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Police marksmen ran for cover as shots rang out inside the parliament
building
2001: Suicide attack on Indian parliament
England have
A group of gunmen has broken through tight security to attack the
parliament building in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
At least 12 people have been killed and 22 injured in the attack.
There were about 100 members of parliament in the building at the time,
although none is believed to have been hurt.
The gunmen are thought to have used a fake identity sticker to get through
tight security surrounding the parliament complex.
Wearing military-style fatigues, they burst into the area in front of the
parliament just before noon local time (0630 GMT).
Witnesses said one was wearing explosives strapped to his body and blew
himself up soon after the men broke in.
A gun battle began between the attackers and police, in a dramatic
hour-long standoff broadcast live on television.
Indian government officials said the remaining four gunmen were killed in
the fighting, along with six police officers and a gardener.
Parliamentarian Kharbala Sain was in the building when the attack
began.
"I heard a cracker-like sound near the entrance, then I saw people running
helter-skelter," he said.
"I saw many people firing at the same time. I couldn't make out who was
who. I couldn't understand who the terrorists were and who the police were. My
mind went blank."
The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, made a televised address
to the nation shortly after the attacks, and was quick to denounce the
militants.
"This was not just an attack on the building, it was a warning to the
entire nation," he said. "We accept the challenge."
No group has admitted carrying out the attack, which comes just two months
after a similar assault on the Kashmir state assembly in Srinagar, in which 38
people died.
Many have suggested that Kashmiri militants may also be behind today's
attack.
Some politicians have called for action against Pakistan, suspected in some
quarters of arming and training the militants.
The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed state of Jammu and
Kashmir since independence in 1947, and came to the brink of a third war in
1999.
But Pakistan has condemned the attack and denied any involvement. It says
it will act on any credible proof of the involvement of militant groups based on
their soil.
Monkey Able was one of a pair sent into space six months later which
survived
1958: Monkey lost after space flight
Artificially 1969:
The search for a small bushy-tailed monkey fired into space in the nose
cone of a Jupiter rocket has been called off.
The squirrel monkey named Gordo survived a 300 mile journey into space and
then travelled more than 1,500 miles in the rocket until it dropped in the South
Atlantic.
A technical problem with the recovery gear meant a parachute failed to open
and the nose-cone sank taking Gordo with it. The US Army abandoned the search
after six hours.
Gordo's condition was monitored by the Pentagon, which said the monkey
suffered no significiant adverse physical effects during the time it was
weightless.
The 50 ton Jupiter AM-13, which usually carries intermediate-range
missiles, was fired by the army from Cape Canaveral in Florida this morning. The
flight lasted 15 minutes.
Gordo, a South American breed of monkey about one foot (30cm) tall and
weighing between two and three pounds (1-1.5kg), was chosen because it has a
similaranatomicalmake-up to man and is also very sensitive to changes in
temperature.
US defence officials say the breathing of the monkey slowed down after
take-off and its pulse became slightly irregular, but both quickened as the
missile gained speed and once the nose-cone was beyond the pull of earth's
gravity they returned to normal.
Gordo wore a leather-lined plastic helmet. He was strapped on a moulded
rubber bed with his knees drawn up to resist the strains of gravity.
The monkey was insulated against temperature changes with foil and fibre
glass. He had a thermometer under his armpit, a microphone listened to his
heartbeat and other instruments detected his breathing.
There have been angry protests from animal rights groups about the decision
to send Gordo into space.
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said only
inanimate objects should be used for such tests. The British Royal Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also expressed "grave concern and
apprehension".
But the US Defense Department insists the experiment was an invaluable step
in preparing for man's first venture into space. They say the monkey's make-up
is so similar to man's there is now no reason humans cannot undertake similar
flights in future.
Gordo is not the first animal to have ventured into space, but he is the
first primate to have flown so high.
Vocabulary:
anatomical: of or relating to the structure of the body(解刨学的) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:43:42