Cable briefs

Press, 26 February 1987, Page 6

Cable briefs

Automatic donors

A Belgian law increasing the powers of the authorities to take human organs for transplant operations without direct consent came into force yesterday, a Government spokeswoman confirmed. The law, which presumes no objections on the part of all Belgians and resident foreigners to becoming automatic donors after death, is the country’s answer to dealing with an incresing shortage of human organs. —Brussels. Hawke slips The unwillingness of the Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, to call an early election is vindicated by the results of an opinion poll. The Morgan Gallup poll, published in the “Bulletin” magazine showed Labour support dropping 4 per cent to 42 per cent — lagging behind the Liberal-National coalition, whose support rose 2 per cent to 48 per cent. — Sydney. Rhine restock The Swiss chemical firm, Sandoz AG, say it will spend $2.6 million on. replacing fish stocks in the Rhine that were destroyed after a pollution disaster at one of its plants last November.—Basle. Barbie trial date The alleged Nazi war criminal, Klaus Barbie, will go before a court on May 11 to face charges of crimes against humanity, a French judge has ruled.—Lyon. Everest enigma

Noel Odell, the last man to see George Mallory on

Everest before he vanished just short of the summit during an expedition to the world’s highest mountain in 1924, has died, aged 96, said the British Alpine Club. Odell’s sighting of Mallory and his partner, Andrew Irvine, gave birth to one of mountaineering’s great unsolved mysteries: whether they got to the top 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing officially made the first ascent.—London. Huge haul Swiss police have seized 20kg of heroin and 80kg of morphine base used for producing heroin in the country’s biggest drugs haul, said officials in the southern canton of Ticino. The drugs had a street value of between $lB5 million and $550 million.—Bellinzona. - Des to wed The singer, Des O’Connor, will wed his Swiss fashion model fiancee, Jay Rufer, at a private ceremony near Granada in Spain on March 21. Des, aged 55, twice-married, and Jay, 25, named the day after a 14-month engagement and were "both delighted,” said a spokesman for the couple.—London. Sheep cool down The British Ministry of Agriculture has lifted a ban on the export and slaughter of sheep affected by radiation from last year’s Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union. The ban applied to sheep that had absorbed high radiation in Scotland, Cumbria, north England and North Wales.—London.