February 16
[ 2007-02-16 08:00 ]
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| Fidel Castro said he had
'great plans' |
| 1959: Castro sworn in as Cuban PM |
England have
Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has become the country's
youngest ever premier.
At the age of 32, he has been sworn in as Prime Minister in the Cabinet
Room of the Presidential Palace in Havana.
Dr Castro led the resistance against the seven-year military rule of
President Fulgeneio Batista and commanded the 26 July Army - a 10,000
strong guerrilla force - that drove the old regime into exile on New
Year's Day.
But this is the first time he has assumed administrative
responsibilities within the new, provisional government.
Cuban newspaper 'Revolution' - regarded as the voice-piece of the 26
July Army - explained his appointment is to solve the problem of "a
dispersal of power", as many workers and industries have observed Castro's
pronouncements and not the government's since the revolution.
According to the newspaper, "now the government, the revolution and the
people will take the same path."
Dr Castro was on leave from his
previous post as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces when Dr Jose Miro
Cordoba - prime minister since 5 January - and his cabinet resigned,
without explanation, two days ago.
As well as his supporters, a hoard of Cuban and foreign media witnessed
Fidel Castro being sworn into office wearing his olive-green rebel army
fatigues and sporting his trademark square cap and beard.
He told them: "We have great plans and we suffer when we cannot put
these into effect rapidly, but technical preparations take time."
He also denied he had any interest in taking over as president, saying
legal moves to lower the age of eligibility for the post last week were
the initiative of the incumbent president Manuel Urrutia Lleo.
President Urrutia and Prime Minister Castro are old allies and are
expected to work together to achieve revolutionary aims of economic reform
and improved living standards for all Cubans. |
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| The bus had just crossed
the border with Serbia when it was attacked in
Kosovo |
|
2001: Serbs killed in Kosovo
pilgrimage | Artificially 1969:
The A bomb
attack on a bus convoy that was carrying more than 250 Serbs to a
religious ceremony in Kosovo, has claimed the lives of at least seven
people, including women and children, and injured more than 40.
Ethnic Albanian extremists, who are trying to drive Serbs out of
Kosovo, have been blamed for the attack.
It took place near the town of Podujevo in northern Kosovo, 40km (25
miles) north-east of the capital Pristina.
The remote-controlled bomb was detonated 400m from the road at around
noon, hitting the first of five buses which had just crossed the border
into Kosovo from the city of Nis in Serbia.
'Ethnic cleansing'
Gorica Stjepanovic, 24, who survived the attack with eye injuries,
said: "All of a sudden, everything burst, the bus seemed to have fallen
apart.
"Blood was dripping from the roof. When I managed to get out, parts of
bodies were everywhere."
The group of Serbs, who moved to Serbia fearing ethnic Albanian
attacks, were travelling to the village of Gracanica in Kosovo to visit
family graves.
The Orthodox Day of the Dead - 17 February - is when Serbs remember
their dead.
The attack has sparked violent protests from the victims' relatives in
Gracanica, who have blocked the main road into Pristina and set vehicles
on fire.
The convoy was accompanied by five Swedish armoured vehicles which were
unaffected.
Leaders of Kosovo's Albanian majority condemned the latest attack and
said it was a serious blow to attempts to build peace.
Nato called the killings "premeditated murder".
Its Secretary General George Robertson said: "Nato did not conduct its
air campaign in order to see ethnic cleansing by one group replaced by the
ethnic attacks and intimidation of another."
The Yugoslav Government also condemned the attack and has declared a
day of national mourning for the victims.
Earlier this week United Nations police came under attack in the town
of Strpce after a Serbian man died while travelling in a UN
convoy. |
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| Vocabulary:
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incumbent: currently holding an office；lying or
leaning on something
else（職責所在的，負有義務(wù)）
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