PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The Cabinet of Dr Goldsmith At least 13 children were killed and many more were injured when a gunman opened fire in a school in Dunblane, Scot- land. A Government White Paper on Europe rejected extension of qualified majority voting by member states; proposed that one person should speak for the 'foreign policy of the Union'; and said that unspeci- fied improvements should be made to the fisheries and agriculture policies. The Euro- pean Court of Justice handed down an opin- ion that European law restricting the work- ing week to 48 hours is applicable as a health and safety measure, and therefore is not liable to a veto from Britain. Mr John Major, the Prime Minister, said the decision was `ludicrous'. The Government looked increas- ingly likely to call a referendum on a single European currency in the face of Sir James Goldsmith's campaign to field anti-federalist candidates in all constituencies in the next election. The Government made some small concessions to small businesses, and Mr Major encouraged customers to pay them promptly. Lady Thatcher, in a speech at Ful- ton, Missouri, said: 'Add weapons of mass destruction to rogue states and you have a highly toxic compound. As the CIA has pointed out: "Of the nations that have or are acquiring such weapons, many are led by megalomaniacs and strongmen of proven inhumanity or by weak, unstable or illegiti- mate governments." ' A by-election at Staffordshire South-East has been set for 11 April. Miss Betty Boothroyd, the Speaker of the House of Commons, had a sharp meet- ing with Mr Alastair Goodlad, the Conserva- tive Chief Whip, demanding an end to the whispering campaign among Tory back- benchers suggesting that she is biased towards Labour. Mr David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionists, had talks with the Irish Government. Liverpool set the highest council tax in England and Wales, with houses in band D being charged more than £1,000. A bomb exploded in .a litter bin near West Brompton Underground station in London, injuring no one. One man was killed and 20 injured when two trains collid- ed at Rickerscote near Stafford. Police claimed that a man had stolen at least 1,500 pigeons from Trafalgar Square. Will Carling announced that he was stepping down as England rugby captain. There was a small earthquake in Shropshire.
THE UNITED STATES sent warships to the waters around Taiwan as China spent a week testing missiles off the coast. Hamas, the Islamic extremist group, called off the offer of a ceasefire; Israel continued its blockade of areas under Palestinian rule, but allowed inhabitants a 12-hour break to send out for food. Bosnian Serbs fled the suburbs of Ilidza and Grbavica in Sarajevo as it was turned over to Bosnian government control; houses and factories were set on fire as they left. Russian troops engaged in heavy fight- ing with Chechen resistance in Grozny. A Turk of Chechen origin hijacked a flight from northern Cyprus bound for Istanbul. A coalition was formed to rule Turkey with the exclusion of the biggest Islamic party. Three bombs, thought to be the work of Islamic extremists, exploded outside Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Libya undertook to send planes full of pilgrims on the haj to Mecca, despite an international ban on its flights. United Nations weapons inspectors sur- rounded a building in Baghdad for 18 hours before they were allowed in; Iraq accused them of setting up the incident to dissuade world powers from lifting a ban on Iraqi oil exports. Dr Jack Kevorkian, who admits to having assisted 27 suicides since 1990, was acquitted of assisting two more in Michigan in 1993. Two Swiss drug companies, Ciba and Sandoz, merged to form the second biggest company in the field, with a market capitalisation of £50 billion. A Chinese satel- lite that had gone out of orbit plunged into the Atlantic. Hong Kong shares fell by about 8 per cent in a day following sharp falls m American bond and equity prices. George Burns, the American comedian, died,
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