PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Publish and be damned.
r Major made a determined defence of the Maastricht Treaty and rejected calls for a British referendum as campaigning intensified for the French referendum on 20 September. Kenneth Baker, the former Tory chairman, contradicted him. Norman Lamont, the Chancellor, launched a strange scheme by which he would borrow £7.25 billion of foreign currencies to prop up the pound. EEC finance ministers, meeting in Bath, signalled support for the current parities within the Exchange Rate Mechanism, but the pound remained flac- cid. Sweden retaliated by raising interest rates to 24 per cent to support the Krone. David Mellor, the National Heritage Secre- tary, was said by his former lover, Antonia de Sancha, to have worn the strip (apart from the shorts) of Chelsea, the football club he supports, while making love to her. David Gower, who has scored more runs in Test matches than any other England play- er, was left out of the team due to tour India and Sri Lanka in the winter. 'To say I am disappointed is an understatement,' he commented. Major James Hewitt, a friend of the Princess of Wales, brought a libel action against the Sun. Meanwhile, the Princess made a private visit to Mother Teresa in north London. Julia Somerville, the news reader, had a benign brain tumour removed. The TUC held its annual confer- ence in Blackpool to almost universal indif- ference. A man was killed by three youths who set upon him and his wife as they fed foxes in a Surrey wood. London Zoo decid- ed not to close at the end of this month after all. Mary Norton, the children's writ- er, died aged 88; Christopher Trace, the former Blue Peter presenter, died aged 59. An II-year-old boy was rescued after being trapped for three days in a Welsh peat bog. Michael Heath, aged 38, was put on 18 months probation for throwing an ashtray at his 87-year-old wife, Lillian, after drink- ing heavily. He was reported to have said, 'I just wish the old cow would hurry up and die.' Her reaction was, 'I'm not having him back any more. I have got the rest of my life to look forward to.'
TROOPS from the black homeland of Ciskei shot dead at least 25 demonstrators and wounded dozens more when 50,000 ANC supporters crossed the border from South Africa. The demonstrators were heading for the capital, Bisho, with the aim of overturning the rule of Brigadier Oupa Gqozo, who seized control of the homeland two years ago. Talks between the South African government and the ANC were dis- rupted. The UN announced the resumption of relief flights to Sarajevo despite the pre-
sumed shooting down of an Italian aid plane. 'Enough is enough,' commented Lord Owen, the EEC mediator on Yugoslavia. Two French members of the UN force were shot dead in Bosnia. Lord Owen and Mr Cyrus Vance gave Serbian leaders six days to put their heavy arms under UN supervision. In Montenegro, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky were neck and neck in their series of chess games.. President Mitterrand performed in a televi- sion debate in an effort to convince the people of France to vote for the Maastricht Treaty. Mr Poul Schluter, the Prime Minis- ter of Denmark, suggested his country might hold another referendum on the sub- ject next year if it was promised better treatment in a revised treaty. Mr Todor Zhivkov, aged 80, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a Bulgarian court for embezzlement and abuse of power dur- ing his 33-year rule. The President of Tajtk- istan, Mr Rakhmon Nabiyev, resigned as opposition forces took control. Ethel Hud- son, the last member of the New Hati113- shire community of Shakers, died aged 96. A Pittsburgh man died of a brain haemor- rhage three months after having had a baboon's liver implanted. The number of kiwis in New Zealand is declining through
the spread of uncontrolled dogs. CSH
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