Cable briefs

Press, 12 October 1988, Page 10

Cable briefs

Six die in disco Six young people were crushed to death at a multiracial Johannesburg disco after pushing and shoving turned into a stampede, the management said. The fracas erupted as some of the 600 patrons at the Naledi disco at Shareworld, about 7km south-west of central Johannesburg, tried to leave as others attending a pop festival outside converged on the entrance. Television news reported that all six victims were women. Fourteen were hurt, three critically. — Johannesburg. Rock at the opera The hallowed halls of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, echoed with heavy rock rhythms when the outrageous pop star, Freddie Mercury, hired the building to host a £25,000 ($68,400) party. The Opera House firstfloor bar, normally the backdrop for discreet royal receptions, was converted into a disco-style lounge thronging with teenage fans wearing torn jeans and earrings. Four hundred guests toasted in champagne the pheno-

menon called “rockopera” — as pioneered by two of the world’s most famous singers: Mercury, of the pop group Queen, and the Spanish soprano, Montserrat Caballe. — London. New British tabloid Two years after a resounding failure with the “Today” popular daily, the British publisher, Eddy Shah, is launching a new tabloid, “The Post,” starting on November 10. Mr Shah said his company, Messenger Nationwide, had invested £1.2 million ($3.2 million) in the advertising campaign for the new daily, based in Warrington, northern England. The new tabloid will be printed with the latest technology in six locations in England and Wales, Mr Shah said. Initial circulation will be 370,000. — London. Dukakis hopeful The Democrat, Michael Dukakis, is striving for a decisive victory in the next debate against the Republican, George Bush, to close -the narrow lead Mr Bush still holds in

opinion polls a month before presidential elections. Mr Dukakis has the most to gain from the clash, the second and final debate between the two, because all national polls show Mr Bush leading the Massachusetts governor. Polls showed the Democratic ticket was helped when Senator Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, clearly outclassed his Republican opponent, Senator Dan Quayle. — Washington. Colombo bomb blasts Sinhalese Marxists exploded two bombs in Sri Lanka’s capital and attacked a police station in the north. A bomb planted in a Colombo shop exploded just before dawn and five minutes later, across town, men riding in a van lobbed an explosive device on the bazaar street of Pettah. There were no casualties. The police believe the mainly Sinhalese People’s Liberation Front was responsible for both incidents and also a gun attack on a police station in the north, in which the police returned fire. — Colombo.