Cable briefs

Press, 19 April 1984, Page 10

Cable briefs

Gemayel trip The Lebanese President, Mr Amin Gemayel, planned to go to Damascus today for long-delayed talks with the Syrian President, Mr Hafez Assad, on ending the violence in Lebanon. A Syrian VicePresident, Abdel-Halim Khaddam, telephoned Mr Gemayel yesterday to invite him to Damascus.—Beirut. 150 missing At least 150 people are feared drowned when a motor-boat capsized on the Buriganga River, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, after a collision with another vessel. Many people were thought to have been trapped inside the hull and a salvage squad was trying to lift the boat.— Dhaka. Cyclone damage Cyclone Kamisy killed 68 people and devastated three mam towns when it swept the Indian Ocean Island of Madagascar twice last week, officials say. About 75,000 people lost their homes when the cyclone raged across the island, causing about SUSI billion (about $1.5 billion) damage. The announced death toll is provisional, and eight other people are missing.—Antananarivo. Nigerian drought A devastating- drought in Nigeria’s northern states has ruined crops valued at millions of dollars, the Government reports. The Weather Bureau said that some food crops such as rice had been wiped out, while cotton, groundnuts and other cash crops had yielded less than 20 per cent of the expected harvest The drought struck last year, when the rains arrived late, and ended when crops were ripening.—Lagos. Cash for pandas Nancy Reagan, surrounded by children, has received a ?U59589 (about $14,575) cheque to deliver to China in its campaign to save wild pandas from starvation because of a bamboo shortage. The First Lady greeted 250 children from primary schools and accepted the cheque from the World Wildlife Fund. The children and thousands of others had contributed to the “Pennies for Pandas” campaign that Mrs Reagan had inaugurated a month ago. The President and his wife will arrive in China next Thursday—Washington.