PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Russian troops, with support from East Ger- many, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, invaded Czechoslovakia and occupied the cities Tanks massed at every street corner and fighter air- craft flew above them. The Czech army had been ordered not to resist. More than twenty Czechs had been killed on Wednesday.
There were reports that Mr Dubcek had bee removed by Russian officials, and that members of his Communist party praesidium were prisoners in the party headquarters. Mr Svoboda, the President, appealed for calm, dig- nity and discipline. The offices of Rude Pravo, the party newspaper, were surrounded. Troops were seen entering `the Czechoslovak Radio buildings : listeners heard gunfire, and the station went off the air. A standby 'yellow alert' was ordered for NATO forces : the Security Council was summoned by the us, Britain and others. Service aircraft flew the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary back to White- hall : Parliament was recalled for Monday. All seemed to generate impotent fury.
Nigerian forces advanced on Aba, the last township held by the Biafran army, and in Washington General Eisenhower lay near death at the Walter Reed Hospital. At least twenty Americans offered their hearts for transplant- ing into the General's body, but his doctors turned them down. In Chicago, the Demo- cratic party prepared for next week's conven- tion, and lobbyists sought to disqualify dele- gates from the factions they opposed. Mr Humphrey still looked the front runner, while there were suggestions that Czechoslovakia might bring President Johnson back into the race.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research scaled down its estimate of Britain's payments surplus next year. It pointed to the continuing high level of imports, and re- peated its earlier call for import control. Plessey announced a £260 million bid for English Electric.
British Railways announced 'selective' fare increases, some by as much as 15 per cent: their first since 1965. This would contribute £6 mil- lion to reducing the railways' deficit, £153 mil- lion last year. Further economies were obtained by closing lavatories at a number of stations: 'Nowadays' (said a spokesman for Southern Re- gion) 'you have to provide washbasins as well.'
A 'Nazi arsenal' was unearthed in Chiswick by the security services. No less vigilant on other fronts, the Government forestalled the consequences of a Rhodesian batsman playing cricket at Scarborough: Mr Colin Bland was turned back at London Airport.
The Lambeth Conference carried a motion asking for some way of addressing Anglican bishops other than as My Lord: for his part, said the Right Reverend the Bishop of Cariboo, he would prefer Hi Yer Bish.
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