PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Nine children taken from their homes in Orkney after allegations of 'ritual abuse' and sexual assault were returned to their parents by Sheriff David Kelbie, who said previous hearings had been illegal. Terror- ists planted a dozen fire bombs in Man- chester shops, causing nine fires, but a plan to distribute 20 more incendiary devices around the country was foiled when a British Rail customer found them on a station platform. Kurdish protesters occu- pied offices next to the Iraqi embassy, and said they had found live ammunition. Peter Hain, the former Liberal, was elected as Labour MP for Neath in West Glamorgan. London Zoo launched an appeal to raise £13 million to save it from closure. More than 1,000 former patients received letters of warning after a gynaecologist was found to be HIV positive. British Rail unions rejected a 6.5 per cent pay offer, making summer strikes likely, and London Under- ground workers prepared to take strike action. A test-tube baby clinic stopped its plan to implant the fertilised egg of an Asian couple in the womb of a white woman who wished to act as a host mother. Christine Chapman, the former wife of Ken Livingstone, MP for Brent, resigned as headmistress of a boys' school in Beth- nal Green, east London, a year after having been found to have subconscious racist attitudes. The numbers of mothers returning to full-time work was reported to have doubled by the Policy Studies Insti- tute. The Revd Tom Tyler, a vicar sacked from his post on the grounds of adultery, had his conviction quashed and a retrial ordered by the ecclesiastical court of appeal. The Football Association announced plans for a super league com- posed of most of the Football League's first division clubs. The former England foot- ball captain, Kevin Keegan, was beaten and robbed while asleep in his Range Rover in a Surrey car park.
IRAQI Kurds were reported to be dying on the mountains as two million fled from Hussein's remaining army. Presi- dent Bush and Mr John Major said there was no international authority to interfere with events within Iraq's borders. Never- theless Mr Major suggested a plan, which did not find favour with the United States, to establish a Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq where refugees could live under UN protection. The UN Security Council con- demned the oppression of the Kurds and demanded that Baghdad allow relief orga- nisations to help them. Tents, blankets and other help were airlifted to the Kurds. Iraq accepted the UN peace terms, while mak- ing clear its resentment. The Emir of Kuwait said elections would be held next year. Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian Federation, was granted increased powers including temporary right to rule by decree. Presidential elections were set for June. The Czechoslovak government cancelled an agreement to link wages to inflation because it does not have the funds. Poles entered Germany in tens of thousands on the first day of visa-free travel, and some were stoned by neo-Nazi youths. Yugoslavia's presidents of the six republics met to try to prevent civil war. The Albanian government moved to priva- tise parts of the economy, allowing citizens to open shops. The ANC threatened to withdraw from negotiations with the South African government unless authorities ended violence in black townships and sacked two hard-line ministers in charge of Defence and Law and Order. A nephew of Senator Edward Kennedy denied that he was involved in an alleged rape at the Kennedy winter villa in Palm Beach. America's most successful jockey, Willie Shoemaker, who retired last year at 59, was critically injured in a car crash. The MCC are considering whether to disallow
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