January 3 [ 2007-01-03 13:31 ]
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There has been fierce
resistance to the Soviet invasion |
1980: Afghan leader defends Soviet
invasion |
England have
The new president of Afghanistan, Babrak Karmal, has made his first
public appearance since the Soviet-backed coup last week.
Speaking in Kabul, Karmal told foreign journalists that Soviet troops
are defending his country "against outside threats".
The former leader of the People's Democratic Republic of Afghanistan's
(PDPA) Parcham faction went on to accuse the US of "provocation and lies".
Today, President Carter has announced further US sanctions against the
USSR including a reduction of Soviet embassy staff and restricted landing
rights for the Russian airline 'Aeroflot'.
Mr Carter has also imposed an embargo on grain sales to the USSR that
will see US exports fall from 25 million to eight million tonnes.
The President described the Soviet incursions into Afghanistan as, "an
extremely serious threat to peace" and "a callous violation of
international law and the United Nations charter."
He warned that, "A Soviet occupied Afghanistan threatens both Iran and
Pakistan and is a stepping stone to possible control over much of the
world's oil supplies."
Russian forces were airlifted into Afghanistan on Christmas day under
the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.
By 27 December 1979 Hafizullah Amin had been executed and replaced as
head of state by Karmal.
In Moscow the new Afghan foreign minister, Shah Mohammed Dost, has been
in talks with his Soviet counterpart, Andrei Gromyko.
The UN Security Council is expected to meet in New York at the weekend
to discuss the situation. UN secretary general, Kurt Waldheim, has
returned from the hostage crisis in Iran to
attend. |
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Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford |
2000: Art theft was 'professional'
job | Artificially 1969: The Police have
said the Cezanne painting taken from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford on New
Year's Eve was probably stolen to order. The painting -
Auvers-sur-Oise - was bought by the Ashmolean in 1980 and is said to be
worth ?m.
It was the museum's only work by French impressionist Paul Cezanne and
was integral to their collection of art from that period, which included
works by Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso.
Superintendent John Carr of Oxford Police said: "Whoever has taken this
painting has given some thought to how to steal it. The person has some
reason for it and some outlet for it."
Thieves entered the gallery through the glass roof, via scaffolding
around a new library extension being added to the building.
The Ashmolean, which is the oldest public museum in the world,
maintains that its security systems did not fail. But the thieves used
smoke canisters to set off fire alarms and cause enough confusion to
escape with the prized landscape.
Museum director Christopher Brown said: "Cezanne played an absolutely
key role in the representation of a key period in 19th century painting
and it really is a great blow to us and the way in which we can display
that moment in Western painting."
Police are circulating details of the painting internationally in the
hope that its whereabouts can be traced. They are also appealing for any
New Year revellers that witnessed anything suspicious on the night of the
crime to come forward.
The work is an oil on canvas depicting a group of small, white cottages
in a lush, tree-filled valley. It was framed and measured 18 by 22
inches. |
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Vocabulary:
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provocation : unfriendly behavior that causes anger or
resentment(挑釁;激怒)
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