1993: Rabin and Arafat shake on peace deal
The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, shake hands on the White House lawn in Washington.
The handshake - the first ever in public between the two former arch enemies - marked the signing of a Declaration of Principles for peace between the Arabs and Israelis.
Under the terms of the deal, Israel has agreed to withdraw its troops from Gaza Strip and West Bank by April 1994. Elections will be held in the territories to allow the Palestinians some form of self-government.
A deadline for a final settlement has been set for February 1999.
"The peace of the brave is within our reach" ~ President Clinton
The deal has only been made possible by talks brokered by the Norwegians earlier in the year - and by the election of Mr Rabin's Labour government which includes the pro-peace campaigners Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin.
President Bill Clinton introduced the two leaders to the crowd of invited guests in front of the White House. By his side, were former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush who had vigorously campaigned for peace during their terms in office.
Mr Clinton said: "The peace of the brave is within our reach. Throughout the Middle East there is a great yearning for the quiet miracle of a normal life.
"We know a difficult road lies ahead. Every peace has its enemies."
The leaders did not sign the declaration themselves. Instead, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and his Palestinian counterpart did the signing.
Mr Rabin then addressed the crowd: "We who have fought against you the Palestinians, we say to you today in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears, enough."
Mr Arafat said: "The difficult decision we reached together was one that required great courage."
The BBC's correspondent John Simpson said Mr Arafat had undoubtedly put his life on the line for this agreement.
In Context
Yasser Arafat returned triumphantly to Palestinian territory in July 1994.
He was elected president of the Palestinian National Authority in 1996.
But bomb attacks by Palestinian militants against Israelis heightened tensions between the two sides again.
Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on 4 November 1995.
In 1996 Binyamin Netanyahu headed a coalition government, which was split over the peace process and subsequently collapsed.
He was succeeded by Ehud Barak - who finally ended Israel's involvement in Lebanon. But talks with the Palestinians stalled.
In the impasse, the veteran right-winger Ariel Sharon toured the al Aqsa temple in what was seen as a provocative move by the Palestinians.
Demonstrations soon turned into another uprising or intifada.
Sharon was elected to power and turned his back on the land for peace deal completely and re-occupied the West Bank.
A new roadmap for peace was published in April 2003.
By the way, what's meant by "Roadmap"? A ROADMAP to What?
Hess was imprisoned after a trial at Nuremberg
1987: Hitler's deputy found dead
Rudolf Hess, who was Adolf Hilter's right-hand man at the start of World War II, has been found dead.
The body of Hess, 93, was found in the grounds of Spandau Prison in west Berlin, where he had been held since his conviction in 1946 at the Nuremberg war crimes trial.
There are unconfirmed reports that he may have committed suicide.
For more than 20 years Hess was the only inmate at the prison after the release of Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach in October 1966.
The Soviet Union - which had joint control of the prison with the US, Britain and France - would not agree to Hess being set free.
They argued that as one of the most senior figures in the Nazi regime he should have been executed. \
Rudolf Hess was among the first to join the Nazi party in 1920.
He took part in the abortive coup attempt in 1923 when Hitler tried to overthrow the Bavarian government and subsequently spent time in jail with the Nazi party leader.
After they were released in 1925, Hess became Hitler's personal assistant and private secretary.
By the time war broke out between Germany and Britain in 1939 Hess was a minister in the Nazi regime whose signature appeared on all new legislation.
In 1941 Rudolf Hess secretly flew to Scotland to try and negotiate a peace treaty but was arrested.
When news of his flight reached Germany he was disowned by Hitler.
Questions regarding Hess' sanity were raised both during his internment in Britain and his trial at Nuremberg.
It is expected his body will be taken to his hometown of Wunsiedel in Bavaria for burial once a post mortem has been carried out.
In Context
The authorities at Spandau Prison said Hess had left a suicide note but his family and supporters said they were not convinced he had killed himself.
One popular conspiracy theory suggested Hess had been murdered because the Soviet Union had finally agreed to his release.
Another was that he had secretly been set free and another man killed in his place.
In 1988 the west German authorities revealed that a murder inquiry had been started and a prison worker questioned but nothing had come of their investigations.
After Hess' death Spandau Prison was demolished.
>>August 17, 2003 at 3:45:09 PM GMT+8
1985 年 8 月 11 日 星期日 【晴】
1985: World's worst air crash claims 524 lives
More than 500 people are feared dead after a Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed on a remote mountainside.
