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ON THIS DAY: 21 August 2006
21 August 2006
1968: Russia brings winter to 'Prague Spring'
Dozens are killed in a massive Soviet military clampdown in Czechoslovakia
1973: 'Bloody Sunday' inquest accuses Army
The coroner presiding over the "Bloody Sunday" inquest accuses the British army of "sheer unadulterated murder".
191986: Hundreds gassed in Cameroon lake disaster
At least 1,200 people are feared dead after volcanic gases escape from a lake in Cameroon.
1983: Filipino opposition leader shot dead
Philippines opposition leader Benigno Aquino is assassinated minutes after returning home from exile.
1986: Giant glacier threatens eco disaster
A huge glacier in Alaska is threatening to cause an ecological disaster in the region.
1968: Russia brings winter to 'Prague Spring'
Dozens of people have been killed in a massive military clampdown in Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries.
Several members of the liberal Czechoslovak leadership have been arrested, including Prime Minister Alexander Dubcek.
The Soviet news agency, Tass, claims "assistance" was requested by members of the Czechoslovak Government and Communist party leaders to fight "counter-revolutionary forces".
But in a secret radio address, Czechoslovak President Ludvik Svoboda condemned the occupation by Warsaw Pact allies as illegal and committed without the government's consent.
US President Lyndon Johnson said the invasion was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and that the excuses offered by the Soviet Union were "patently contrived".
"It is a sad commentary on the communist mind that a sign of liberty in Czechoslovakia is deemed a fundamental threat to the security of the Soviet system," he said.
The Czechoslovak authorities have ordered their vastly outnumbered army not to fight and are appealing to the public for restraint.
Czechoslovakia's abortive path to freedom began when Mr Dubcek, a Slovak, became Communist Party leader in January.
A programme of wide-ranging democratic reforms had been gathering pace in the face of Soviet disapproval and the rebirth of social and political freedom became known as the "Prague Spring".
Resistance
In the capital of Prague today, crowds of people gathered in the streets chanting support for Mr Dubcek and imploring the foreign troops to go home.
Much of the resistance was centred around the Prague radio station. As the day progressed, Czechoslovak youths threw home-made missiles and even tried to take on Russian tanks.
Reports say some tanks and ammunition trucks were destroyed, but Soviet troops responded with machinegun and artillery fire and at least four people were shot dead.
In the Wenceslas and Old Town Squares, hundreds of youths made barricades out of overturned lorries to try and halt the advance.
Soviet and eastern block commanders have now imposed an overnight curfew and are threatening to shoot on sight anyone caught breaking it.
All rail, road and airline routes out of Czechoslovakia have been closed as troops continue to enter the country - now estimated to number nearly 175,000 men.
In Context
Following the invasion, Mr Dubcek and others were banned from office and replaced with a famously repressive communist regime. All the reforms were annulled or abandoned.
The invasion drew condemnation from across the globe. Significantly many western communist parties and communist Yugoslavia and Rumania dissociated themselves from the USSR's actions.
As with Hungary in 1956, the West took no action. The Soviet defence minister is said to have recommended invading even if it meant third world war. Moreover, the US was in the middle of a presidential election campaign and entrenched in Vietnam.
The Communists were finally ousted on 24 November 1989 and Mr Dubcek made a triumphant return to Prague.
He became chairman of the new post-Communist administration in what became known as the "Velvet Revolution".
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1973: 'Bloody Sunday' inquest accuses Army
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| The deaths followed a civil rights march in Londonderry |
The coroner presiding over the "Bloody Sunday" inquest has accused the British army of "sheer unadulterated murder".
The accusation came from the Londonderry City coroner, Major Hubert O'Neill, after the inquest jury returned an open verdict on the deaths.
Thirteen people died on 30 January last year when members of the Parachute Battalion opened fire on people attending a civil rights march in Derry.
Another man died later in hospital and 14 others were also shot and injured.
Major O'Neill said there had been no justification for the soldiers to open fire.
He said: "These people may have been taking part in a parade that was banned but I do not think that justifies the firing of live rounds indiscriminately."
But Mr Brian Hutton, QC, representing for the Ministry of Defence told Major O'Neill the inquest had heard only part of the evidence.
