Cable briefs

Press, 26 April 1984, Page 10

Cable briefs

Brazilian protest About 500 Brazilians occupied the main lobby of the National Congress, shouting for direct elections and

showed a force virtually unknown since the military seized power 20 years ago. About 75 troopers stood around the outskirts of the building, but made no moves to descend the grassy lawns and into the Congress. The group planned an all-night vigil on the eve of a Congressional vote today to reinstate direct elections. — Brasilia. ‘Star freeze 9

Walter Mondale has proposed a “space freeze” and accused President Ronald Reagan of pushing the world closer to nuclear holocaust with his pursuit of “star wars” weapons systems. "Reagan wants to open the heavens for warfare,” Mr Mondale told 600 university students in Ohio. “If Mr Reagan is re-elected, the arms race on Earth will be extended to the skies.” — Cleveland. Rebels’ Soviet arms A quarter of the Nicaraguan rebel army has been supplied with Soviet-made weapons by Israel at the urging of the Reagan Administration, N.B.C. news reports. “We receive some weapons, the weapons that the Israeli Government took from the P.L.O. in Lebanon,” a rebel commander, Enrique Bermudez, said. N.B.C. said that the former Israeli Defence Minister, Ariel Sharon, had made two trips to Honduras and offered the spoils of the 1982 Lebanese invasion to the rebels. The rebels reportedly wanted the Soviet weapons because they could capture ammunition from the Soviet-supplied Nicaraguan Army. — New York Tongan amulet A 76mm-high whale tooth amulet from Tonga, valued at about £35,000 ($NZ75,950) will be auctioned at Christie’s on June 25. “The Guardian” says that the amulet is being sold by a man who bought it in a £l2 ($NZ26.04) batch of knives, beads, and other items at a market in Sheffield in 1959. The amulet is eighteenth or early nineteenth century and is carved as a woman. “The Guardian” notes that Captain James Cook brought back several such amulets from Tonga, “but they are often rather ugly.” — London.