Portrait of the week
To the delight of the islanders, the irri- tation of the Argentinians and the bewilderment of many in England and elsewhere, Mrs Thatcher went to the Falkland Islands. She travelled from Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, in an RAF VC 10 to Ascension Island, thence in a caravan aboard a Hercules aircraft, accompanied by Mr Thatcher and the First Sea Lord, Ad- miral Sir John Fieldhouse. The Prime Minister, describing the visit as her 'third great experience' associated with the Falklands, inspected several battlefields of the war and was given the freedom of the islands. There was speculation that the visit was made to divert attention from the report by Lord Franks, which may be published next week, alternatively that the report acquitted her of blame for the Argentinian invasion last April. In Buenos Aires, the newspaper Cronica commented that 'an evil bird has landed on the island'.
The new Secretary of State for Defence, Mr Michael Heseltine, was unaware of the visit until his return from holiday in the West Indies. Among other appointments, in probably the last ministerial reshuffle before the general election, Mr Tom King replaces Mr Heseltine as Secretary of State for the Environment and Mr Timothy Raison becomes Minister for Overseas Development. Captain Kent Kirk was fined £30,000 by Tynemouth magistrates for his much-publicised infringement of Britain's fishing regulations. He flew home to Den- mark to prepare his appeal to the European Court, which is already due to consider the same case brought by the Danish govern- ment. Denmark was embarrassed by Greenland insisting on the enforcement of its own 12-mile fishing limit. Water and sewerage workers voted to reject a 4 per cent pay increase. Mr Scargill was accused by his staff at the London offices of NUM of behaving like a 19th-century pit owner.
Athe end of their meeting in Prague, seven Warsaw Pact countries proposed a non-aggression treaty with Nato, stating that any agreement on limiting armaments should 'provide for proper measures to verify their implementation including, when necessary, international procedures'. Hav- ing dismissed Mr Andropov's 'initiatives' last month, President Reagan became almost conciliatory and agreed to send his vice-president, George Bush, to Europe. Mr Reagan's mood was described by Prav- da as 'reasonable'; his Defence Secretary recommended cutting the defence budget by $11,000 million. Herr Genseher, the West German foreign minister, called the Prague declaration noteworthy and remarkable', and Mr Pym referred to.it as 'a document of great significance'. But it was not clear that the Prime Minister agreed
with him since, according to reports, she has nothing in common with her Foreign Secretary. Evidence was put forward to suggest that nuclear tests in the Fifties had caused hundreds of cases of cancer.
President Reagan decided to resume military supplies, to Guatemala, taking the view that General Rios Montt is governing the country more sensitively than previous regimes, though the former British colony of Belize remains under threat of invasion. Russia began delivering aircraft, missiles and ammunition to Iraq, hoping to in- fluence the outcome of the war with Iran. In Andhra Pradesh, India, Mrs Gandhi's Congress Party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a 60-year-old film ac- tor, N. T. R. Rao. The court martial began in West Germany of two RAF officers ac- cused of 'negligently causing the loss of an aircraft', by shooting down a Jaguar fighter with a Sidewinder missile last May.
The selection of Peter Tatchell, a Marxist social worker, as Labour parliamentary candidate for Southwark, Bermondsey, was endorsed by Mr Foot, having previously disowned him in the House of Commons. The value of the pound felt below $1.56, later 'recovering' to $1.58 after clearing banks had increased their base rates by one per cent. Ian Botham was fined £200 for criticising Australian umpires in the recent Test series, in which Australia regained the Ashes. The Pope appointed 18 new car- dinals, including Julijans Vaivods, Bishop of Riga, Jozef Glemp, Archbishop of War- saw, and Antoine Khoraiche, Maronite Patriarch. Former President Nixon celebrated his 70th birthday, Alan Paton his 80th; Pauline de la Chapelle Egremont- Lee died at 65. Lonrho denied that negotia- tions were in progress to sell the Observer, but did not dissent from Mr Rowland's comment that the newspapers owned by the company were for sale at 'the right price'. Summonses were issued against Brooks's
club for keeping a dirty kitchen SPC Wow you get a good night's sleep — I'll see you in the morning.'
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