Cable briefs

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 10

Cable briefs

Cold toll As many as 2000 people may have died because of the freezing weather which gripped Britain last month. — London. Soviet thaw Twenty-eight people have died in floods and more than 6000 have been evacuated as torrential rains and melting snow inundated wide areas .of Soviet Georgia. — Moscow. Bushfires A state of emergency has been declared north of Cooma in southern New South Wales, where a bushfire raging out of control has burnt 7000 ha. — Sydney. Sex discrimination A British airline that refused to recruit male cabin staff because of the fear of spreading A.I.D.S. was guilty of sex discrimination, the Equal Opportunities Commission has ruled. Dan Air had alleged during the 15month inquiry that almost one in three men attracted to work as airline stewards were homosexual and that cabin staff generally were sexually promiscuous. — London. Phone fraud The police have arrested 53 people in connection with alleged longdistance telephone fraud at British Telecom’s main international exchange. — London.