"It is not for you or the jury to express such wide-ranging views, particularly when a most eminent judge has spent 20 days hearing evidence and come to a very different conclusion," Mr Hutton said.
Catholic priests who were at the rally gave evidence to the inquest.
They said many of the dead men were unarmed and running away when they were shot.
They also claimed the troops failure to stop firing prevented them from helping the sick and dying.
The MP for Antrim North, Reverend Ian Paisley, has said he will ask the Northern Ireland Secretary for Major O'Neill's removal.
"Mr O'Neill is not fit to be coroner for he has let his religious and political feelings dictate his decision," Mr Paisley said.
In Context
The first inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday under Lord Widgery in 1972, which largely exonerated the soldiers, was widely criticised for being inconsistent and lacking the testimony of eyewitnesses.
Nationalists campaigned unsuccessfully for many years for a new investigation.
In 1998 on the eve of the 26th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced an independent judicial inquiry led by the British Law Lord, Lord Saville.
The inquiry began hearing evidence in April 1998. It took statements from hundreds of witnesses including, in January 2003, the prime minister at the time Edward Heath.
It ended in November 2004 and had cost about £150 million.
Lord Saville's final report and conclusions are not expected to be made public until summer 2005.
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1986: Hundreds gassed in Cameroon lake disaster
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| Eyewitnesses said the lake's water turned reddish brown soon after the disaster |
At least 1,200 people are feared dead in Cameroon, West Africa, after a cloud of lethal gas escaped from a volcanic lake.
The tragedy happened at Lake Nyos, about 200 miles (322 km) northwest of the capital, Yaoundé, during the night.
Most of the victims died in their sleep.
The gas killed all living things within a 15-mile (25km) radius of the lake, and the area is still highly contaminated.
Cause unknown
It is not yet known what caused the gas to escape the lake, which lies in a volcanic crater.
Government officials say the most likely cause is a volcanic eruption in Lake Nyos which created a fissure, leaking gas into the atmosphere.
But independent scientists say this is unlikely, as the volcano is believed to be extinct.
Cameroon radio is reporting that gases are continuing to escape from the lake.
Rescue teams wearing gas masks have been rushing cylinders of oxygen to the remote area to help any who may have survived.
Victims 'poisoned'
Hundreds of people have been arriving in the main hospital in Yaoundé for treatment.
A doctor there said they had been poisoned by a mixture of gases including hydrogen and sulphur.
He described the symptoms, including burning pains in the eyes and nose, coughing and signs of asphyxiation similar to strangulation, as like being gassed by a kitchen stove.
Eyewitnesses described how the normally clear waters of the lake turned a reddish brown, while a sudden wind arose and whipped up huge waves.
The gas is believed to have overwhelmed at least three villages.
The entire population of one of the villages is thought to have been killed.
Mystery
There was a similar escape of toxic gases at a nearby lake in the same volcanic crater two years ago which killed 37 people.
The cause of that disaster, too, remains a mystery.
Scientists from the United States and France are on their way to investigate the lake.
They will bring with them rescue teams and emergency aid to help the survivors.
The US has pledged $25,000 in immediate aid, while France, Britain and other Western European countries have promised logistical support.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, has said he will not cancel his state visit to Cameroon, due to start on Monday.
He said he would be bringing a medical team and equipment for treating the victims.
In Context
The eventual number of people who died in the Lake Nyos gas leak was put at more than 1,700.
Scientists debated the cause of the disaster for some time afterwards.
It was finally concluded that the lake's lower levels had become saturated by carbon dioxide gas (CO2) due to gaseous springs which bubbled up from the extinct volcano beneath.
It is thought that recent high rainfall had displaced the CO2-rich water at the bottom, releasing a massive bubble of carbon dioxide gas from the lake in a natural phenomenon now referred to as "lake overturn".
The heavy gas then sank to the ground and rolled in a cloud several tens of metres deep across the surrounding countryside.
Pipes have now been put in place in Lake Nyos and nearby Lake Monoun to siphon water from the lower layers up to the surface and allow the CO2 at the bottom of the lake to slowly bubble out, preventing a repeat of 1986 tragedy.
Following the Nyos tragedy, a survey was carried out into the CO2 content of other African lakes.
It revealed that Lake Kivu, in Rwanda, is becoming saturated with carbon dioxide just as Lake Nyos was, and is seriously at risk of lake overturn.
