PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
ABritish soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the Belgian port of Ostend when his car stopped at traffic lights. Much criticism was made of the fact that British soldiers and their families in West Ger- many have easily identifiable number plates on their vehicles. Growing dissatis- faction with the implementation of their recent pay award brought forward again the prospect of nurses taking industrial action; it also led to uniformed nurses going to Gatwick airport where they asked departing holiday makers to search for 'Britain's most wanted man', Mr Kenneth Clarke, the Health Secretary, on holiday in Spain. Figures for the volume of retail sales for July were released: they showed a rise of two per cent, one of the biggest monthly increases on record. Some economists reiterated their view that overheating in the economy has not been checked and that the Government will shortly be forced to raise interest rates again. Three mem- bers of staff from Samuel Montagu, Lazards and Morgan Grenfell were sacked for allegedly operating an insider dealing ring. London police announced that there would be an 8.30pm 'curfew' on the carnival in Notting Hill held at the end of this month. Further progress appeared to have been made between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Iranian anthorities on the possible release of the British hostages in Lebanon. In Teheran Mr David Redd- aWay, a first secretary at the Foreign Office, held talks with Iranian foreign ministry officials and was assured that he would be able to see Mr Roger Cooper and Mr NicholaS Nicola, two British business- men held prisoner there. An opinion poll shciwed that most MPs did not know the name of Nato's Supreme Allied Comman- der in Europe and a majority could not name the new Secretary-General. The shell of a 700lb leatherback turtle — a native of the waters of South and Central America. — was landed by fishermen in Cornwall.
AT THEIR convention in New Orleans the Republicans gave President Reagan a rousing send-off. He did his best to commit his prestige to the presidential candidate, George Bush, whose recent ,performance in the opinion polls seems to be improving at last. Mr Bush named Senator Dan Quayle. of Indiana as his running mate. United Nations observers arrived in Bagh- dad and Teheran to monitor the truce on the battlefronts between Iraq and Iran. FolloWing extensive public demonstrations the Burmese leader U Sein Lwin resigned all his government posts after less than three weeks in power. Severe flooding at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles brought Misery to Khartoum with much of the city swamped: the Blue Nile is now three times its normal width. One and a half million people were made homeless and, ironically, desperately short of drink- ing water. It was reported that, less than a week after Soviet troops pulled out of the strategically important city of Kunduz, Afghan guerrilla forces had captured it. Student agitation continued in Seoul, cast- ing a shadow over the forthcoming Urn; pic Games. The South Korean students' `grand unification march', planned to meet another by North Korean students at the border between the two countries, was stopped. A film directed by Martin Scorsese, The Last Temptation of Christ, opened in America to widespread dis- approval on the grounds of blasphemy; the temptations of the film's title are of a sexual nature. It immediately broke box office records in Los Angeles and New York. Enzo Ferrari, the racing driver and car manufacturer, died at the age of 90. MStJT
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