1953: Sweet news ends rationing

Artificially 1969:
The Children across the country have been emptying out their piggy-banks and heading straight for the nearest sweet-shop as the first unrationed sweets went on sale today.

Toffee apples were the biggest sellers, with sticks of nougat and liquorice strips also disappearing fast.

One firm in Clapham Common gave 800 children 150lbs of lollipops during their midday break from school; and a London factory opened its doors to hand out free sweets to all comers.

Adults joined in the sugar frenzy, with men in the City queuing up in their lunch breaks to buy boiled sweets and to enjoy the luxury of being able to buy 2lb boxes of chocolates to take home for the weekend.

Stocks 'sufficient' The government and manufacturers have been quick to reassure the public that there would be no repeat of the first attempt to de-ration sweets, in April 1949, when demand far outstripped supply and they were put back on ration after just four months.

This time, the Minister of Food, Major Gwilym Lloyd-George, has told the House of Commons that he has no doubt that stocks are sufficient. He has ordered a one-off allocation of extra sugar to manufacturers to help them meet the anticipated surge in demand.

Sugar itself, though, still remains rationed, and manufacturers say the Ministry of Food should have freed sugar supplies as well as those of sweets and chocolate.

As it is, they will have to make enough sweets to meet the demand of a de-rationed market, but with only 54% of the sugar supplies they had before the war.

However, overall the industry gave a warm welcome to the news. "We are very glad about it," said a spokesman for the Cocoa, Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance. "We will do all we can to make it work."

So far, despite the heavy sales, there have been no signs of panic buying, even though there are already shortages of the most popular brands.

One reason may be that the price of confectionery has nearly doubled during the war, and many have not been taking up their full 6oz ration.

Sweet coupons, though, will be with us for some time yet: it takes so long to print all 50m ration books that next year's have been designed already, sweet ration and all.

1992: Cannibal killer jailed for life

England have

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in Wisconsin for murdering and dismembering 15 young men and boys.

Dahmer, 31, was unable to convince the jury that his cannibalism and necrophilia were the result of madness.

He was given 15 consecutive life sentences and will never be eligible for parole.

Dahmer's trial, which ended in Milwaukee on Saturday night (15 February), included some of the most gruesome evidence ever heard in a US courtroom.

It also became a test case of the insanity defence seldom used in America.

He has escaped the death sentence because Wisconsin is one of the few states which does not have capital punishment.

After sentence was passed, Dahmer read a statement to the court. In a calm voice he said: "I never wanted freedom. Frankly, I wanted death for myself. I knew I was sick or evil or both.

"Doctors have told me about my sickness and now I have some peace. I know how much harm I have caused. I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families."

Victims' families were in court and some lashed out at the bullet-proof screen, which was all that separated them from the man described by his own lawyer as "a steamrolling, killing machine".

Rita Isbell, sister of victim Errol Lindsey, lunged at Dahmer screaming: "You are Satan. I want to kill you."

Tears rolled down the face of Donald Bradehof, brother of another victim, as he said: "We lost the baby of our family - I hope you go to hell."

Dahmer tended to prey on young gay black men. The court was told how he drugged them with sleeping pills and practised crude lobotomies on the brains of three of them. Various body parts were found in his flat.

His lawyers argued he suffered from necrophilia, a compulsive desire to have sex with corpses. But the prosecution claimed Dahmer had chosen his victims carefully and had not intended to kill them all.

There has been criticism of the Milwaukee police for failing to realise there was a serial killer operating in the city.

1959: Turkish leader involved in fatal crash

Artificially 1969:
The Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes has survived an air crash near London that killed 12 people.

Mr Menderes was on his way to the British capital for talks on Cyprus with the British, Greek and Cypriot premiers when his Viscount jet crashed in Jordan's Wood, near Newdigate in Surrey.

Only 10 of the 22 passengers and crew on board the Turkish Government aircraft survived and two were critically injured.

An official from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said it was the worst crash he had seen.

Turkish press secretary Sefik Penmen told an impromptu conference at London Clinic: "The Prime Minister's condition is quite satisfactory and a bulletin will be issued at 1000 tomorrow. He is feeling quite alright, though he is very sorry about what has happened to his friends."