Scientists have warned that if nothing is done, millions of people living around Lake Kivu are in danger.
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1983: Filipino opposition leader shot dead
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| Mr Aquino returned in spite of threats to his life |
The Philippines opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, has been assassinated just minutes after returning home from exile.
Mr Aquino, 50, had spent the last three years in the US but was returning home to contest next year's expected elections.
Speaking aboard the plane returning him to Manila, Mr Aquino told reporters he was well aware of the risk he was taking.
"I suppose there's a physical danger because you know assassination's part of public service," he said.
"My feeling is we all have to die sometime and if it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet, so be it."
When his plane landed at Manila airport Mr Aquino was taken into custody by soldiers and escorted off the plane.
Shortly afterwards witnesses on the plane said a volley of shots rang out and they saw him lying in a pool of blood on the runway tarmac.
'Professional killer'
The body of the man said to have been the assassin was nearby.
Mr Aquino's long-time rival, Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has said the assassin was a "professional killer".
But his claim that Mr Aquino was the victim of a lone gunman has not convinced many in the Philippines or the wider world.
The opposition parties in the Philippines are in disarray after nearly 20 years of rule under Ferdinand Marcos.
But it was widely expected that Mr Aquino would be able to unite them and mount a challenge to President Marcos in next year's elections.
Before his self-imposed exile he looked set for presidency after becoming the country's youngest member of parliament at the age of 35.
But after the imposition of martial law in 1972 he was labelled a Communist by President Marcos and imprisoned for seven years.
Three years after being sentenced to death for subversion in 1977 he was offered the chance to leave the country for heart surgery in the US.
After his treatment he did not return and became a focal point for dissidents in the US.
In Context
Millions of Filipinos rallied at Benigno Aquino's funeral in what was the start of a mass challenge to President Marcos.
Three years later the opposition parties united behind Mr Aquino's widow, Corazon, in her challenge for the presidency.
In spite of evidence to the contrary, Ferdinand Marcos was declared the winner.
But a popular revolt forced him and his wife, Imelda, to flee the country.
He died in exile in 1993.
Corazon Aquino was president of the Philippines for six years.
In September 1990 a special court convicted 16 Filipino military personnel of murdering Mr Aquino and his "assassin" Ronaldo Galman.
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1986: Giant glacier threatens eco disaster
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| The glacier has already caused massive damage |
A huge glacier in Alaska is threatening to cause an ecological disaster in the region.
Large areas of forest, sea animals and fish stocks are endangered by the ice block - known as the Hubbard Glacier - which is on the move after thousands of years of inactivity.
The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidal water glacier in North America.
Rising 300-feet (91-metres) high and 6-miles (10km) wide from the ocean near Yakutat Bay off the coast of Canada and is moving up to 100 feet (30 metres) per day.
Dubbed the "galloping glacier", its endpoint has already blocked access to the Russell Fjord thereby turning it into a lake.
The ice advanced so rapidly that it trapped seals, porpoises, and other marine animals in the new lake.
A rescue effort has been mounted by environmentalists to capture the animals and transport them to safety.
Damage
Residents of the nearby town, Yakutat, are concerned the new freshwater lake may overflow into a local river.
They fear if that happens they may suffer from the loss of a profitable salmon-farming industry and a drop off in tourists who come to the town for fishing holidays.
Millions of pounds worth of damage has already been caused to the timber industry as whole sections of forest have been submerged.
Larry Mayo of the United States Geological Survey said the movement of the Hubbard Glacier was unprecedented in modern times.
"The sprint of the Hubbard is causing probably the largest natural alteration to occur in North America within our lifetimes," he said.
The Hubbard has been moving at a very slow pace for years but scientists say its current surge was set off last winter by the movement of other nearby glaciers.
They believe water may have built up beneath the glaciers reducing the natural friction that holds the ice in place.
In Context
The Hubbard glacier went on to threaten the nearby town of Yakutat itself leading to fears the airport might be flooded and the water supply contaminated.
On 8 October the dam formed by the glacier ruptured.
It reduced the water level to that of the former fjord and allowed trapped marine animals to escape.
However, glaciologists predicted that the Hubbard glacier would advance again in the future, making Russell Fjord a lake once more.
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