Cable briefs

Press, 29 April 1982, Page 8

Cable briefs

112 die in crash A Chinese airliner has crashed- near the scenic southern city of Gulin, killing all 112 people aboard. The official Xinhua News Agency did not say if there were any foreigners on board : the plane, but informed sources said in Hong Kong that the passengers included several Hong Kong businessmen and tourists. The plane, a Trident aircraft of the Chinese national airline, was ’.carrying 104 passengers and a crew of eight—Peking. Toxteth trouble Merseyside’s Chief Constable (Mr Kenneth Oxford) has appealed for calm after fresh outbreaks of violence in Liverpool's troubled Toxteth district. Part of the area was sealed off after mobs of masked youths went on the rampage. They overturned a car, set another on fire, and hurled bricks at police vans. Two policemen are still off duty after week-end violence, in which teenagers, some wearing balaclava masks, ripped up traffic signs and ambushed police vans.—London. Athens bomb blast A home-made time bomb has exploded under the car of an American diplomat in the centre of Athens. The car, partly destroyed, was parked outside a’ private parking site and belonged to Stanislas Valerga, second secretary at the consular section of the embassy, a police spokesman said. It was the latest in a series of bomb explosions against American targets in protest against the presence of American military bases in Greece.—Athens. Office bombed A home-made bomb has exploded at the Fifth Avenue, New York, offices of Lufthansa, the West German airline, blowing out a glass door and a plate glass window. A caller claiming to represent the Jewish Defence League claimed responsibility for the blast—New York. P.M. admits scarcity The Fijian Prime Minister (Ratu Sir Kamisese jdara) has admitted that there was a drug shortage at Fiji’s biggest hospital, the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva. But he said this was only “at times,” and had been “aggravated by the inadequacies of other support facilities." He made the statement in Parliament after the House had agreed to an Opposition motion, amended by the Government, calling for an independent inquiry into drug shortages in Fiji hospitals—Suva. 27 die in rallies An estimated 27 people have been killed on Java in two campaign rallies for the General Election on May 4, the semi-official newspaper “Suara Karya” (Voice of the Workers) reports. The General Election campaign officially over, the newspaper said that 17 people had been killed in one incident, and 10 in the other, as a result of “traffic accidents.” Supporters of the opposition Muslim United Development Party had been arrested about two of the alleged accidents.—Jakarta. Poverty in E.E.C. Mass unemployment is exacerbating poverty in Europe so much that the democratic foundations of the European Economic Community are threatened, Ivor Richard, European commissioner for employment and social affairs, said in London. But the hostility and resentment of member States to having the collective poverty of Europe exposed ruled out hopes of community action. An appalling number of people lived in poverty in Europe — substantially more than 30 million people, or more than one in 10 of the Community’s population. Mr Richard said—London.