News In Brief
Washington
Margaret M. Heckler has agreed to give up her job as secretary of health and human services to become ambassador to Ireland, President Reagan announced yesterday. Mr. Reagan said he would not have given her a diplomatic post if she had not done a good job in her Cabinet department, the largest agency in the government. She said Reagan had offered her the choice whether to stay on or take the ambassadorship.
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US protests attack on copter by Czechs in West Germany
A Czechoslovak military jet attacked a US helicopter Saturday over West Germany, launching two to four rockets but failing to hit the copter, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. The incident occurred north of the German city of Freyung, about one mile inside West German airspace.
The US filed a strong protest over the incident Monday, Pentagon spokesman Robert B. Sims said. The helicopter was flying a routine surveillance mission along the border with Czechoslovakia and no reason for the attack is known, he added.
US shapes new policy on world debt problem
Treasury Secretary James Baker said he would hold confidential talks with top American bankers yesterday. He said he will outline his plan to alleviate the international debt problem, which will build upon the Administration's present case by case approach. He said the chairmen of America's top banks were summoned because US policy on international debt would clearly involve them.
Mr. Baker said efforts so far to bring down the value of the dollar have had a ``reasonable effect.''
Baker will announce the specifics of the plan at the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings, in Seoul, South Korea next week.
7,000 rally in Frankfurt in wake of anti-Nazi protest
About 7,000 people held a rally in the downtown district Tuesday afternoon on the fourth day of demonstrations against a neo-Nazi party meeting held in Frankfurt last weekend. Protests against the meeting spread to seven large cities early Tuesday and police said at least 60 people were arrested after demonstrators set fires and hurled rocks.
The overnight riots followed three days of protests against the conference of the National Democratic Party in Frankfurt and the death Saturday of 36-year-old G"unther Sare, who was run over by a police truck carrying a water cannon.
Interior Ministry spokesman Hans-G"unter Kowalski said the party has adopted some of the principles and goals of the Nazis, who ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Biggest South African bank to join in apartheid protest
Barclays National, this nation's biggest bank, announced yesterday it would take part in a religious anti-apartheid protest. The bank said it will close all its branches for 90 minutes at lunchtime Oct. 9, during a clergy-led protest billed as a national day of prayer.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of students boycotted Cape Town's mixed-race schools, which reopened yesterday after a nearly month-long closure because of rioting. (Related stories, Page 3.)
Authorities shut down 464 schools Sept. 6 after two weeks of rioting in which at least three dozen people were killed. The action threw more than 360,000 pupils out of classes.
Student leaders want the right to elect freely their student councils, the withdrawal of soldiers from the townships, and the release of detained activists.
New President of Nigeria declares state of emergency
Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida, who seized power in a coup just over a month ago, declared a state of economic emergency yesterday for the next 15 months. President Babangida said he would announce a program for the West African country's political future next year, but gave no details. Analysts have regarded such remarks in the past as a hint of a return to civilian rule.
