PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The Court of Appeal confirmed the Home Secretary's powers to set tariffs for juveniles' prison sentences, but ruled that he 'departed from the standards of fair- ness' in taking into account a petition got up by the Sun in increasing jail terms for the murderers of James Bulger. A jury found three women, who caused more than £1 million worth of damage to a Hawk fighter, not guilty after they had told a court that they had committed a smaller crime to prevent a larger one — the possi- ble bombarding of civilians in East Timor by the Indonesian armed forces. Some chief constables advocated the legalisation of brothels. About 3,300 frozen embryos were allowed to die under a law passed in 1990. Tory members of a Commons com- mittee ensured that it did not recommend the outlawing of licensed hand-guns. Multi-party talks on Northern Ireland were adjourned until September without agree- ment on an agenda or on steps towards decommissioning of arms; but 44 rules and procedures governing future talks were agreed. The House of Commons rose, to sit again on October 14. Clare Short, who won third place in the parliamentary Labour Party elections for the Shadow Cabinet, was demoted by Mr Tony Blair, the Labour leader, from her responsibili- ties for transport to the overseas develop- ment portfolio, which is regarded as less
influential. Dinner ladies in Cleveland (a county which was abolished on 1 April) won a court action claiming sexual discrim- ination after their wages were cut by the council under a competitive tendering bid. Alan Shearer, the Blackburn Rovers strik- er, was bought for £15 million by Newcas- tle United. Postmen called off their strikes but then overruled their own negotiators and decided to go ahead with them again; Underground drivers went on with theirs. British scientists developed a new vaccine against tuberculosis. Glaxo-Wellcome, the pharmaceutical company, announced half- yearly profits of £1.55 billion. The National Westminster bank is to close 400 branches. Mr Andrew Ross stood on a 21b 6oz floun- der to win the world flounder-trampling championship at Palnackie, Dumfries and Galloway.
A BOMB in a park next to the site of the Olympic Games in Atlanta killed two and injured more than 100. The G7 countries and Russia met in Paris to consider terror- ism. A military coup in Burundi brought Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, to power; President Sylestre Ntibantunganya, a Hutu, hid in the American embassy; Hutus and Tutsis prepared for renewed civil war. The Sri Lankan army mounted a counter-attack against Tamil Tigers, who last month claimed to have killed 1,200 government troops. There was serious rioting in Jakarta after supporters of Megawati Sukarnopu- tri's Indonesia Democracy party were evict- ed from their headquarters by troops. Hunger strikers in Turkish jails called off their protest after 11 died and the govern- ment agreed not to storm prisons where Left-wingers and Kurdish nationalists had gained control. The Turkish coalition gov- ernment, which is dominated by Islamists, also banned casino gambling for civil ser- vants. China tested a nuclear bomb and then announced a moratorium on nuclear testing; talks began in Geneva to conclude a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but India held out against agreement. There were floods and landslides in North and South Korea, in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, and in North Ossetia, Dages- tan and Georgia. In Ukraine 23,020 fires killed 1,400 in the first six months of the year. A Japanese ship docked in a Russian port for the first time in more than 70 years as the Russian navy celebrated its 300th anniver- sary. The European commission threatened to stop duty-free sales for travellers within the Community in 1999. Italy is to issue a 500,000 lira note, worth about £210. An experimental Aids vaccine is to be tried out in Honduras. Mr Banharn Silpa-archa, the Prime Minister of Thailand, called upon young people in Bangkok to visit the zoo
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