PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Spy Wars The defection of Mr Oleg Gordievsky, KGB chief in London but for 19 years working secretly for the West, led to the expulsion of 25 Soviet spies from Britain. The Soviet Union retaliated by expelling 25 Britons from Moscow, the British Gov- ernment expelled six more Russians, the Russians expelled six more Britons. The British also tried to stop a former MI5 officer, Mr Peter Wright, from publishing his memoirs in Australia. A secretary in the West German Chancellor's office de- fected to the East. The United States successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon in space. President Reagan said he had no intention of trading development of Star Wars weapons with Mr Gorbachev at their forthcoming summit. In China, Teng Hsiao-ping, 81, removed 136 'veterans' from the 210-strong Central Committee. In South Africa, President Botha said the government intended to restore South African citizenship to 15 million blacks at present citizens only of their 'homelands'. In Zambia, leading South African businessmen met leaders of the outlawed African National Congress. In French
Guiana, President Mitterrand watched the 15th launch of the space rocket Ariane. It had to be destroyed less than ten minutes after take-off. He proceeded to Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific, to preside over an assembly of Frenchmen magnificently entitled the Co-ordinating Committee for the South Pacific. At the Swedish general election, the Social Democrats were re- turned to power, but in future they will have to rely on Communist support. Saudi Arabia decided to buy 78 British military aircraft. Mrs Thatcher left Britain for a visit to Egypt and Jordan. The European team won the Ryder Cup, the United States losing for the first time since 1957. Karpov took the lead in the World Chess Championship. At a Danish zoo, a seal died after swallowing 256 coins thrown into its pool by visitors.
THE Cabinet decided there should be a police rather than a judicial inquiry into the Handsworth riots. Birmingham city council, which is Labour-controlled, said it would hold an independent inquiry, with which the police, who blamed the riot on
drug barons, said they would co-operate. Twenty Asian members of Birmingham's community relations council resigned, on the grounds that it 'only represents the black community', and set up a rival organisation. The annual rate of inflation fell from 6.9 to 6.2 per cent, but over a million local authority manual workers were offered a pay rise worth an average of eight per cent. In Liverpool, trade union leaders of 30,000 council employees called on them to strike in protest against the Tory government. Talks intended to re- solve the teachers' pay dispute broke down. The Liberal Party Conference opened. Commander John Kerans, who commanded HMS Amethyst when she broke through the Communist blockade of the Yangtze River in 1949, died in Surrey. The captain of the Garifalia, a Greek cargo ship, was sentenced to ten years' imprison- ment for dropping 11 stowaways into the shark-infested Indian Ocean. Laura Ashley, the dress designer, died after spending nine days in a coma, caused by falling down a flight of stairs. Middlesex won the county championship. AJSG
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