The plane - from Istanbul - was diverted from Gatwick Airport because of fog and was due to arrive at London Airport at 1600 GMT when it went missing off the radar.

Local resident Margaret Bailey, a trained nurse, was one of the first on the scene - three miles along the flight path from Gatwick - shortly after 1700 GMT.

At about that time the plane carrying Greek Prime Minister Constantin Karamanlis landed at Gatwick without incident.

The Turkish jet lost its wings and had its engines torn off as it ploughed 300 yards through the wood and landed upside down with trees embedded in the mangled fuselage and burst into flames.

Three divisions from Surrey Fire Brigade put out the resulting fires although their efforts were hampered by thick fog.

After receiving first aid at Mrs Bailey's farmhouse, 200 yards away, Mr Menderes was taken to hospital in London 90 minutes later.

Other casualties are being treated at hospitals in East Grinstead, Redhill and Dorking.

The Queen and Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus have sent messages of sympathy.

1962: American spaceman rounds the world

England have

The first American to orbit the Earth has landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean.

Marine Lieutenant John Glenn, 40, travelled about 81,000 miles (more than 130,000km) as he circled the globe three times at more than 17,000 mph (27,000kph).

Colonel Glenn controlled nearly two of the orbits himself after reporting "minor difficulties" with the automatic altitude control system as he completed the third circuit - the maximum anticipated.

Messages from the astronaut were transmitted by radio stations across the United States and United Kingdom and his progress was monitored by 18 ground stations around the world.

As he re-entered the atmosphere after his four-hour and 56-minute journey Colonel Glenn said: "Boy, that was a real fireball."

His spacecraft, Friendship Seven, landed at 2040 GMT 240 miles north-west of Puerto Rico, where it was picked up by the US destroyer Noa.

Altogether, 24 American ships were ready to pick up the astronaut and his craft from various locations across the globe.

The capsule was launched from the flaming Atlas rocket at 1447 GMT from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

President Kennedy followed the mission on television and telephoned the astronaut afterwards.

"We are really proud of you. You did a wonderful job," he said.

The Queen and British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, also cabled their congratulations.

Technical problems had delayed the mission 10 times - a total of 61 days.

The US has spent over ?42m on the man-in-space programme so far and Nasa has planned another three manned orbital flights this year.

The US Earth orbit took place 10 months and 10 days after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, making one circulation of the globe.

1993: Two boys charged with toddler's murder

Artificially 1969:
The Two 10-year-old boys have been charged with the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool.

The toddler went missing from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle last Friday and his body was found on a railway embankment less than three miles away two days later, on 14 February.

The two suspects were arrested two days ago and are being held at different police stations with their mothers and lawyers.

When they appear before South Sefton Magistrates Court - a quarter of a mile from where James was abducted - tomorrow, they will be among the youngest people to face murder charges in the British courts.

Other members of the boys' families have been moved to secret addresses to protect them from possible reprisals.

Police issued a statement saying the pair had also been charged - at 1840GMT - with the attempted abduction of another two-year-old and were being held in police detention under section 59 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.

It looks likely they will be remanded into some form of care or custody before the case is tried by a judge and jury at crown court.

Officers are consulting the local council over the welfare of the boys.

Bulger family solicitor Sean Sexton said: "The family are of course relieved at the progress that has been made. They are still trying to come to terms with the situation."

"We should like to thank the police and public for their support," he continued, asking for the privacy of the family to be respected and saying there would be no further statement.

Hundreds of flowers have been heaped around the entrance to the shopping centre where James was last seen, on security video, being led away.

And over ?,000 of public donations has been collected and given to the Bulger family.

The 35,000 people at Liverpool Football Club's Anfield ground stood for a minute's silence before the game against Ipswich Town today.

1997: China's reformist Deng Xiaoping dies

England have

China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping has died at the age of 92.

He had been suffering from failing health for several years and was last seen in public three years ago.

The country's official news agency said his death was the result of advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease complicated by a lung infection and that he had failed to respond to emergency treatment.

Chinese radio's shortwave English language service praised his "outstanding" leadership as a "great Marxist and the true architect of China's socialist reforms and modernisation".

