Portrait of the week
The New Year received a quiet welcome in Trafal-
• gar Square. In Vietnam it tended to be widely ignored: in spite of the truce thirty-five men were killed in the first ten minutes of 1968. On Sunday Mr Nguyen Duy Trinh, North Viet- nam's foreign minister, announced for the first time that his country was prepared to talk peace without any conditions other than a cessation of 'bombing and all other acts of war.' President Johnson ordered massive cuts in overseas investment and lending and urged a voluntary reduction in tourism to protect the dollar and reduce the us balance of payments deficit. In case there should be a dearth of volunteers, it was suggested that American tourists might be taxed per day away from home.
In England five Surbiton typists volunteered to save Britain from her balance of payments crisis by working half an hour extra each day without pay. Prince Philip said this was the way to 'lick all our problems.' Mr Thorpe agreed and the unions were slightly peeved. The us agreed to buy another $100 million of British arms to help pay for the F 111 and it was rumoured that Mr Rusk and Mr Brown might meet in the congenial atmosphere of San Francisco to discuss additional inducements. Mr Vorster, however, was less civil and said that Britain's naval base at Simonstown might be in jeopardy as a result of the arms embargo. The Prices and Incomes Board recom- mended a rise of £2 lOs a week for atomic manual workers, and price increases for bread and sweets were under consideration. A writ was issued on behalf of Mr Wilson alleging libel in the Inter- national Herald-Tribune, Cecil Day Lewis was ap- pointed Poet Laureate and the Metropolitan Police recruited its first coloured policewoman.
Dentist Philip Blaiberg had reason to be grateful to Clive Haupt, a Cape Coloured man, for a new heart and to Professor Barnard for transplanting it. The latest Russian defector, Professor ,Ulag-Zade, formerly of Moscow University, arrived in England from Delhi and was whisked away to a secret address. Influenza raged in England and Mr Michael Berry and eight members of the British Mission in Peking were included in the New Year's honours list. An Australian lady gave birth to quins, and a Welsh pop singer refused his mar- sine certificate because it was written in English.
INDIANA USK*
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