27 JULY 1985, Page 4

PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK

Financial aid Astate of emergency was declared in 36 towns and cities in South Africa. Four died in riots, 119 were arrested. A dam burst in the Italian Dolomites washing away three hotels and 20 chalets in a period of 20 seconds. Some 197 are believed to have died. President Reagan resumed work at the White House. And in India disaster struck in Gujarat where 40 more died in riots. Turkey lifted martial law in six provinces after six and a half years. Kuwait cancelled its commitment to give aid to Syria, Jordan and the PLO. Mary Decker beat Zola Budd in the 3,000 metres at Crystal Palace. The Daily Mail sug- gested that the Air India jet that crashed last month might have been hit by the remains of a Soviet space rocket about the size of a dustcart. Liberia cut off diploma- tic relations with the Soviet Union, claim- ing it had arrested Soviet spies. As a result of a shake-up in the Soviet armed forces Marshal Ogarkov has taken over as the new commander-in-chief of the Warsaw Pact Forces. A law was introduced in the Knesset to ban pork and bacon in Israel. Bobby Ewing, a character in the television entertainment Dallas, died on screen in a motor accident. The American Secret Ser- vice attempted to discover how a group of seven teenagers in New Jersey successfully cracked Pentagon computer codes and took over US space satellites.

THE Prime Minister announced a new pay package in which two dozen top civil servants are to get rises of between 32 and 46 per cent. The City of London police are to investigate Johnson Matthey Bankers, the auditors of which sued the Chancellor for libel. Mr Bob Geldof shaved and later that evening dined at the palace. The favourite son of the former Saudi King Saud was held in remand in Brixton facing a drugs charge. The Princess of Wales appeared on television exhorting young people to give up the use of dangerous drugs. A street trader who sold T-shirts with the caption 'Liverpool 38, Juventus 1' was fined £300 for his tastelessness. A resident of Brixton was charged with biting his daughter 57 times till she died. Further north, in Birkenhead, a mother and a laboratory assistent were charged with biting a child repeatedly and then burning it to death with live electric wires. The House of Lords voted to continue televi- sion broadcasting of House proceedings. For the first time in 16 years a British golfer won the British Open. The London Bankruptcy Court was told how an unem- ployed couple in Bayswater spent £32,000 juggling 52 credit cards. London Zoo's giant panda, Ching Ching, died after an operation for digestive problems. An 82- year-old thief in Walsall, convicted of stealing sunglass, claimed he shoplifted to keep in touch with the police who gave him