PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
`I think they've hung it upside down.'
Unemployment in the United King- dom dropped below three million for the first time since July 1984. The SDP decided to ballot its members on proposals to merge with the Liberals. The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, invited 'thought- ful and forward-looking Social Democrats' to join the Conservatives. Arthur Scargill, sharing a platform with Neil Kinnock at Barnsley, called for a new wave of indust- rial action against the Government. The Labour leader, looking now to his own immediate future, did not seem happy with the suggestion made by the NUM's presi- dent for life. British Gas reported pre-tax profits for last year of £1,293: domestic tariffs will drop by an average of 4.5 per cent. British Telecom announced pre-tax profits for the same period of £2,067 million; prices will not come down. Freed from the constraints of sitting on the Woolsack, Lord Hailsham made a speech in which he referred to 'the intellectual limitations of the Bishop of Durham'. Cocaine, with a street value of over £9 million was seized by Customs and Excise officials from a house in Harley Street. Police faced rioting in the Chapeltown district of Leeds. The summer solstice was celebrated at Stonehenge by large numbers of druids, hippies, police and members of the press. The second Test match between England and Pakistan was declared a draw after days of rain stopped play. The open- ing of Wimbledon also suffered from the inclement weather. The machine used to measure the pollen count in London was put out of action when it was flooded by rain. Mr Nick Alkemade, who jumped out of a burning RAF bomber without a parachute at 27,000 ft over Germany dur- ing the last war, and survived when he fell through pine trees into deep snow, has died at the age of 64.
CHARLES Glass, a regular contributor to the Spectator, was seized by gunmen in Beirut and has not been seen since. Leba- non's defence minister, whose son was also abducted at the same time, has been told that Hizbollah, the Iranian-influenced `Party of God' was responsible. On Wednesday, his son was released. Charles Glass was not. In Geneva the talks be- tween the United States and the Soviet Union resumed with the prospects for achieving a reduction or total ban .00 intermediate nuclear weapons now looking almost a certainty. Royal Navy ships in the Gulf have had their operating procedures extended so that they can open fire if a British civilian vessel, accompanying British warship, is attacked. Mr Rally Gandhi's Congress party suffered a devas- tating defeat in the Haryana state elec- tions, previously thought to be one of lusi best areas. The victors were the Lok Party under the charismatic leadership 01 73-year-old Mr Devi Lal. Rioting in South Korea continued as demands for constitu tional reform led President Chun D00 Hwan to agree to talks with his political opponents. The Basque separatist orga- nisation ETA bombed a crowded super- market in Barcelona. Seventeen were 101" led and three-quarters of a million people later walked in protest at the violence. Fred Astaire died at the age of 88. President Reagan observed that he had been 'the absolute master of his terpsicho-
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