史上今日：April 30
President Nixon denies personal involvement in the scandal1973: Nixon takes rap for Watergate scandal
England have
President Richard Nixon has taken full responsibility for the Watergate
scandal but has denied any personal involvement.
In a speech broadcast to the American people tonight he vowed to get to the
bottom of the matter, saying: "There will be no whitewash at the
Whitehouse."
Earlier today he accepted the resignations of four of his closest aides,
including Attorney General Richard G Kleindienst.
Resignations were also accepted from chief White House advisers, H R
Haldeman and John D Ehrlichman and counsel to the president, John W Dean
III.
America must not again fall into the trap of letting the end, however great
that end is, justify the means
Richard Nixon
The president announced he had appointed Defence Secretary Elliott L
Richardson as the new Attorney General and had charged him with full
responsibility for revealing the truth behind the Watergate affair.
He said: "America, in its political campaigns, must not again fall into the
trap of letting the end, however great that end is, justify the means."
The Democrats immediately demanded the whole Watergate investigation be
handed over to an impartial prosecutor and that a special committee of the House
be set up to investigate the possibility of presidential involvement in the
scandal.
The Watergate Affair began in June 1972, after five men were arrested in
the early hours of the morning breaking into the Democratic Party's Watergate
headquarters in Washington.
They had with them photographic equipment and bugging devices.
In the ensuing months connections between several of the suspects and one
part or another of the Republican power structure were revealed.
In January of this year seven men were convicted of conspiracy, burglary
and bugging the Democratic Party's headquarters, two-and-half months after
Richard Nixon was re-elected as president of the United States.
But despite continued denials by leading officials in the Nixon
administration that Watergate had no connection with the White House, the affair
has rumbled on and it seems it still has some way to go before it reaches its
conclusion.
Monica Seles in action
1993: Tennis star stabbed
Artificially 1969:
The
The world number one women's tennis player, Monica Seles, has been stabbed
in the back during a quarter-final match in Hamburg.
The 19-year-old star was rushed to hospital with a wound half an inch
(1.5cm) deep in her upper back. Doctors said her injuries were serious, but not
life-threatening.
"She was very lucky," said the tournament doctor, Peter Wind. "Neither the
lungs nor the shoulder blades were affected. Monica is still suffering from
shock, and will stay overnight for observation."
There was immediate speculation that the attack was politically motivated
because of Monica Seles's Serbian roots. She is known to have received death
threats in connection with the Yugoslav conflict.
But Hamburg police were quick to rule this out. They described her attacker
as a 38-year-old man from East Germany, and said he appeared confused and may be
mentally disturbed. Later reports suggested he may have been a fan of tennis
rival Steffi Graf.
In full view of crowd
The attack happened during the rest break in the match, against Bulgarian
player Maggie Maleeva. Miss Seles was leading 6-4, 4-3 when she took a rest on
her courtside seat during the changeover.
A man described as stocky and balding leaned over the three-feet-high (91
cm) barrier and stabbed her from behind. Miss Seles let out a scream, clutched
her back and stumbled on to the court.
The attack took place in full view of the 6,000-strong crowd watching the
match.
"He held the knife with both hands as he stabbed her in the back," said one
eyewitness.
The umpire, Stefan Voss, ran from his chair for ice and a towel.
"Nobody saw him coming," he said. He described the 10-inch (25cm) long
knife, which fell on the floor following the attack, as "a kitchen knife, like
the sort you cut meat with. It was very sharp."
Monica Seles is expected to be out of action for about four weeks, missing
the Italian Open, which begins on Monday, and the French Open on 24 May, in
which she was to have been the defending champion. Her participation in
Wimbledon in June is also in question.
Vocabulary:
hereditary: passing down from inheritance(世袭的，遗传的)
diffraction: change in the directions and intensities of a group of waves
after passing by an obstacle or through an aperture(衍射)
rendezvous: a prearranged meeting place, especially an assembly point for
troops or ships (指定集合地点)
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