A Japan Airlines jumbo jet has crashed on a remote mountainside 70 miles (112km) from Tokyo in Japan.
There were 15 crew and 509 passengers on board, mostly holidaymakers.
There are no reports of survivors.
It is the worst disaster involving a single airliner and the second major accident involving a Boeing 747 in the past two months.
In June a Boeing of the Air India fleet crashed into the Atlantic off southern Ireland killing all 329 people on board.
The Japan Airline's jet came down during a 50-minute flight from Tokyo to Osaka.
'Emergency landing'
Ten minutes into the journey the pilot told air traffic control that a door at the rear of the plane was damaged.
He said he was going to turn back and make an emergency landing.
Minutes later he reported he had lost control of the aircraft.
The pilot's last message was that he was lost and the plane disappeared from the radar screen.
It crashed into Mount Osutaka where rescuers discovered debris spread over a wide area.
Accident investigators from Boeing are expected to assist in trying to ascertain cause of the crash.
A key factor will be locating the planes two flight recorders from the jumbo's tail section.
In Context :
Four survivors were rescued nearly 15 hours after the crash.
After a lengthy investigation it was established that the principal cause was an incorrect fuselage repair carried out seven years earlier.
Faulty splicing of two bits of fuselage had left the section up to 70% less resistant to decompression.
The Japan Airline crash followed that of an Air India Boeing 747 only two months previously.
It went down into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Ireland with the loss of 329 lives.
Investigations showed a bomb had been the cause.
The attack was believed to have carried out by Sikh extremists to avenge an attack by Indian troops on a holy Sikh in 1984.
>>August 11, 2003 at 6:45:10 PM GMT+8
1984 年 12 月 18 日 星期二 【陰】
Britain signs over Hong Kong to China
The British colony of Hong Kong is to be returned to China in 1997 after an historic agreement is signed.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the Joint Sino-British Declaration with her Chinese counterpart Zhao Ziyang.
It formally seals the future of Hong Kong, transferring it from a British colony of six million people to communist China in 13 years.
The agreement, which will end 155 years of British rule in the colony, also launches a new era in trade and diplomacy between the two countries.
Chinese president Deng Xiaoping, who pursued the recovery of Hong Kong, greeted Mrs Thatcher.
The champagne ceremony took place at the Great Hall of the People before delegates who helped draw up the agreement, including 101 guests from Hong Kong.
Mrs Thatcher said: "The circumstances are unique. The agreement is unique.
"It is right that we should feel a sense of history, of pride and of confidence in the future."
The declaration outlines Hong Kong will be "restored" to the People's Republic of China with effect from July 1 1997 and will apply for fifty years.
It will be known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
Rocky negotiations
Britain has agreed to return Hong Kong after guarantees it will "enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs".
And China's principle of "one country, two systems" allows Hong Kong to have a capitalist economy and enjoy existing rights and freedoms.
The Prime Minister later revealed the negotiation process had been rocky.
When Mrs Thatcher last visited Peking in 1982 the atmosphere was hostile as an agreement could not be reached.
Talks restarted in July 1983 and today's agreement, which was finalised only ten days before the 30 September deadline, is being hailed as a diplomatic coup.
Mrs Thatcher will visit Hong Kong tomorrow during her whistle-stop world tour.
In Context
A bloody crackdown by troops on protests in the Chinese capital, Beijing, in June 1989, known as the "Tiananmen Square massacre" soured relations between Britain and China.
The British Government, fearing for the colony's future, responded by granting British passports to 50,000 Hong Kong heads of families, building a new international airport, and introducing a Bill of Rights.
Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong introduced democratic reforms in 1982 which the Chinese Government opposed.
A series of diplomatic meetings between the two governments in 1995 and 1996 improved relations.
On 1 July 1997 a spectacular ceremony in Hong Kong celebrated a new era in its political life as it transferred to Chinese control.
五十年 ... 都不過過了十分一 已經變成咁 (啥叫「五十年不變」)
1993: Rabin and Arafat shake on peace deal
解 開 港 人 的 數 字 魔 咒 日期 : 2004年05月31日
八八年 漢城奧運
Hess was imprisoned after a trial at Nuremberg
真係好得意呀!!
哨牙大粒墨癦袁佩婷