December 6

Demonstrators tore the mosque down using just hammers and their bare hands 1992: Mob rips apart mosque in Ayodhya England have A mob of Hindu militants has torn down a mosque and attacked other Muslim targets in the north Indian town of Ayodhya, in one of India's worst outbreaks of inter-communal violence. The gathering at the mosque began as a religious procession organised by three right-wing Hindu groups, including the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hindu extremists have been campaigning to get rid of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a focus for Hindu-Muslim hostility for decades. They want to build a Hindu temple in its place, to mark what they believe to be the birthplace of the Hindu warrior king, Lord Ram. A court has already ordered that the mosque be protected from demolition. The leaders of the three parties promised to stand by the court's decision, and said today's demonstration would be limited to a religious ceremony symbolising the laying of the first bricks of a Hindu temple. But before the ceremony could start, the 200,000-strong crowd broke through police cordons. They used hammers to knock down the three domes of the mosque, and then tore at the bricks with their bare hands until the building was totally destroyed. The government had brought in hundreds of extra police, but eyewitnesses said they stood by and allowed the destruction to take place. The mob also turned on Indian and foreign journalists recording the scene, before moving on to attack Muslim houses and property in the area. The violence has sent shockwaves throughout the country. Security forces throughout the north are on high alert, fearing a backlash from India's 120 million strong Muslim population, and the government has sent paramilitary reinforcements to the area. The cabinet met in emergency session and dismissed the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh for failing to protect the mosque. The state - and its 150 million inhabitants - will be ruled directly from New Delhi. The Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, has repeatedly appealed for calm in radio and television broadcasts. "What happened today is a matter of great concern and shame for all Indians," he said. The leader of the BJP, Lal Krishna Advani, described the incident as "very unfortunate", and appealed to the crowd still at the Babri mosque site to leave.

Staff at Harefield have been preparing for months 1983: Transplant makes British medical history Artificially 1969: The The first heart and lung transplant operation to be performed in Britain was successfully carried out today. Swedish journalist, Lars Ljungberg, underwent the transplant receiving the organs of a woman from the south of England who died yesterday. It took a team of 20 doctors and nurses at the specialist heart unit, Harefield Hospital, in north London, more than five hours to carry out the operation. Mr Ljungberg is said to be recovering well from the operation and is recuperating on an isolation ward in the intensive care unit there. He is said to be conscious with his wife by his side. The team of doctors was headed by renowned surgeon Magdi Yacoub. Hospital administrator David Thomson said staff were delighted with the outcome. "The patient took the five and a half hour operation very well and is recovering now on a ventilator in the intensive care unit," Mr Thomson said. "Mr Magdi Yacoub has said that he is pleased with the operation and that it went very smoothly." Mr Ljungberg is likely to remain on the ventilator for another 48 hours. He had been waiting for a transplant at the hospital, for more than a month. But staff have been preparing for the pioneering and intricate procedure for several months. The first operation of its kind in the UK, it is said be simpler to perform than a heart transplant. There are fewer small blood vessels to join and just three main areas where the organs are sown into place.

Vocabulary:

intricate : complicated; difficult to understand（復雜的）