PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The British Government continued its legal battle against Peter Wright's book of MI5 memoirs, Spycatcher. It is now fight- ing in two courts — the House of Lords and in New South Wales. Meanwhile, copies of the book, published in America, are now circulating widely in London. The Government continued to face severe opposition to its plans for introducing a poll tax. Mr Kenneth Baker, the Education Secretary, told MPs that the new Educa- tion Bill would contain a provision to end the system of academic tenure in universi- ties. The inquiry into the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise bitterly criticised the Townsend Thoresen management, saying that it was 'infected with the disease of sloppiness'. Mr Jeffrey Archer won his libel case against the Star newspaper and was awarded record damages of £500,000. Mr Archer's mother said her son had been 'very naïve'. A Palestinian political car- toonist is seriously ill after being shot in the face outside the Kuwaiti news agency in London where he worked. Lord Trend, the former Cabinet Secretary, died. Mr Robert Maxwell closed the London Daily News after only 126 editions. Rent arrears in the Labour-controlled borough of Southwark now stand at £28m. Former Lambeth Council Leader, Mr Edward 'Red Ted' Knight, faced with a £3,300 fine for failing to set a legal rate, is now working as a washer-up in a Clapham restaurant called Changing Times.
IT IS now 38 days since Charles Glass, a regular contributor to the Spectator, was seized by gunmen in Beirut. US policy in the Gulf received a severe setback when the supertanker, Bridgeton, was holed by a submerged mine while being escorted by the American navy. Mrs Thatcher refuses to rule out the possibility of some foreign ships in the Gulf being sailed under the protection of the red ensign. The United States and the Soviet Union have moved very closely to finalising their agreement on nuclear arms reduction in Europe. The American Commerce Secretary, Mr Mal- colm Baldridge, died when his horse fell on him at a rodeo in which the was appearing at Walnut Creek, California. In Moscow a group of more than 100 Crimean Tartars were allowed to spend a night of silent protest in Red Square and were then told that they could meet the Soviet President, Mr Gromyko. Mr John Demjanjuk, ac- cused of being the mass executioner,' Ivan the Terrible' of the Treblinka death camp, has begun his defence at his trial in Jerusalem, claiming mistaken identity. South eastern Europe experienced a severe heatwave. At least 600 people have died from its effects in Greece. In South Korea torrential rains have driven at least 60,000 people from their homes. French sub- mariners recovered a safe from the wreck of the Titanic, causing outcry from those who thought the ship should be undis- turbed. In America celebrations were held for the 50th birthday of Superman. Mr Stephen Roche, an Irishman, won the Tour de France. Laura Davies became the first Englishwoman to win the US Open. Reference Point won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Stakes at Ascot. Miss Joan Collins, the British ac- tress, won an alimony suit against her fourth husband: she said 'I will never marry again. Never, never.' M St J T
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