Cable Briefs

Press, 26 November 1982, Page 8

Cable Briefs

Street march

More than 200 Lebanese and Palestinian women marched through the streets of Beirut, demanding the release of their husbands and sons from Lebanese Army prisons. Some screaming and many in tears, the women called for the Muslim Prime Minister, Mr Shafik Wazzan, to intervene and free the men, who were arrested more than a month ago during the Army’s crackdown in predominantly Muslim West Beirut. “Where is your pledge, Wazzan? They’ve taken the sons of Islam,” they chanted as they marched a kilometre down the broad Coniche Mazraa boulevard. — Beirut.

old age of 82. Most cockatoos do not live beyond 50, and Cocky’s age ensured him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the oldest of his breed on record. He greeted visitors to the zoo with a perky “hello” and was awarded the medal two years ago for making London a friendlier city. — London. Corruption charges The police have arrested the local government head of Palermo Province on corruption charges, said justice officials. The Christian Democratic President of the Province, Mr Ernesto de Fresco, aged 53, was among dignitaries who greeted Pope John Paul II on his visit during which the Pontiff called for a clean-up in Sicily’s public life. Mr de. Fresco was arrested with four other men on a warrant issued by an investigating magistrate alleging misuse of public office and fraud among other charges. — Palermo. Tylenol on sale Capsules of Tylenol will go on sale in Chicago for the first time since seven people died in the Chicago area after taking doses of the painkiller which had been sabotaged with cyanide, said the Mayor, Mrs Jane Byrne. Mrs Byrne told a press conference that she was satisfied new packages for Tylenol capsules introduced by the manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson Inc., were tamper-resistant. — Chicago. China trip The American Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz, will visit the People’s Republic of China in early February for talks on the broad range of issues complicating United States-Chinese relations, said State Department officials. The trip will be the first by Mr Shultz to the Far East since he assumed charge of the State Department last (northern) summer. Mr Shultz is also expected to meet officials in Japan and South Korea. — Washington.

Poll dents Govt

As counting continued nine days after Brazil’s elections, latest unofficial results have dented the military-led Government’s hopes of winning an overwhelming majority of the 23 states. Unofficial figures issued by newspapers, television and radio gave the Government a 13-10 victory. But they also predict that the Opposition has captured most of the economically important states and won most of the total votes cast. The 15 elections, a key stage in the Government’s plan to return Brazil to full democracy, were for 22 state governors, one-third of the Senate, all 479 Congressmen, state assemblies and municipal officials. They did not include the all-powerful presidency. — Rio de Janeiro. Special occasion? A British magistrate has refused a late-night drinks licence for a doomsday party planned by the local branch of the end-of-the-world society by ruling: “The end of the world is not a special occasion.” — Bude. ‘Friend’ dies

Cocky, an Australian-born cockatoo whose urtiring friendliness to visitors at London Zoo earned him a medal, has died at the ripe