PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
'I assure you everything is under control'.
he annual rate of inflation for August — 7.3 per cent, a fall of almost one full point on the previous month — was announced. The Chancellor of the Exche- quer said, however, that borrowing rates would have to remain high for 'some little while to come'. Ferranti, the British de- fence electronics company, began negotiat- ing a possible French takeover rescue bid after it appeared to have become the victim of a £150 million swindle. Following the disclosure that another intelligence docu- ment had been forcibly removed from a Belfast police station, the Royal Ulster Constabulary appointed an officer from outside Northern Ireland to investigate its activities. Two tankers collided in the North Sea leaving a 20-mile oil slick off the coast near Hull. Mrs Thatcher went to Tokyo where the ruling Liberal Democrats were said to be preparing to capitalise on her visit to help repair their tarnished image. On the way she stopped in Moscow and was invited to address the Supreme Soviet in June. Mr Paddy Ashdown told his Social and Liberal Democrats that they will 'destroy the system'. Dr David Owen's SDP are planning to concentrate their efforts at the next general election on only ten seats. A new 'green' city technology college at Brighton was given government grants of over £7 million. The Archbishop of Canterbury told an Italian magazine that Anglicans might be willing to recognise the universal primary of the Pope. Pakistan will rejoin the Commonwealth on 1 Octo- ber. Mrs Li li Cooper flew to Tehran to visit her imprisoned but untried brother-in-law, the British businessman Mr Roger Cooper, raising hopes that he might soon be freed. Ten British football 'fans' were jailed in Greece after being found guilty of going on a drunken rampage in Athens. The St Leger was called off after subsidence was found on the course at Doncaster. Lord Trafford, who was appointed Minister of State for Health in the recent ministerial shuffle died of lung cancer.
'HUGO', the most powerful hurricane to sweep through the Caribbean for a decade, caused many deaths and destroyed con- siderable amounts of property. As East German citizens continued to be allowed out of Hungary, President Gorbachev announced that he would attend East Germany's 40th anniversary ceremonies later in the year; this was taken to be an act designed to show support for a be- leaguered ally. It was learnt, however, that Hungary had consulted Moscow — who offered no objection — before deciding to allow the East Germans to pass through to the West. The Hungarian Communist Par- ty announced that it had reached agree- ment with opposition groups for a multi- party general election. Boris Yeltsin re- turned to the Soviet Union to face accusa- tions in the press of going on a drinking and spending spree while he was touring America. About 15,000 people marched through the city of Lvov to press for the end to the banning of the Ukrainian Catho- lic Church. China's senior leader, Deng Xiaoping, made his first public appearance since June. Mr F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's new president, said that he intends to bring the black people of his country into the decision processes of government with a new constitution. Mr Sam Nujoma, the Swapo leader, returned to Namibia after nearly 30 years in exile. A French DC10 on a flight from Chad crashed with the loss of all 171 on board. The Euro- pean Large Electron Positron Collider, housed in a 16-and-a-half-mile tunnel near Geneva, began producing Z° particles, the study of which, it is hoped, will reveal more about the nature of both matter and
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