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May 20
The first serving prime minister in 150 years to father a child
2000: Blairs" delight at birth of fourth child
England have
The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie are celebrating
the birth of their baby son who will be called Leo.
He is the first child to be born to a serving British Prime Minister for
more than 150 years and was named after Mr Blair"s father.
The latest addition to the Blair household arrived at 0025BST and weighed
in at 6lbs 12oz, according to Downing Street.
An emotional Mr Blair said he was thrilled at becoming a father again and
praised the doctors and midwives who assisted his wife.
He said: "Our baby is fine. He"s a gorgeous boy. They are just resting now.
It was an ordinary, natural birth, though it was quite a long labour so Cherie
is quite tired now."
Congratulations
The proud parents and their new baby returned to Downing Street shortly
after Leo"s birth at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.
Mrs Blair, 45, had been admitted to the hospital during Friday lunchtime,
five days before her official due date of 24 May.
The prime minister then joined his wife at the hospital at 2050 BST and
stayed with her for six hours before they returned to Downing Street with their
new son.
The couple managed to give the hordes of waiting media the slip by leaving
the hospital via a back door.
The couple already have two sons, Euan, 16, and Nicky, 14, and a daughter,
Kathryn, 12.
The prime minister has said he will not be taking parental leave but
intends to scale back his official workload.
Congratulations have already started to pour in following the birth. Mrs
Blair"s father, actor Tony Booth, said he was "absolutely thrilled and
delighted" at the news he had a new grandson.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have sent Mr and Mrs Blair flowers and
best wishes, as have Tory leader William Hague and his wife Ffion.
Mr Hague said: "We send our congratulations to them and their children. We
know this is a wonderful day for them, and a happy day for the country as a
whole."
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy said it was important to give the
Blairs some breathing space to enjoy their new arrival.
"The most important thing now is that everyone respects their right to
privacy and peace for a decent interval."
The ANC, led by Oliver Tambo (above), admitted planting the car bomb in
Pretoria four days after the explosion
1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16
Artificially 1969:
The At least 16 people have been killed and more than 130 people injured in
a car bomb explosion in South Africa"s capital city, Pretoria.
The explosion happened outside the Nedbank Square building on Church Street
at about 1630 hours - the height of the city"s rush hour. More than 20
ambulances attended the scene and took the dead and injured to three hospitals
in and around Pretoria.
Police sealed off the surrounding area with a barbed-wire fence as
emergency personnel sifted through the rubble looking for bodies. Bomb disposal
experts were called to the scene to search for a possible second bomb.
The outlawed black liberation group the African National Congress has been
blamed for the atrocity.
Bled to death
A huge pall of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air as debris and
bodies were strewn around the scene of the explosion.
It is understood the bomb had been placed in a blue Alfa Romeo car outside
the multi-storey building, which houses the South African air force
headquarters.
It exploded at the height of the city"s rush-hour as hundreds of people
were leaving work for the weekend.
Glass and metal were catapulted into the air as shop-fronts and windows
were blown out.
Many passers-by had limbs amputated by the flying debris. Others bled to
death.
South Africa"s Minister for Law and Order, Louis le Grange, who visited the
scene immediately, blamed the attack on the ANC.
He said: "I have no doubt who is responsible for this despicable
attack."
He said the explosion was the "biggest and ugliest" terrorist incident
since anti-government violence began in South Africa 20 years ago.
He added: "Most of the victims were civilians, but some were air force
personnel in uniform, black and white. Quite a number of those killed were
black.
The ANC is an underground black liberation organisation committed to
overthrowing the minority white government.
Oliver Tambo, who is the organisation"s acting president while its senior
figure, Nelson Mandela, is in prison, said the Nedbank Square building was a
legitimate target, although he did not admit carrying out the attack.
General Mike Gedenhuys, Police Commissioner, said: "Many of the victims are
so badly mutilated they have not yet been identified."
General Magnus Malan, South African"s defence minister, described the
explosion as a "cowardly, criminal deed in the Communist war being raged against
South Africa."
He said more than 40,000 civilians had died as a result of terrorism in the
past five years in Africa and 83,000 armed men had died.
South Africa has nearly five million whites, 21 million blacks, nearly one
million Indians and about 2.5 million people of mixed race.
The government"s apartheid system denies citizenship rights to blacks
except in 10 remote homelands.
The ANC has warned it intends to step up its campaign to bring an end to
white minority rule.
Vocabulary:
midwife: 助产士
amputate:to cut off(切除)
despicable: deserving of contempt or scom;ville(卑劣的,可鄙的) |
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