Portrait of the week

Police in plain clothes armed with guns are being put on international flights thought to be at risk from hijacking, according to Mr David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, and Mr Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Transport. Pilots’ unions opposed the scheme; it had been urged by the United States. The Foreign Office said it believed terrorists were planning attacks in Saudi Arabia which ‘could be in the final stages of preparation’. A man who said he came from Canada shot dead a policeman, injured another and fired at a third when he was arrested in Leeds. Dr John Reid, the Secretary of State for Health, proposed charging foreign tourists for treatment within the National Health Service; doctors remained unwilling to police the system, according to the British Medical Association. No signals were detected from Beagle 2, a British exploratory contraption that landed on Mars on Christmas Day. The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index gained 1,150 points between March and December, reaching 4,450. Sir Alan Bates, the actor, died, aged 69. Bob Monkhouse, the comedian, died, aged 75. Dinsdale Landen, the actor, died, aged 71. Peter Carter-Ruck, the libel lawyer, died, aged 89. Dotty, the Princess Royal’s bull terrier, which had bitten two children at Windsor in 2002, killed a corgi named Pharos belonging to the Queen at Sandringham. Hundreds of thousands turned out to see the new 150,000-ton Cunard liner, Queen Mary 2, dock at Southampton. Jack was the most popular name for boys in 2003 for the ninth year running, and Chloe for girls, for the sixth year running. Dr Ron Cutler of the University of East London said that allicin, a derivative of garlic, can be effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Nine rare Indonesian pythons, Liasis macklotti savuensis, found in the wild only on the island of Savu, were hatched at Bristol Zoo.