Cable briefs

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 6

Cable briefs

War aid confirmed The United States sold Britain SUS6O million worth of military supplies including heat-seeking missiles for its war with Argentina two years ago, American defence officials said. There was no truth, though, to a report in “The Economist,” a British newspaper that the Defence Secretary, Mr Caspar Weinberger, had been willing to lend Britain a helicoptercarrier if either of the two British carriers in the war were disabled, they said. United States policy was not to lend weapons, they said. A loan would have required Congressional approval, and British sailors were not trained to work the United States carrier. — Washington. Victim compensated Steven Waldorf, the innocent man shot and wounded by London detectives, has accepted £120,000 (about $267,600) compensation from the Metropolitan Police. Mr Waldorf, aged 27, who was mistaken by the police for a fugitive, David Martin, will also receive about £22,000 (about $49,000) to cover his legal costs. Mr Waldorf, a film technician, was shot in January last year as he was travelling along a London street in a friend’s car. He was hit by five bullets and pistol-whipped, but made a remarkable recovery in hospital. — London. Help for toads The West German city of Hanover will shut one of its roads to night traffic for the next month to let toads hop to their annual breeding pond in safety. A city spokesman said that in past years cars on the I.skm road had squashed thousands of toads instinctively heading back to the pond where they were born. — Bonn. Detainees die A Nigerian newspaper reports that 53 people arrested in the aftermath of religious riots in the north-eastern town of Yola last week, have died in detention. The mass circulation “Daily Sketch” quoted prison sources as saying that the 53 had died from suffocation after they were detained with about 1000 others in jails in Yola. There was no immediate confirmation from the police, who put the number of arrests at 921 and those killed in riots at 535. — Lagos. Vatican link

The United States has established full diplomatic ties to the Vatican for the first time in 117 years when the Senate approved appointment of a United States Ambassador to the Holy See. By an 81-13 vote the Senate confirmed the nomination of a Californian rancher and landholder, William Wilson, to become the first Ambassador to the Vatican since 1867. The United States had consular relations with the Vatican between 1797 and 1848, and maintained diplomatic relations until 1867 when Congress prohibited funds for an ambassador. Congress quietly reversed the law in November. — Washington.

Cash babies ‘unethical’

The British Medical Association has warned doctors that surrogate motherhood, by which women bear children for childless couples, is unethical. The ruling by the association, which oversees the medical profession in Britain, followed proposals to set up a clinic near London for surrogate mothers. The association's council advised its members that because of the “difficulties, anxieties and uncertainties to all the individuals concerned, the council considers that it is unethical for a doctor to become involved in techniques and procedures leading to surrogate motherhood.” — London. Italians to stay The Italian Foreign Minister, Mr Giulio Andreotti, says that his country has decided to renew for another year its participation in the Multinational Observer Force in Sinai. The force has patrolled the Sinai Desert, monitoring border violations, since Israel withdrew from the area in April, 1982, under its peace treaty with Egypt. - Cairo.