Sir Philip Knights, chief constable of the West Midlands police, that he believed a march planned by Sinn Fein, political wing of the Irish Republican Army, and extreme Right-wing British organisations would trigger trouble. — London.