PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
An accident waiting to happen Gunmen, macabrely shouting 'Trick or treat' shot dead six Catholics and a Protes- tant in a bar at Greysteel in County Lon- donderry. That brought the numbers killed by terrorists in Northern Ireland to 24 in nine days. Mr John Major, the Prime Min- ister, proposed talks between constitutional parties in Northern Ireland, but not on the basis of any proposals made by Mr John Hume of the SDLP, after his talks with Mr Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein. Mr Adams had made himself even less popular than usual by helping to carry the coffin of an IRA man who had blown himself up while setting a bomb that killed ten. Mr Major and Mr Albert Reynolds, the Irish Prime Minister, had issued a joint state- ment of good intentions when they met in Brussels to ratify Maastricht. The Govern- ment put legislation through the Commons enabling the privatisation of British Rail, having adopted, but amended, a Lords amendment, thus allowing BR to bid for franchises where there was no credible bid from elsewhere. The Lords approved legis- lation allowing the ordination of women. Two boys, now aged 11, were put on trial for the murder of a two-year-old boy, James Bulger, in Liverpool. Law Lords ruled that two prisoners on death row for 14 years in Jamaica should have his sentence commuted to life imprison- ment; the judgment may affect 200 other Commonwealth prisoners facing death sen- tences. Mr Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB general, was arrested at Heathrow airport by police investigating the killing with a poisoned umbrella of Georgi Markov in 1978. Sir Peter Quennell, the writer and editor of History Today, died, aged 88 and Mr Peter Kemp, Spanish Civil War veteran and Spectator contributor, died, aged 78. Boy George laughed off a paternity suit against him, saying, 'I have never penetrat- ed a woman in my life.'
THE MAASTRICHT Treaty was ratified. The European Central Bank is to be situat- ed in Germany, probably in the previous headquarters of IG Farben, the manufac- turers of Zyldon B gas, used to kill Jews; the building is on the site of a former lunatic asylum. Mr Teddy Kolch of the Labour party was defeated by Mr Ehud Olmert of Likud, after 28 years as Mayor of Jerusalem. Mr David Dinkins, a black Democrat, was defeated by Mr Rudolph Giuliani, a white Republican in the elec- tions for Mayor of New York; the gover- norships of Virginia and New Jersey also
went to Republicans. President Clinton of the United States was trying to convince Congress to endorse the North American Free Trade Agreement. Jewish settlers in the West Bank indulged in violent protest as talks continued between Israel and Palestinians. Mr James Jonah, a senior United Nations official, said that factions in Somalia were preparing to launch a civil war worse than anything so far seen as soon as the United States pulled out its troops. There was fighting outside Kabul between soldiers loyal to Mr Gulbuddin HelanatYar and the mujaheddin leader, Mr Ahmed Shah Massoud. Pravda was republished after having been closed down following the attempted overthrow of President Yeltsin's rule. Mr Carlo De Benedetti, chairman of Olivetti, turned himself in to police investigating corruption. The founder of the South Korean vehicle-pro- ducer, Hyundai, Mr Chung Ju Yung, aged 77, was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges. South Korean vehi- cle exports rose by more than 32 per cent in the past year. Federico Fellini, the director of such films as La Strada and Roma, died, aged 73. Dozens were crushed to death during celebrations for the 71st birthday of King Sihanouk of Cambodia. csH
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