PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Unnatural disaster.
The SDP candidate, Mrs Rosie Barnes, triumphed in the by-election at Greenwich, a seat held by Labour for over 50 years, beating the Labour candidate, Mrs Dierdre Wood, by 6,611 votes. The Tory, second at the general election, received 3,852 votes in all. Several people advised Mr Kinnock to see to it that Labour put up less extreme candidates. The Alliance parties advanced in the national opinion polls. The General Synod of the Church of England voted by more than two-thirds to have legislation drawn up for the ordination of women as priests, and the Archbishop of Canterbury ordained 15 women as deacons. Mgr Bruce Kent announced his retirement from 'ac- tive ministry' as a Roman Catholic priest in order to concentrate on attacking the Government's defence policies. The Gov- ernment announced a national programme to screen women between the ages of 50 and 64 for breast cancer. Mr Kenneth Baker, the Secretary of State for Educa- tion, said the Government would impose a settlement of the teachers' pay dispute, which has lasted two years. Mr Michael Checkland was appointed director-general
of the BBC and said he was 'more than just an accountant'. The film stars Joan Green- wood, Randolph Scott and Danny Kaye died. There was a strike at Austin Rover in support of Mr Darren Kelly, aged 19, who had been dismissed for 'appalling' absenteeism. His father told the press: 'He was off so often because of a cold on his chest and then he hurt his toe on his scooter.'
THE Tower Commission issued a 300-page report about the American arms deals with Iran, in which it criticised President Reagan for failing to control his subordin- ates and his subordinates for failing to keep him informed. Mr Donald Regan, the White House chief of staff, was criticised with particular severity and resigned on learning that Mr Howard Baker had been given his job. Mr Baker's appointment was applauded, but Mr Richard Gates, whom Mr Reagan had asked to be director of the CIA, withdrew in the face of opposition from the Senate. The President instead nominated Mr William Webster, at present director of the FBI. Mr Robert McFarlane, the former national security adviser who recently tried to commit suicide, told how ignored he had felt at the White House: 'It was no good knowing a lot about arms control if no one paid attention.' Mr Gorbachev publicly offered the United States a separate arms deal on medium- range nuclear weapons, abandoning his insistence at the meeting in Reykjavik last October that President Reagan first agree to restrict the Star Wars programme. Dr Abdel Qader Khan, Pakistan's leading nuclear scientist, said his country now had an atom bomb. In France, the Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was jailed for life. Seven British servicemen were killed when a Chinook helicopter crashed in the Falklands, five skiers died when a chairlift collapsed in France, and there was an earthquake in New Zealand. At the trial of ex-emperor Bohassa in the Central African Republic, a man claiming to have been his cook said he served Bokassa a human body stuffed with rice and flamed in gin for breakfast: 'My boss did well and truly eat that meal in my presence and he truly liked it.' AJSG
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