Cable briefs

Press, 13 June 1984, Page 11

Cable briefs

Russian hurricane A hurricane swept the Soviet Union, east of Moscow, destroying homes, disrupting water and power supplies and killing some people, the official news agency, Tass, said yesterday. It said the winds swept the Ivanovo. Gorky. Kalinin, Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions east and north-east of Moscow and the republic of Chuvashkskaya. It "destroyed or damaged houses and production facilities in a number of populated localities, fouled electric transmission lines, and caused the disruption of water supply.”—Moscow. Lis praised The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has paid tribute to Bogdan Lis. a key member of the four-man underground leadership of the banned Polish Solidarity trade union, who has been arrested. The I.C.F.T.U. Secretary-General. John Vanderveken. who is attending the annual meeting in Geneva of the International Labour Organisation, said he wanted to pay tribute to the courage and determination of a man trying to get Poland’s compliance with 1.L.0. conventions on freedom of association, and particularly workers' rights to organise themselves freely.— Geneva. Border relaxation Bangladesh and India will reduce the number of soldiers along their border to relax tensions after shooting between the two sides in April, Bangladesh Government sources have said.— Dhaka. Hunger strike Jacek Kuron, aged 47, chief of the Polish opposition group, K.0.R., has begun a hunger strike in Warsaw’s Rakowiecka prison, where he and 10 other opposition leaders have been held without trial since the Polish state of siege was clamped down 2% years ago, his family said. In a letter to Polish authorities on May 28. Mr Kuron demanded that he be tried or released within two weeks.—Warsaw.