PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
An exhausted pit Violence broke out in the centre of Cape Town, as it had in the centre of Johannesburg the week before. More blacks were killed, at the rate of several a day. The South African government pre- pared to exert tighter control over foreign journalists, who are accused of distorting and inflaming the situation, and to recruit 11,000 more policemen. President Reagan said that if the Star Wars system were developed, it would be made available to the Soviet Union. The Argentine govern- ment declared a state of siege, to last 60 days, in order to deal with a wave of terrorist attacks. President Vigdis Finn- bogadottir joined a 24-hour strike by Ice- land's women, refusing to sign a Bill which ordered striking air hostesses back to work, but Halldor Asgrimsson, the acting Prime Minister, later persuaded her to put loyalty to the constitution above loyalty to her sex and to break the strike by signing after all. Senor Ladislao Biro, inventor of the Biro pen, died in Buenos Aires. In Australia, Ayers Rock was handed to the Aborigines. It will, however, remain open to tourists. Gary Kasparov established an almost invincible lead over Anatoly Kar- pov in their world championship chess match. Mr Louie Welch, running for the office of mayor in Houston, Texas, said the only way to control the spread of Aids was to 'shoot the queers', unaware that his microphone was switched on. Afterwards he said: 'I apologise, but I don't think I had the gay vote anyhow.'
BRITAIN'S largest and most expensive spy trial ended in a fiasco. All the seven servicemen who had been accused of sell- ing secrets in Cyprus in return for sex were acquitted at the Old Bailey: they were said to have suffered 'diabolical treatment' at the hands of RAF interrogators who ex- tracted false confessions from them. To defuse criticism of the trial, the Govern- ment announced that there would be an independent inquiry. The Prince of Wales, who arrived in Melbourne with the Prin- cess of Wales to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the State of Victoria, was said by Dr Rod Hackney, a 43-year-old 'community architect' from Macclesfield, to have expressed concern at the prospect of becoming King of a land divided into haves and have-nots, the latter living in the inner cities. It was also revealed that one night last November he had toured London to see dossers sleeping rough. The Prince was annoyed both with Dr Hackney for misreporting him, and with the press for breaking confidences and reporting his anger with Dr Hackney. Mr Charles Douglas-Home, editor of the Times, died. Mr Arthur Scargill was told by the National Executive of the NUM to purge the union's contempt of court, de- spite being fiercely opposed to doing so, in order to regain control of sequestrated funds. Lester Piggott rode his last race. Steven Turner was ordered by Stoke-on- Trent magistrates to keep his Dobermans pinscher under control after it had twice bitten Judge Cecil Rigby on the right buttock, and was also fined £25 for having no dog licence. He said he 'would not describe Oscar as a dangerous dog, merely
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