May 21
[ 2007-05-21 08:00 ]
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| Rajiv Gandhi's murder is
being blamed on the Tamil Tigers |
| 1991: Bomb kills India's former leader Rajiv
Gandhi |
England have
Rajiv Gandhi, the 46-year-old former Indian prime minister, has been
assassinated.
He was campaigning for the Congress Party on the second day of voting
in the world's largest democratic election when a powerful bomb, hidden in
a basket of flowers, exploded killing him instantly.
At least 14 other people were also killed in the attack in the town of
Sriperumbudur, about 30 miles from Madras, the capital of the southern
state of Tamil Nadu.
No-one has admitted carrying out the murder but it is being blamed on
Mr Gandhi's arch enemies, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a
violent guerrilla group fighting for a separate homeland for Tamils on the
island of Sri Lanka.
End of a dynasty
Rajiv Gandhi's death has shocked the world and marks the end of the
Nehru dynasty that had led India for all but five years since independence
from Britain.
After his brother Sanjay was killed in an air crash in 1980, he gave up
his job as an airline pilot and was elected to Sanjay's parliamentary
seat.
He became prime minister after his mother, Indira Gandhi, was
assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
Often seen as a reluctant leader, he and his Congress Party won a
record majority later that year.
He encouraged foreign investment, a freer economy and rejuvenated his
own party, ridding it of his mother's unelected cronies.
After he lost the election in 1989, Rajiv Gandhi resigned.
This time, the Congress Party was expected to win the largest number of
parliamentary seats - but not overall control - against the Hindu BJP
Party and the Janata Dal, now split into two parties.
The campaign has been marred by sectarian violence between Hindus and
Muslims in what has proved to be the most violent election in Indian
history. Two hundred people have already been killed. |
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| Rajiv Gandhi's murder is
being blamed on the Tamil Tigers |
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1966: Cooper loses to world champ
Clay | Artificially 1969:
The American
Cassius Clay has beaten Britain's Henry Cooper in the sixth round of a
fight in London to retain the world heavyweight championship.
Cooper's hopes of bringing the title back to the UK were
predictably dashed one minute and 38 seconds into the sixth round when the
referee stopped the fight - a deep gash over his left eye forced him to
concede victory to 24-year-old Clay.
"There were two right-hand
punches but it was his head that did the damage." Jim Wicks, Henry
Cooper's Manager said.
About 40,000 spectators watched at the
Arsenal football ground in Highbury, north London as Cooper, aged 32,
fought bravely with his big left hooks to battle against Clay's quick
footwork and fast punches.
After the fight Cooper was sent to Guys Hospital where he had 12
stitches for the cut that dashed his hopes of world victory.
His manager Jim Wicks, said Clay had butted Cooper with his head and
should be disqualified.
Clay, a committed Muslim, has recently changed his name to Mohammed
Ali.
'I am the greatest!'
The 1960 Olympic champion, famed for proclaiming "I am the greatest!",
took the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston in 1964.
He was left unmarked by the fight apart from some swelling on the
cheekbone under his left eye - the result of one of Cooper's best punches.
After his win, he went to Cooper's dressing room to see him and said:
"I hate to spill blood. It's against my religion."
His manager and "spiritual adviser" Herbert Muhammed said Clay should
be proud of his performance.
"It was a wonderful punch," he said. "The same one that broke Liston.
It's terrible to see a man destroyed like that. I think the referee should
have stopped the fight before." |
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| Vocabulary:
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crony: a long-time close friend or
companion（密友，親信）
gash:a long, deep
cut（深長的傷口）
footwork:
（體）步法
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