PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK
For the first time since the Conserva- tives' party conference at Brighton in 1984, the IRA exploded a bomb on the British mainland. One soldier was killed and nine others injured at the Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill, North London, right on the boundary of the Prime Minister's Finchley consti- tuency. Mr Paddy Ashdown won an over- whelming victory when he was elected first leader of the new Social and Liberal Democrats. He ruled out future pacts with Dr Owen's SDP or with the Labour Party. The Prime Minister, on the eve of depar- ture for a tour of the Far East and Australia, said that she did not think that the ordination of women to the priesthood was 'at odds with the Christian doctrine'. At the Lambeth Conference a motion for restraint over the consecration of women bishops was defeated, leaving the way open for those Anglican Churches con- sidering such a step to go ahead. Hopes for the release of the British hostages in the Near East rose following a mission to the Lebanon by the Archbishop of Cyprus and the Gulf who said that he would not be surprised if Mr Terry Waite and the other two hostages were set free by Christmas.. Mr Michael Bewick, a consultant trans- plant surgeon, made a dramatic public statement about developments that might soon lead to the transplantation of pigs'
Doing Europe
kidneys, livers and hearts into human beings. He later resigned from the research project with which he was connected as, he said, his colleagues 'were very angry that I had supposedly spilled the beans'. A father of four whose life was wrecked by a blundered operation was awarded half a million pounds at the High Court: one firm of solicitors had earlier advised his family to accept a £2,000 settlement. Mr Paul `Red' Adair extinguished the last fire on the destroyed Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea. July in Scotland was the wettest on record. The Samaritans were refused permission to advertise their services at Beachy Head from which eight people have so far this year leapt to their deaths.
JORDAN dismantled its 'legal and admi- nistrative links' with the West Bank although not giving up its monarch's claim to the title to the area annexed to his kingdom 38 years ago. King Hussein ex- plained that this step would enhance the `struggle to liberate the occupied Palesti- nian land'. This was taken to mean that Israel will now find it even more difficult to find partners prepared to negotiate for peace. The Israelis expelled a further eight Palestinians, bringing the total number that they have now `deported' to about 30. Mr Frank Carlucci became the first US Defense Secretary to visit the Soviet Union on an official visit. The Soviet Union exploded four of the 1,700 missiles that-it is set to destroy under the arms treaty signed with the US last December. Mikhail Gor- bachev called on the Communist Party to move urgently to bring in the changes endorsed at their recent conference. Presi- dent Fidel Castro committed Cuban troops to a 'gradual and total' withdrawal from Angola; in domestic politics, however, Castro spoke out against the reforms of `Gorbachevism' implying that they were not for Cuba. The Cambodian peace talks in Indonesia ended in feud, with the warring factions blaming each other. South African authorities banned the showing of Sir Richard Attenborough's film about Steve Biko, Cry Freedom. The house of Mrs Winnie Mandela in Soweto was burnt down, apparently by a mob of militant local schoolchildren. Following a detailed study, the American National Geographic Society reported on the `shocking lack of geographic knowledge' in the United States. Its president, Mr Gilbert M. Gros- venor said that, `It's a good thing our ancestors found their way to America, because 24 million American adults, one in seven, can't find the US on a map of the world.'
MStJT
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