Cable briefs

Press, 16 April 1984, Page 10

Cable briefs

Soviet jet strays A Soviet civilian airliner strayed into prohibited airspace over a big French naval base at Toulon, informed sources say. The sources said that the Aeroflot Tupolev 134, on a flight from Budapest to Marseilles had ignored several warnings from French civilian air traffic controllers that it had diverted from its approved flight path into a restricted area. The plane had flown low over the base, where the French nuclear attack submarine Rubis had just docked, before landing at Marseilles, the sources said.—Toulon. Sydney peace march An estimated 100,000 people joined the annual march for peace in Sydney yesterday in one of Australia’s biggest protest meetings. Traffic was slowed to a standstill in parts of the inner city because of the march, which went from Hyde Park South, along Liverpool, George, and King Streets to the Domain.—Sydney. Railway attacks Unidentified attackers set 25 railway stations on fire in simultaneous raids across eight districts of the Indian state of Punjab on Saturday night. Railway tickets and official records were destroyed and some buildings damaged, the Press Trust of India reported.—New Delhi. Base protest About 8000 British peace activists assembled outside a United States air base in north-eastern England at the week-end at the outset of an Easter campaign of marches and rallies against the American military presence in Britain. The protests are being organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the main British disarmament group.—London.

Fijian M.P. quits The Leader of the Fijian Opposition, Mr Jai Ram Reddy, has resigned, saying that he did not want the Opposition to be split over his decision to boycott Parliament. He has also resigned his seat in Parliament. The resignations become effective on May 15. The 23 members of the Opposition Parliamentary Party decided in December to boycott Parliament until the Speaker, Mr Tomasi Vakatora, was replaced. They allege ill-treatment of the Opposition by Mr Vakatora, who was appointed without consultation with them.—Suva. Rig sit-in Nearly 600 workers on a North Sea rig have started a sit-in protest over pay and conditions on a gas project. A spokesman for British Gas, the State-run company said, “The trouble is between the workers and contractors and it is really not up to us to comment.” The men, employed by several contracting firms, are building a big gas storage depot in a partially-depleted field 27km off Humberside on England’s east coast.—Hull. Secret U.S. launch A United States Air Force Titan rocket has launched a secret payload into space from Cape Canaveral. No advance notice was given for the launch nor was there any comment on the nature of the payload. “It’s a classified launch. It’s a classified payload,” a spokesman said. The Titan 34D rocket is more powerful than the Titan 3C, which was previously used for secret payloads by the Air Force. The Titan usually launches communications or surveillance satellites into stationary orbits 35,880 km from Earth which can view about onethird of the planet.—Cape Canaveral.