People: Order of demerit for Attali brothers

THOSE lovable Attali brothers have been awarded the 1993 'Iznogoud' prize for spectacular flops. Iznogoud (from the English 'is no good') is an irascible character in a French cartoon strip who invariably fails in his endeavours. The jury in Bordeaux, including cartoonists, actors and journalists, gave the prize to the twins 'in recognition of spectacular failures in large-scale enterprises'.

Jacques Attali stepped down last week from the presidency of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development after auditors criticised him for lavish spending on travel and offices. Bernard Attali, the president of Air France, is under fire in parliament because the airline posted a 3.27bn franc (pounds 372m) loss last year.

IT'S HARD to look presidential when your helicopter can't land on the White House lawn, or when you have to live out of your car boot on a visit home. Bill Clinton has been forced to go by car to the Pentagon to catch his Marine One helicopter because a tent that was set up on the South Lawn for his Georgetown University reunion last month was left there too long and all the grass under it died. The area has been re-grassed but won't be fit for landings or departures for several weeks.

The President spent last weekend seeing family and friends in Arkansas, where he no longer has a governor's mansion to call a home. He was seen repeatedly opening the boot of his limousine to get out golf clubs, a change of clothes and other personal belongings. He ate dinner at one friend's house, took a shower at another's flat, and slept at the home of his chief of staff, Mack McLarty.

PROPAGANDA boards at the Mendeleyev University of Chemistry and Technology have been cleared of red and repainted in a delicate peach. No less strident, though, is their message: quotations from Baroness Thatcher, who is in Moscow to receive an honorary degree. Adorning a corridor are such calls to arms as: 'I believe that birching should have a place in the upbringing of children'; 'I forever tried to limit the flow of immigrants'; 'The path to wealth lies in profit'; and 'My work will end when the red-isation of Britain has been stopped'.

WHAT'S the point of being a multi-millionaire with a 60-acre Hawaiian hide- away if the neighbours all traipse by your house on their way to the beach? George Harrison (above) complained to Maui Circuit Court that he feels 'raped by all these people'. The former Beatle built the house on the island of Maui, unaware when he bought the land that it included a right-of-way so others could reach the beach. 'My privacy is being violated,' he said. 'The whole issue is my privacy.' He wants the pathway - a legally established easement for his neighbours - moved. If that doesn't happen Harrison said he may sell the estate. Harrison said he would not have bought the land in 1979 had he known of the easement. It was mentioned in the purchase contract but not in the deed. Harrison's offer to his neighbours to give them beach access elsewhere was rejected on the ground that, in the neighbours' opinion, it led to a less attractive section of coastline.

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