Cable briefs

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 6

Cable briefs

Taking cover Residents of the exclusive Beverley Hills district threw tarpaulins over their Porsches and Ferraris and others planned to stay indoors as the State prepared a sticky aerial bombardment of Mediterranean fruit-fly pesticide; Three helicopters were set to spray malathion over a 60sq km area to stop a plague of the crop-destroying pest. Forty Medflies have been found since September 26, indicating a serious infestation that, if allowed to spread, could threaten' crops worth SUSB billion (513.048) a year, authorities said.—Los Angleles. Quicker visas The U.S. Embassy, promised South Koreans' same-day service on tourist visas to the United States after years of week-long delays. The U.S. Consul-General, Edward Wilkinson, told a news conference a change in procedure would allow South Koreans who apply in the morning to get their visas in the afternoon.—Seoul. Dearer Channel Construction of the Channel Tunnel linking England and France is going to cost a lot more than first estimated and is already running behind schedule, according to a newspaper report. Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French company building the tunnel, now expects the final

cost to be 5NZ14.27 billion, seven per cent higher than it estimated in its prospectus to shareholders less than a year ago, “The Times” reported.—London. Conspiracy trial Bess Myerson, who was “Miss America” in 1945 and once a powerful city official, has been described in Court as a greedy and vindictive person willing to use her power to corrupt a judge hearing her boyfriend’s divorce case. The trial of Myerson, her boyfriend, Carl Capasso, and a former state judge, Hortense Gabel, began before a packed court with a prosecutor calling the three “people of position and wealth who violated the public trust.” Myerson is accused of conspiring to bribe Gabel by offering her daughter Sukhreet a New York City job so that Gabel would cut the alimony being paid to Capasso’s former wife.— New York. Another transfusion Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, aged 87, received a transfusion yesterday to stop steady internal bleeding in spite of doctors’ fears the extra blood would strain his heart. His pulse raced and his temperature was high, Palace officials said. Worries about giving the Emperor more blood arose on Wednesday when

Hirohito’s doctors curtailed a transfusion for fear it would put too much strain on his heart. — Tokyo. Botha visit The South African President, P. W. Botha, will visit Switzerland for a week of talks with diplomats and bankers after the funeral in Munich today of the Bavarian Prime Minister, Franz Josef Strauss, an official said. — Johannesburg. Kennett concedes The Victorian Liberal leader, Jeff Kennett, has conceded that Labour won the Victorian state election. He told a news conference he had telephoned the Premier, John Cain, about the decision. — Melbourne. Corruption charge The Philippines has served its first criminal indictment against a Minister in the former Government of the ousted President, Ferdinand Marcos, accusing the official of building a private beach resort with public funds. Formal corruption charges against the former Energy Minister, Geronimo Velasco, were filed before an anti-graft court. Velasco fled the country after Marcos was overthrown in a popular revolt in 1986. He has been back to the Philippines several times but is currently in the United States. — Manila.