TOWARDS the end of January, Mark Tompkins felt he was in a strong position for the Champion Hurdle. Players add the device to a game cassette and run through codes to lower or raise the 'lives' they have, speed up or slow down the action, make fuel run out sooner, deactivate or enhance monster enemies. Dessert wines include a deliciously floral Recioto di Soave, a 1990 from I Capitelli. Dance for the Camera, is an acknowledgement of contemporary dance's burgeoning following: a recent survey reveals 100,000 more tickets were sold in 1993 than in 1992. Michael Grade didn't like it, Alan Yentob did, and now it goes out at 7.45pm on Fridays on BBC2.Up against Coronation Street, huh? Yes. There was no alcohol in the village and even today residents suffer from a shortage of pubs. He has yet to call for cost reductions as a means of controlling both prices and profits.

The double Olympic gold- medallist only paired up with his mount, Horton Point, last Tuesday, after his owner-rider Lynne Bevan had broken her collarbone. For those without it, starting up or trying to improve one's business is a real struggle,' says OMB's head.The Czechs like to contrast themselves with the eastern Germans, expressing great pride that they are doing things on their own, without help from Big Brother. Another was Thomas Edur as Solor, who appeared to inhabit the ballet's own world of lost love and exotic fantasy. They cost pounds 599 up to 3 September, pounds 574 to the end of the month.The 'Super Softies' are based on small hotels from where holidaymakers take gentle bike forays into the surrounding countryside.

First there are the 'viruses', self-replicating mutable programmes designed to infect computers.They can be effectively harmless - beeping out a mechanical version of Yankee Doodle, say, or wishing everyone Merry Christmas. Mr Rabin had hoped to present the country with an overnight fait accompli. JOHN MAJOR yesterday called for an early blockade of Serbia after bilateral discussions with President Francois Mitterrand led to mounting diplomatic pressure on the Serbian leadership. As the row intensified last night, countries started to form teams the better to advance their individual causes.The EC's four poorest countries, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, which (with the exception of pockets of Spain) are so badly off that the whole country qualifies for hardship status, are already guaranteed the bulk of the money.But they cannot agree on how the cake should be shared. OK if you want to be sick.'If her comments seem on the dramatic side, her judgements were consistent with those of the rest of us.SUMMING-UPPatrick O'Keeffe: 'Some are acceptable, the rest are very poor It's a pity. Boil the green beans for 3-4 minutes until al dente, drain, run under the cold tap, drain again and mix with the potatoes.

In the US, President Bill Clinton has been forced to compromise on his election promise to remove the ban on homosexuals, but there is now a 'Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue' policy: gays and lesbians can remain in the forces if they keep quiet. In The Following Story, the action takes place in just two seconds.In London for its publication in English, Nooteboom is quick to explain why his curiosity as a writer of fiction takes him beyond realism:'We consist of so many more things than you normally find in realistic literature. 'It's a way of involving people, making them understand the problems,' Mr Whybrow says. Ken Shelton, the firm's environmental manager, said the contamination was 'a fairly insignificant environmental problem'.Of 210 different types of dioxin, only 17 were harmful to life and the vast majority of the dioxins in the sediments were non-harmful..