January 23
[ 2007-01-23 08:00 ]
 |
| The ceasefire will begin
at midnight on Saturday 27 January |
| 1973: Nixon announces Vietnam peace
deal |
England have
The US president, Richard Nixon, has appeared on national television to
announce "peace with honour" in Vietnam.
Statements issued simultaneously in Washington and Hanoi confirmed the
peace deal was signed in Paris at 1230 local time, bringing to an end
America's longest war.
The ceasefire will begin at midnight Hanoi time on Saturday, 27
January, monitored by an international force made up of troops from
Canada, Poland, Hungary and Indonesia.
President Nixon's speech from the Oval office at the White House was
broadcast on national radio and television.
He said: "Throughout the years of negotiations, we have insisted on
peace with honour, I set forth the goals that we considered essential for
peace with honour.
"In the settlement that has now been agreed to, all the conditions that
I laid down then have been met."
The conditions include the release of prisoners of war within 60 days
and all American forces to be withdrawn within the same time period.
An international conference will be held within 30 days, probably in
Vienna, to guarantee the peace.
American forces have been involved in the conflict in Vietnam for more
than a decade. In 1967, there were 500,000 American troops deployed in
Vietnam.
For the people of South Vietnam, the president had this message: "By
your courage, by your sacrifice, you have won the precious right to
determine your own future and you have developed the strength to defend
that right.
"We look forward to working with you in future, friends in peace as we
have been allies in war."
To the leaders of North Vietnam, the president said: "As we have ended
the war through negotiations, let us now build a peace of reconciliation .
"For our part, we are prepared to make a major effort to help achieve
that goal, but just as reciprocity was needed to end the war, so, too,
will it be needed to build and strengthen the peace." |
|
|
|
 |
| Thousands were left
homeless |
|
1989: Many killed in Tajik
earthquake | Artificially 1969:
The Hundreds
of people are feared dead after a powerful earthquake struck the Soviet
Central Asian republic of Tajikistan.
It is the second earthquake to rock the southern Soviet Union in two
months. The earlier quake hit Armenia - about 1,000 miles (1,600km) to the
west - killing an estimated 25,000 people.
The epicentre of the latest
quake affected an area about 19 miles (30km) from the capital, Dushanbe,
in the early hours of the morning.
Early reports say one village of clay homes was buried under a 50ft
(17m) landslide, triggered by the earth tremors. All 600 inhabitants of
Sharora are believed to have died.
The official Soviet news agency, Tass, says, 1,000 people may have been
killed.
The earthquake measured six magnitude, seven on the Soviet scale, which
is less powerful than the earthquake which hit Armenia six weeks ago.
Thousands of cattle have been killed and thousands of acres of farmland
are now covered with a thick layer of sand and clay.
Georgy Koshlakov, the republic's deputy prime minister, said the quake
lasted 40 seconds.
He said: "The earthquake caused a burst of mud from the foothills which
poured down on the villages. It was up to five miles wide and
one-and-a-half miles long."
Soviet resources are already badly stretched following the Armenian
earthquake. The Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, is said to be
considering drafting in Afghan troops to help the rescue
operation. |
|
| Vocabulary:
|
| |
|
reconciliation: to kill by squeezing the throat of so
as to cut off the air（扼死）
|
|
epicentre : the point on the Earth's surface
directly above the focus of an
earthquake（震源） |
|
|
