PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Unemployment fell to below ten per cent of the working population for the first time in six years. In the past 12 months it has fallen by 445,000 and now stands at just over 2,700,000. British Airways were given clearance to make a bid for British Caledo- nian by the Monopolies and Mergers Com- mission. The Labour MP, Mr Ken Living- stone, said that the IRA would succeed in its struggle `to oust Britain from Northern Ireland'. He underlined his support for Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA. Dr Marietta Higgs appeared before the public enquiry into child abuse in Middles- brough. She maintained that she acted correctly in her diagnoses but agreed that she should have handled some aspects of the case differently. Mr Arthur Scargill, President for life of the NUM, offered to stand down from the post and face re- election by the union's members. His opponents, however, have yet to find a credible candidate to stand against him. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation agreed to buy 15 per cent of the Midland Bank. After widespread con- cern that the recent upheavals in the world's stockmarkets would deter British investors from supporting the Channel Tunnel, City institutions gave assurances that they would provide the cash to under- write the UK part of the £.770m flotation. The Director of Public Prosecutions has asked Kent police to make further en- quiries into the Zeebrugge Ferry disaster. A report from the Forestry Commission and others said that more than 15 million trees had been lost in the great storm of 16 October. At the Manchester Crown Court it was alleged that two clergymen, under cover of their cassocks, had indecently assaulted a young boy, a member of their Sunday Club, who was sitting between them. The prosecuting counsel said `the two hands from the two men met. . . . They looked at each other and one slapped the hand of the other'. The DHSS said that doctors infected with the Aids virus should be allowed to continue in practice provided that their work did not involve blood-to- blood contact. The names of such doctors would not be disclosed.
THE DOLLAR'S fragile rally faltered when President Reagan said that raising taxes to cut the US budget deficit would be a mistake. Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives, described Mr Reagan as 'a person with whom you can't seriously discuss serious issues'. Mrs Thatcher urged the US to follow Britain's example of sound financial policy. In the Soviet Union, Mr Gorbachev backed the removal of Boris Yeltsin as chief of the Moscow party organisation, accusing him of mismanagement and undisciplined be- haviour. Mr Yeltsin confessed 'one of rnY most characteristic personal traits, ambi- tion, has manifested itself of late'. Iraq announced that it has resumed full di- plomatic relations with Egypt. Twenty-six people were killed and at least 56 others injured when an airliner crashed while taking off in a snowstorm in Denver, Colorado. President Mitterrand denied knowing that a French company had sold arms to Iran in violation of a government embargo. He also denied knowledge that funds from the sales had been diverted to his Socialist Party. Daniel Ortega, Presi- dent of Nicaragua, has proposed a month- long ceasefire with the Contra forces. Van Gogh's painting `Irises' was sold for a record $54 million. A branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken has opened in a corner of Tiananmen Square, Peking, the heart of Chinese communism. M St JT
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