PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Mr Kenneth Clarke replaced Mr Nor- man Lamont as Chancellor of the Exche- quer. Mr Lamont exited in dudgeon; Mr Clarke appeared on the steps of the Trea- sury in a Garrick tie and suede shoes. Among other Cabinet changes were: Mr Michael Howard to the Home Office, being replaced at the Welsh Office by Mr John Redwood; Mrs Gillian Shephard to Agri- culture to replace Mr John Gummer, who has been promoted to the Environment. These changes did not noticeably diminish criticism of Mr Major. Mr Winston Churchill called for an end to the 'relent- less flow' of immigrants to preserve 'the British way of life'; he was roundly put down by some fellow Tories. Mr Michael Mates, a Northern Ireland minister, was said to have given the fugitive bankrupt Mr Asil Nadir a watch bearing the inscription: 'Don't let the buggers get you down.' Mr Mates's plight was not helped by state- ments from Mr Nadir in Cyprus saying that he had received 'unflinching help' from the minister. A confidential report from the European Commission to officials of cen- tral banks said that Britain had been right to withdraw from the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Hundreds of 'New Age' tray-
ellers blocked the M5 at the weekend. A Jamaican gangster was shot dead by three gunmen in Brixton, south London. Lord Gormley, the former mineworkers' union leader, died aged 75. The Queen celebrated the 40th anniversary of her Coronation by going to the Derby. A new breakfast ice- cream went on the market, containing sausage, egg, toast and tea.
SARAJEVO was shelled following its adoption by the United Nations as a 'safe area'. Relief flights to the city were sus- pended after aircraft were fired on. A new assault on another 'safe area', Gorazde, was reported. Three Italian aid workers were shot dead in Bosnia. The President of what remains of Yugoslavia, Mr Dobrica Cosic, was forced to resign by Serb hardliners. There was a violent demonstration outside the parliament building, in which Mr Vuk Draskovic, the opposition leader, was injured. In Russia, Ukraine and Pakistan Presidents and Prime Ministers were also at loggerheads. The rouble fell below the rate of 1,000 to a United States dollar. The dol- lar fell to a new low against the yen. The President of Guatemala was forced to resign, and the army took control. The
President of Togo again postponed elec- tions. A car-bomb killed five and extensive- ly damaged 30 pictures in the Uffizi gallery in Florence; three other pictures were utterly destroyed. The Mafia was blamed. Another Mafia boss, a fugitive for 11 years, was arrested. Two Turkish women and three girls died in an arson attack at Solin- gen in Germany, blamed on young ultra right wingers. A 16-year-old was arrested lit connection with the murders. Days of riot- ing by Turks followed; police were con: fronted by crowds chanting: 'We want Nall blood.' European Community interior min- isters met to co-ordinate ways of keeping immigrants out of western Europe. Mrs Winnie Mandela had a jail sentence far kidnapping set aside in favour of a fine. More than 70 English football fans were arrested after violence in Oslo. The leader of 192 Libyan pilgrims to Jerusalem, the first since the 1967 war, called during their visit for the destruction of Israel. President Clinton, who avoided the Vietnam draft, was jeered by some ex-servicemen when attended a Vietnam veterans' memorial ceremony. Two Chinese farmers were exe- cuted for selling the skin of a panda. CSI4
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