PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
'I say, isn't that Salman Rushdie?'
Ablizzard halted traffic in much of central and northern Britain, leaving more than 1,000 motorists stranded in cars on blocked Motorways, and more than a million homes cut off. The Ml, M5 and M6 were all closed in places, around 400,000 homes lost electricity supplies, and over 60,000 their water. Mr Michael Heseltine, Environment Secretary, asked Labour and other opposition parties to join the Gov- ernment in a review of local government and poll tax. Mr Kenneth Clarke, Educa- tion Secretary, announced that all state school teachers in England and Wales will have regular examinations to test their ability to teach. The privatisation of the electricity industry was over-subscribed ten times for each share, which showed an average profit of 50p on the first day of dealings. The Government agreed to pay compensation to haemophiliacs infected with Aids. Mrs Margaret Thatcher was given an Order of Merit by the Queen, and Denis Thatcher was given a baronetcy. Mr Harry Greenway, MP for Ealing North, was charged with bribery, including an alleged attempt to influence the appoint- ment of a chairman of British Rail. The
number of babies born within wedlock was revealed to have slumped to just over half a million — the lowest number since 1847. The number attending Church of England services rose for the first time since 1968 — by less than 1 per cent. Two IRA terrorists caught digging up arms and explosives were jailed for 30 years. A new Appeal Court hearing of the case of the 'Birming- ham Six' was announced, and will not include Lord Lane. Three men were arrested at the Royal Military School of Music in west London after allegedly acting suspiciously one morning. Durham County Cricket Club was granted first-class county status. Sonia Sutcliffe, the sepa- rated wife of Peter Sutcliffe, the convicted mass murderer, told a jury in the High Court that she thought the nickname 'Yorkshire Ripper' unfair, as her husband believed he killed prostitutes humanely.
SADDAM Hussein, President of Iraq, said he would release all hostages, and hun- dreds returned to England by air. About 250 Britons elected to remain in Iraq and Kuwait. The United States evacuated its embassy in Kuwait, while Saddam Hussein increased the numbers of his front-line troops. A Palestine Liberation Organisa- tion official said Saddam Hussein was ready to retreat from most of Kuwait if there were future territorial concessions and an international conference on the Middle East. Gatt talks on world trade broke down, due to failure to reach agree- ment on agricultural subsidy. Mr Lech Walesa, the chairman of Solidarity, was elected President of Poland. The commun- ist party of Georgia broke from the Soviet central party and vowed to work for its country's independence. The head of the KGB said that unrest in the USSR would be stamped out. President Alia of Albania agreed that opposition parties should be admitted. At least 80 Indians were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Hyderabad. Twelve died when an Italian military plane crashed into a school near Bologna. Dr Armand Hammer died at 92. Three suspected members of the IRA were arrested in Belgium, Senhor Amaral Neto, a Brazilian MP, said after a fist-fight broke out in parliament that he would only attend in future if he could wear a crash helmet.
SB
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