PORTRAIT OF A WEEK
Two events dominated the week: in Jordan a bloody civil war erupted between the Pal- estinian guerrillas and the supporters of King Hussein, and at home the Government's exasperation over the size of wage claims and the apparent helplessness of the Trades Union Congress boiled over into what one union leader described as an 'industrial war dance'.
The war in Jordan began as another out- break of fighting in Amman between the army and the guerrillas, but this time an effective ceasefire could not be produced. In the early stages the King's forces appeared to be dominant, and the fighting in Amman caused heavy casualties—one guerrilla esti- mate was that 8,000 of their men had been killed. But in the north of the country the Palestinians, aided, it is believed, by Syrian armoured forces routed the Army and occupied large areas.
Red Cross relief was arranged by Britain and the United States, and Mrs Meir, the Israeli Prime Minister, after a visit to Presi- dent Nixon, expressed sympathy for the people of Jordan. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Foreign Secretary, announced that Britain would not intervene in the fighting, but he was involved in intensive diplomatic activity in New York, where he was visiting the United Nations, after King Hussein appealed for help to stop the Syrian intervention.
Mr Robert Carr, Secretary for Employ- ment and Productivity, attacked the TUC for a failure of leadership over unofficial strikes and inflated wage claims. The unions made a counter-charge that the Government was deliberately withholding strike conciliation services with a view to staging a showdown with the unions.
Mr Rudi Dutschke, former revolutionary student leader, decided to appeal against the Home Secretary's termination of his resi- dence permit in Britain. A go-slow by news- paper wholesale workers deprived millions of their Sunday morning newspapers. Presi- dent Tito of Yugoslavia began making pre- parations for his retirement. `Gretel II'. Australian challenger for the America's Cup, beat the defender 'Intrepid', but was disquali- fied. An oil strike was made in the North Sea, and the Russians collected some moon rock with an unmanned spacecraft.
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