PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
Abig bomb was set off in a lorry in Bishopsgate by the IRA. A press photogra- pher was killed and more than 40 wounded. Thousands of square-feet of offices were ruined, including the Hongkong and Shang- hai Bank and most of the National West- minster tower, which had been badly dam- aged in last year's IRA bomb nearby. The church of St Ethelburga, which'had escaped the Fire of London and the Blitz, was almost completely ruined. Altogether 157 buildings were damaged, 25 seriously. Police made several arrests in different parts of London. Mr Major made a consid- erable number of speeches welcoming signs that the economy was looking up. Official figures showed that total output in services and manufacturing (excluding oil) grew by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year. Mr Norman Lamont, the Chancellor, said ne regrette den.' Business leaders denounced Mr Major and Mr Lamont for claiming credit for the recovery, which they said had occurred despite Government pol- icy. Tarmac announced losses of £350 mil- lion. Mr John Birt, the director-general of the BBC, is to be given £50,000 a year extra to join its staff. Sir Anthony Tennant, the former chairman of Guinness, is to be given £500,000 a year pension after five years' service. Mr Douglas Hurd, the Foreign Sec- retary, made threatening noises towards Denmark as it prepared to vote again on Maastricht; he suggested that a No vote would not stop Britain forming an alliance with the other European powers. Cardinal Hume welcomed Anglicans who wanted to become Catholics, saying that it would be nice to have Evensong in Catholic church- es; but he stopped short of supporting an `Anglican rite' jurisdiction. Miss Ann Wid- decombe, an MP, celebrated her conver- sion with a Mass in the crypt chapel of Par- liament. Brian Clough announced his retirement as manager of Nottingham For- est at the end of the season, and denied that he drank too much. An environmental health manager was barred from a pub in Aldworth, Berkshire, after denouncing the landlord for smoking his pipe behind the bar.
PRESIDENT Clinton leant towards air strikes in Bosnia after the Bosnian Serbs rejected the Vance-Owen plan for dividing up the former Yugoslavia. Lord Owen said that the war was entering a new phase. The United Nations imposed 'tougher' sane- tions, including the inspection of Danube river-boats. President Yeltsin too told the Bosnian Serbs that they could expect no help from Russia. He was in a position to do so because he had won in each of the four votes in a national referendum: he received backing for his presidency and economic reforms, but there were insuffi- cient majorities to impose early parliamen- tary and presidential elections. The new Prime Minister of Italy is Signor Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who will head the 52nd administration since the war; a 73-year-old banker, he is neither a member of Parlia- ment nor a member of a party. Yemen held its first elections since it was united three years ago. Seven Muslim fundamentalists convicted of attacks on tourists were sen- tenced to death in Egypt. There were unof- ficial talks between China and Taiwan. Oliver Tambo, the former president of the ANC, died, aged 75. Andries Treurnicht, leader of the South African Conservative Party, died, aged 72. Pakistan lost the sec- ond Test to the West Indies by ten wickets, thus losing the series.The madame of an Istanbul brothel was the third highest tax- payer in Turkey, beaten only by two ship-
Previous page
