PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
The phoenix The United States officially welcomed a Soviet proposal for nuclear arms reduc- tions made in a letter from Mr Gorbachev to Mr Reagan, delivered to the White House by the Soviet Foreign Minister, Mr Shevardnadze. Arms control talks began in Geneva. Mr Gorbachev made Mr Nikolai Ryzhkov, one of his allies, Prime Minister. Mr Vitaly Yurchenko, said to be the fifth highest officer in the KGB but depressed by his career prospects under Mr Gor- bachev, was found to have defected to the CIA in Rome on 24 July. Mr Gorbachev himself visited France. Hurricane Gloria hit the coast of New England. It missed New York City, where the presumptuous Mayor Koch said: 'We scared the hell out of the hurricane and it went elsewhere.' The hurricane had actually scared the hell out of Wall Street, which closed down. In the elections in the Punjab, the moderate Sikh party the Akali Dal won an absolute majority. One of the Palestinians who killed three Israelis on a yacht at Larnaca turned out to be an Englishman from
South Shields. In retaliation for the raid, Israel bombed the PLO base near Tunis, killing 50 people. Four Russians were taken hostage in Beirut: at least one has been killed. There were riots in Frankfurt. The EEC, unable to sell enough butter to its people, considered feeding it to cows.
THE Labour Conference opened in Bournemouth. Mr Kinnock won by one vote the support of the party's National Executive for his opposition to Mr Scar- gill's demand that the NUM be reimbursed by a future Labour government for fines and legal costs incurred during the miners' strike. The Labour leader also made a rousing speeches, attacking the Militant Tendency members of Liverpool council and Mr Scargill's motion. But it had become certain that the Conference would support Mr Scargill, when the TGWU promised him its 1.25 million votes. Liver- pool city council had earlier decided, as a manoeuvre to alleviate its financial trou- bles, to make its entire workforce,
numbering 31,000 people, redundant on New Year's Eve. Mr David Basnett, leader of the municipal workers' union, observed: `This decision is totally contrary to the stated aim of council policy to defend jobs and services in Liverpool.' The NUT said it would take legal action against the council. Mr Terry Duffy, leader of the engineers' union, died in hospital. The accidental shooting by the police of Mrs Sherry Groce, a black woman, in Brixton, precipi- tated a riot by 1,500 people. During and after the riot the police made 220 arrests. There were also disturbances in Toxteth. The Bishop of London said that if women were ordained to the priesthood of the Church of England, the Church would split in two. On the London Underground, a train sped through Oxford Circus and Regent's Park stations, passengers scream- ing and shouting, before stopping at Baker Street, where the driver told them he thought they'd got out at Piccadilly Circus. Barry McGuigan successfully defended his
world featherweight title. AJSG
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