Reluare joi, 25 decembrie 1986

NEWS SUMMARY: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1986

Date: 25 December 1986

International#2-11 The U.S. will offer to delay payment from 38 countries of interest on military loans, the Reagan Administration has decided. The action could cost $3.5 billion in uncollected revenue. Page 1 A French hostage was freed by his Shiiite Moslem kidnappers in Lebanon in a good-will Christmas gesture. Aurel Cornea, a soundman for a French television network, was kidnapped nearly 10 months ago. #1 The release of a French hostage in Beirut came several days after the arrest in a Paris suburb of six Arabs who sources say were Moslem fundamentalist opponents of the Syrian Government. #10 Iran mounted a major offensive against Iraq in the southern part of their war front, but Iraqi forces had ''wiped out'' the leading edge of the Iranian force and blunted the attack, Iraq reported. #8 $20 million intended for the contras, including $10 million from the Sultan of Brunei and $10 million from private donors, has been traced by the Reagan Administration, an Administration official said. #1 Andrei Sakharov praised efforts by Mikhail Gorbachev to change the Soviet system and to encourage public discussion. He said the new openness is important ''because openness has always been in short supply.'' #3 News Analysis: Moscow's release of Andrei D. Sakharov from his exile in Gorky appears to mark a potential turning point in the Government's tolerance of dissent, Russians and Western diplomats said. #3 The Pope can sound revolutionary in his advocacy for the poor, but he has also battled unceasingly against Marxist influences on Catholic theology and efforts to ''politicize'' the Gospel.

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Murdoch Deal With Hearst

Date: 25 December 1986

The assets of the syndicate division of Rupert Murdoch's News America Holdings Inc. are being sold to the Hearst Corporation's North America Syndicate Inc. subsidiary, the two companies said yesterday. No price was announced.

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Reports Describe Casey As in Very Poor Shape

Date: 25 December 1986

Special to the New York Times

William J. Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, may be in more critical medical condition than his doctors have publicly acknowledged, according to news reports today. CBS News reported tonight that Mr. Casey, who is hospitalized at Georgetown University Hospital here, is ''in a semi-coma and is responding to only painful stimuli.''

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Australia Group Weighs Offer by Holmes a Court

Date: 25 December 1986

Reuters

The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd., the nation's largest newspaper group, said today that no immediate decision would be made on a takeover offer by Australia's richest man, Robert Holmes a Court. The company said it had been unable to get all of its board members together to evaluate the $1.4 billion bid. The offer is competing with a $1.2 billion bid made early this month by the News Corporation, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, who owns one of the world's largest media empires.

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A SECRET PLACE FOR THE TORIES TO COMMENT

Date: 26 December 1986

By Francis X. Clines, Special To the New York Times

Francis Clines

Parliament was finally told recently about one of the worst kept secrets in this nation, where official secrets are at least as rampant as the spies that regularly broker them: ''There is a room in the turret of Westminster which does not exist in which are held meetings that do not take place.'' The revelation in mock-hushed tones from a member in the House of Commons concerned journalism, not espionage. The nonmeetings in the turret occur promptly every working day at 4 P.M., when the reporters who cover the Government and House of Commons hear from Bernard Ingham, the Prime Minister's press secretary, and his aides. They answer questions on various current issues with the stipulation that none of what they claim, contend, assert and say can be attributed to the Downing Street office of the Prime Minister in news reports.

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ZAMBIA FREES CORRESPONDENT

Date: 25 December 1986

AP

An Associated Press correspondent, John Edlin, returned to Zimbabwe today after five days in what he called a ''medieval prison'' in Zambia. Mr. Edlin, a Harare-based reporter who was in Zambia covering the aftermath of food riots earlier this month, was jailed Friday.

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Some Bad News For Bonecrusher

Date: 26 December 1986

When James (Bonecrusher) Smith landed the World Boxing Association's heavyweight title by knocking out Tim Witherspoon at Madison Square Garden two weeks ago, he also won a March 7 shot at Mike Tyson for a purse of at least $1 million. That, anyway, is what Smith and most everybody else thought. Now comes another reminder that in the fight game, so little is ever what it first seems to be.

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NEWS SUMMARY: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1986

Date: 26 December 1986

International A3-17 An Iraqi plane, reportedly hijacked, crashed on a desert airstrip in Saudia Arabia, killing 62 people, Jordanian officials said. Iraqi and Jordanian officials accused Iran of being behind the attempted hijacking. Page A1 Iran said it killed more than 1,500 in an attack on four islands in the southern waterway separating Iran from Iraq. Iraq acknowledged the fighting, but said it had driven the Iranians off.

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National Car Sale

Date: 25 December 1986

Reuters

Household International Inc. said its board had approved the proposed sale, announced Tuesday, of its National Car Rental System Inc. unit for $459 million. The company said the sale was contingent on closing this year to take advantage of current tax laws. The unit is being sold to a group of investors led by Paine Webber Capital Inc. Household International said it would have a fourth quarter after-tax gain from the transaction.

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Harris Trust Cited As Discriminating

Date: 25 December 1986

Reuters

An administrative law judge has found Harris Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago discriminated against women and minority employees for the last two decades, the Labor Department said.

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