A funeral committee has been announced, to be headed by Jiang Zemin, which regional experts say makes him the most likely candidate to gain the leadership.

Meanwhile Tiananmen Square the symbolic heart of China and the communist party is reported to be peaceful, with no sign of extra security.

The BBC's Beijing Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley said that given Deng Xiaoping's stated disregard for the "cult of the personality" it was unlikely there would be any grand state funerals.

Humphrey Hawksley said: "Deng wished to hand over rule to a collective leadership of modern thinking technocrats and not a god-king that China has traditionally been accustomed to."

International reaction to the news has been complimentary about the dead dictator and his contribution to the world economy.

US Secretary of State Madeline Albright said he was "an historic figure" and that the US would continue to pursue a "multi-faceted relationship with China", based on issues of trade, the environment and human rights.

The UK's Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind expressed his hope economic and political reforms would gather speed, not only for China but to protect Hong Kong's future.

1978: Egyptian forces die in Cyprus gunfight

Artificially 1969:
The At least ten Egyptian commandos have been killed in a late-night gun battle with Greek Cypriot soldiers at Larnaca airport, Cyprus.

Egyptian troops and Cypriot forces exchanged fire as the fate of hostages and their abductors aboard a Cypriot airliner lay in the balance.

The Cypriot Government says it was in the process of solving the hostage crisis when the Egyptians launched their own assault on the airliner.

Egypt has blamed Cyprus for the bloodshed and said their special forces helped save the hostages and capture the terrorists.

The crisis began yesterday when the editor of a prominent Egyptian newspaper and friend of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Youssef Sebai, was assassinated at the Nicosia Hilton by two gunmen.

Negotiators then agreed to allow the killers to leave Cyprus with 11 hostages including Egyptians, in a Cypriot Airlines DC8.

However, the plane was forced to return to the island after other states refused to allow it to land.

The Cypriot Government said they then permitted an Egyptian military C-130 Hercules to fly into Larnaca, but gave strict instructions to the Egyptians not to interfere.

Egyptian commandos then launched an all-out assault on the DC8 even as Cypriot negotiations had apparently secured the hostage-takers' surrender.

BBC reporter John Bierman described how the Cypriots opened fire on the Egyptian anti-terror unit resulting in a 50-minute fight between the two sides.

He said President Kyprianou and other senior Cypriot officials observing events were forced to retreat from the airport control tower after it was hit by bullets.

An attempt by one Cypriot officer to order Egyptian soldiers already lying in their firing positions to surrender was described as an act of "insane bravery".

Most of the commandos were forced to seek cover in a nearby empty airliner after their Hercules was destroyed by a shell.

The crisis appears to have ended after the Cypriot National Guard overpowered the Egyptian commandos and the DC8's crew persuaded the gunmen to give up their weapons.

Wounded Egyptian commandos and Cypriots were rushed to Larnaka hospital.

1954: McCarthy hunts 'army Communists'

England have

The Secretary of the US army has ordered two generals, subpoenaed by anti-Communist senator Joseph McCarthy, to ignore the summons.

The move by Robert T Stevens came on the first day of the hearings into communist activity in the US army.

Mr Stevens said he would speak on behalf of the army provided the session was in public.

His announcement came after a former army major summonsed by Senator McCarthy - head of the Senate's Permanent Investigations sub-committee - refused to answer questions.

Irving Peress, now a dentist, took advantage of the Fifth Amendment in the US' Constitution - the right to avoid self-incrimination - to justify his silence.

Mr Peress cited his honourable discharge from the army as proof of his "honest and loyal service" to his country.

Senator McCarthy has accused Mr Peress of communist activities at an army camp and has demanded that army authorities revoke his honourable discharge and court martial him.

The Wisconsin senator has also called for a list of all officers and civilians who had anything to do with Mr Peress' promotion and honourable discharge.

"Either the army will give the names of men coddling Communists or we will take it before the Senate," he said.

However, Mr Steven's stand makes it unlikely a list will be forthcoming.

It is a rare challenge to the controversial senator who was virtually unknown before he took up the cause of rooting out Communists four years ago.

