Portrait of the week
One person was killed, 20 were injured, when police using plastic bullets un- successfully tried to arrest Martin Galvin, publicity director of the American organ- isation Noraid which gives money to the IRA, for defying the Home Secretary's order banning him from Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Northern Ire- land, Mr James Prior, admitted that in retrospect it had been a mistake to ban Galvin. Riots greeted the 13th anniversary of the introduction of internment and the 15th anniversary of the arrival of the army, and 47 police officers were hurt in a riot by visiting Glaswegian football fans. Two loyalist prisoners who tried to escape from the Maze Prison in a dustcart were man- gled by crushing machinery. An IRA man killed himself with a bomb meant for others. A delegate conference of the NUM voted to continue the miners' strike inde- finitely. The miners' president, Mr Arthur Scargill, resolutely refused to condemn violence on picket lines, except by the police. Running short. of funds, the union said it would appeal to the TUC Confer- ence for total support. The NCB said any miner convicted of damaging Coal Board property would be sacked, and began to instal video cameras to catch offenders. The Board's chairman, Mr Ian MacGregor, claimed that the strike was gradually col- lapsing. A date, probably 20 August, was set by miners wanting to work for a concerted effort to break the strike. British Rail told its workers that disruptive action planned by their union leaders would be 'suicidal'. Tiny Roland was cleared in a Government-sponsored report of making illegal share deals to get control of House of Fraser, though the inspector said the arm of coincidence was extremely long. The Press Council cleared the Sunday Times of using improper methods to find out details of a bank account shared by Mark and Denis Thatcher. Sir William Rees-Mogg said: 'If the Press Council provides a broad general justification for lying then public contempt for newspapers will be reinforced.' J. B. Priestley died. Abad joke by President Reagan — he said that in five minutes' time the United States would begin bombing the Soviet Union — was to his embarrassment picked up by newsmen while he prepared to record a radio broadcast. Uganda de- nied an American report of large scale massacres and forced starvation inflicted on civilians by the Ugandan army. The Russians said they had withdrawn the Tupolev 144, their imitation of Concorde, from service because the aircraft, which ceased commercial services six years ago and has a tendency to crash, is too expen- sive to fly. Soviet officials were reported to be hoping that the trial of Dr Sakharov's
wife for anti-Soviet slander would force him to recant. The Estonian deputy minis- ter of justice fled to Sweden. The French Senate rejected President Mitterrand's proposal to extend his power to call re- ferendums. Many Tamils were killed in northern Sri Lanka when the army attack- ed separatist bases. Four Royal Navy minesweepers arrived in the Red Sea to help search for mines. Three Roman Catholic priests in the Nicaraguan govern- ment were ordered by the Vatican to give up politics.
-C4ros left Piccadilly Circus for repairs.
The GLC's women's unit sank deeper into acrimonious chaos. Louise Pankhurst, accused of failing to tackle racism between Asians and West Indians in the unit, left it, accepting compensation of £30,000 and undertaking to remain silent. The Olympic Games ended. Daley Thompson won the decathlon and gave the most vivid inter- view of the Games, in which, borrowing a phrase from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, he said: 'It's the best moment since my granny caught her tit in the mangle.' Zola Budd inadvertently tripped up an American runner, who hit her while trying to overtake, and was unable after the race to accept Zola's commiserations. Sebastian Coe won his second gold medal in the 1,500 metre event. England lost the fifth Test match against the West Indies, as well as the previous four. A Lebanese professor contended that the events of the Old Testament took place not in Palestine but in south-west Arabia. Dr Budnick, an American, reported that each year more than 8,000 of his countrymen injure them- selves with toothpicks, which are particu- larly dangerous when swallowed.
AJSG
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