EXPLAIN and convince: that was the task Francois Mitterrand set himself last week as the President of the French Republic pitched himself into the battle over the Maastricht treaty, which is to be the subject of a referendum on 20 September It is a tough task. It is often possible to tell a group of Irish tinkers at a glance because they may all have similar caravans and trucks bought as a job lot.Scottish gypsies are another distinct group. The end of show fireworks were so relentless that, for a split second, I thought terrorists had taken hold just outside the stadium. One friend was so upset by it that he couldn’t go back to school for a while.’At a time when newspaper reports have most of the country’s youth doing handbrake turns in knocked-off Vauxhall Astras or bombing out on Ecstasy, what is it about a youth orchestra that has teenagers queueing to give up two weeks of their holidays to sit in a warm hall playing classical music all day long before returning to their parents, as principal oboe Helen Moody puts it, ‘with ‘WOW]’ written all over our faces’?With instrumental tuition becoming increasingly sidelined by cash-starved education authorities, many young musicians find themselves isolated at school. In some ways Peckham is more like the Wild West than a 20th-century city.’ A nightclub in this neighbourhood has been selected for the world premiere of the film, which showcases the ragamuffin music (an offshoot of reggae), characters and street fashions of the local community.

For the moment it appears that the younger Kim has secured the succession, and China will support him whatever its misgivings.. A lot of them found it extremely useful and want their managers to do the same.’The view is supported by the accountants BDO Binder Hamlyn, which published a survey of the non-executive market earlier this month. Dr Rayner said: ‘Fifty-three million working days are lost in Britain every year due to coronary heart disease, representing over 10 per cent of all days lost to sickness.’Coronary Heart Disease Statistics; British Heart Foundation, 14 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 4DH.(Graph omitted). The men under the knife knew that he couldn’t afford any anaesthetic.

And it was the denouement of a week of awful, sickening tragedy

To some extent, we had been softened up for it. To top it all, as United will not need reminding, Chelsea are still in the FA Cup.. So why is Krystian Zimerman playing such a ragbag at the Royal Festival Hall on Thursday? A Polish poet, with a meticulous technique; a loner, like the young Ashkenazy; and a Titan, too, judging by his many award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recordings – Zimerman is all these things. A confidential letter to the Equal Opportunities Commission warns of the implications for industry if it were easier for women to bring equal pay cases: ‘The Government has a duty to ensure the law strikes a balance between improvements to the system of redress and the need to avoid undue burdens on employers which would threaten job opportunities.’
Industrial tribunal claims are supposedly simple, but since the ‘equal pay for equal value’ legislation was introduced 10 years ago there have been only 23 successful cases, many of which took more than six years to complete.Ministers agreed to consider proposals to speed up the legal process, but the concessions were not enough for the EOC and last month it took its concerns to the European Commission, which is being urged to consider legal action.One senior EOC source said: ‘Basically the Government is saying that it will obey European articles (dealing with equality) provided they are not a burden on employers.