PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
No risk of fallout
the results of two by-elections: Mrs Eli- zabeth Shields became the first woman Liberal MP for 35 years when she over- turned a 12,000 majority in Ryedale, and in West Derbyshire, the Conservative majority was cut from 15,000 to 100. Mr John Biffen suggested that the party should fight the next election on a 'balanced ticket', but did not say who he wanted as vice-president. The local elections, too, presented the Conservatives with stimulat- ing challenges. The party now controls no borough larger than Solihull. The Court of Appeal ruled that train drivers were not entitled to compensation for the suffering caused them by suicides on the line; the NUR and Aslef were also ordered to pay damages of f153 to Mr Angus Falconer, a passenger inconvenienced by a strike they had called without a ballot in support of the mineworkers. Mr Falconer's costs were estimated at £7,000. Mr Arthur Scargill lost the suit he had brought against the imprisonment. His counsel had suggested that the police were excited to stop such a famous man for speeding; one officer replied that he knew 'Arthur Scargill' only as the name of a criminal well-known in Barnsley. Liverpool added the FA Cup to their League title; 16 Rumanian fans de- fected after watching their side beat Barce- lona in the European Cup final. Lord Shinwell said 'I've had enough,' and died.
THE Russian government continued to practise its new policy of openness over the nuclear disaster in the Ukraine: it was announced that the original explosion had taken a course 'unknown to modern scien- ce', while Pravda reported from the party headquarters in the nearby town of Cher- nobyl, which had not been evacuated for five days after the explosion, that 'There is calm and confidence on the faces of the people in their protective suits'. Three party officials wer censured for their lack- response f..11‘o ...NAV 7 official death toll rose to eight. The Chinese government won a contract to relaunch two American satellites which had previously been rescued from their eccentric orbits by the Space shuttle, which programme will not now be resumed for 18 months. The Bangladeshi elections results were postponed after oppositlellA gains; normal service was resumed 2" hours later with great successes for the governing party. Three Syrian diplomats were expelled from London after refusing to be questioned by police about their alleged involvement in a plot to blow LIP all El Al plane: the Syrians expelled three British diplomats; the Israelis denied they were planning a new war with Syria. Mr. s Gro Harlem Brundtland took office 1/1, Norway at the head of a socialist cabinet which contained eight women, then or valued the krone. Gaston Defferre, may of Marseilles, died, as did Sherpa Ten GC.
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