Today in History：March 17
March 171978: Civilians flee southern Lebanon
Tanks have moved into Nabatiya
1978: Civilians flee southern Lebanon
England have
Thousands of Palestinian civilians are fleeing a third day of Israeli
attacks in southern Lebanon.
A convoy of refugees in vans, lorries and old buses are heading for Beirut
as the death toll of civilians reaches an estimated 150 and is expected to rise
as Israel makes furtherincursionsinto the region.
Heavy artillery shells fell within Israeli-controlled southern Lebanon as
international diplomacy continued with fervour to end the fighting.
The large town of Nabatiya, only two miles from the Litani river, has been
almost totally depopulated of its 30,000 inhabitants who have fled the
shelling.
Buffer zone
Hundreds of homes have been devastated by artillery fire and one entire
street is reported to have been reduced to rubble by an Israeli air attack this
morning.
The Israelis have created a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, reported to be
a six mile belt across the Lebanese frontier.
Israeli defence minister Ezer Weizman, gave public assurances there would
be no further advances into Lebanon.
But there are reports guerrilla positions north of the newly forged
"security belt" were struck by Israeli warships and artillery in response to
shelling against them.
Israeli troops are now understood to be in Mansoura, on the Mediterranean
coast south of Tyre, in Bent Jbail, Khiam and Ibl al-Saki.
Palestinians have been fighting to hold the southern village of Tibnine
from Israeli ground and air attack and they deny reports it has fallen.
Israel launched an offensive in southern Lebanon in retaliation to the 11
March bus hijacking in Tel Aviv which killed 35 people and injured 100
others.
The Litani River operation began on 15 March when Israel crossed into
southern Lebanon and struck at PLO bases and staging areas south of the river up
to 10 km deep inside the country.
Israel accuses Palestinian fighters of using southern Lebanon to mount
intermittent cross-border attacks against civilian and military targets in
Israel.
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The Cambrige team were forced to abandon ship
1984: Boat race halted before starting
Artificially 1969:
The The 130th Boat Race has been postponed less than an hour before it was
due to start after the Cambridge vessel was in collision with a barge and
sank.
It is the first incident of its kind in the history of the world famous
boat race in which students from Cambridge and Oxford universities are pitted
against each other.
The Cambridge boat, estimated to cost ?,000, ran head long into a large
moored barge, used byumpiresin the middle of the river, shattering the bow
section of the vessel.
'Cold'
Before an audience of hundreds of spectators gathered at Putney Bridge, the
oarsmen were forced to paddle to the side of the river, with bows still and
pointed upwards, until it was almost submerged.
Most of the crew stepped out of the boat and walked to the side, while
others who had to swim back described it as "cold".
The Light Blues have now taken shelter in their boat house and the race has
been postponed until tomorrow afternoon, estimated to start at 1345 GMT, with a
vessel borrowed from the Amateur Rowing Association.
The crew had been holding a practise run under Putney Bridge when the
accident happened.
It is reported the barge was only wheeled into position yesterday morning
but the team had been practising for weeks without it there.
The crew refused to blame the boat's cox, 21-year-old Peter Hobson, who at
only 5 feet 4 inches high apparently struggled to see over some of the large
rowers.
Officials first hoped the race could go-ahead this afternoon with a
substitute boat but by the time necessary alterations had been made to the boat
it was decided the tide would have turned.
There were other suggestions to run the race in the opposite direction from
Mortlake to Putney.
The team is reported to have suffered only minor bruises and is not
expected to change before tomorrow but they are not expected to attend the
annual Boat Race Ball tonight.
Vocabulary:
incursion: An aggressive entrance into foreign territory; a raid or an
invasion(袭击;侵入)
umpire: A person appointed to rule on plays(裁判员;仲裁人)
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