In a speech in West Virginia in February 1950 Mr McCarthy claimed to have the names of 205 "card-carrying Communists" in the State Department.

However, he later scaled down the list to 57 and was willing to name only four of them.

His critics say he has never produced real evidence to back up his claims and accuse him of "witch hunts" which have often destroyed the careers of those accused.

But in March 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted for passing atomic secrets to the Russians and this helped fuel popular support for his campaign.

Joseph McCarthy's committee works parallel to the House of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

In 1947 the HUAC's high-profile investigation of the entertainment industry led to prison sentences for 10 Hollywood writers and directors who refused to answer questions and "blacklisting" for hundreds more.

1969: Lulu ties knot with Bee Gee

Artificially 1969:
The Hundreds of people have clamoured to see the marriage of popstars Lulu and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in a Buckinghamshire church.

Lulu, 20, had hoped to keep her wedding plans secret but around 1,000 people - mostly women and girls - filled the grounds of St James' Church in Gerrards Cross.

Several children were hurt as the crowd - that had waited for an hour - surged forward when Lulu arrived in her green Rolls Royce, 20 minutes late.

Wearing a long, white, mink-trimmed coat with fur hood and a white, silk mini-dress, Lulu - born Marie McDonald McLaughlin - begged onlookers to let her through, saying, "Please let me in, please let me in."

As police formed a cordon to allow the bride to reach the church, Maurice Gibb - also wearing white - waited inside with his best man, twin brother Robin, who was married only three months ago.

The third Gibb brother, Barry, arrived 10 minutes later, after earlier objecting to the wedding saying the couple was too young.

The Bee Gees and the bride were the only celebrities at the small, family wedding.

After a half-hour service - presided over by Reverend Gordon Harrison - the newlyweds were trapped in the church for another 10 minutes until a path had been cleared to their waiting car.

They spent a few minutes at the 19-year-old groom's parents' house in Gerrards Cross before travelling to London for their reception.

After a one-day honeymoon Lulu plans to return to work on her BBC television series.

She says she wants to cut down on her work-load to concentrate on her family and wants lots of children.

The daughter of a Glaswegian butcher, Lulu has already enjoyed a successful singing career for five years - beginning with number one single, Shout.

She will represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in March.

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.

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.

1994: Art thieves snatch Scream

England have

Thieves have stolen one of the world's best-known paintings from a gallery in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Two men took just 50 seconds to climb a ladder, smash through a window of the National Art Museum in Oslo and cut The Scream, by Edvard Munch, from the wall with wire cutters.

The cutters were left behind along with a short ladder as the men fled with the painting. The entire incident was filmed by security cameras.

The director of the museum, Knut Berg, said, "It is impossible to estimate the value of the painting.

"But it is Norway's most valuable, Munch's most renowned, and it would be impossible to sell."

The museum's alarm went off at 0630 local time (0530 GMT) and a security guard immediately alerted police, who arrived within minutes.

Police officers are searching for a Mercedes car thought to have been used as a getaway vehicle.

The painting was in the gallery as the highlight of a Norwegian Culture Festival staged in connection with the Winter Olympics which start today in Lillehammer.

There is widespread speculation that the theft may have some connection with the Games, possibly as a publicity stunt by campaigners. Art experts believe the painting is so well-known that it is unsaleable.

The museum is facing strong criticism over its security after it was revealed that the masterpiece had been moved from the more secure first floor to the ground floor for the exhibition. It is believed to have been uninsured.

The stolen painting is regarded as the most important of the four versions Edvard Munch painted of The Scream, and was created in 1893 as part of his Frieze of Life series in which sickness, death, anxiety and love are central themes.

The haunting depiction of a skull-like face wide-mouthed in agony and despair before a blood-red sunset has become an icon of human anguish across the world.

Several other Munch paintings have recently been stolen: six years ago, another well-known masterpiece, The Vampire, was stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, but was later recovered, as was a lithograph , Madonna, which disappeared in 1990.

Another painting, Portrait Study, was taken from the National Art Museum last August and is still missing.

1999: Scientists highlight hazards of GM food

Artificially 1969:
The A group of international scientists has reinforced warnings genetically modified food may be damaging to health.

The 20 independent scientists have signed a memorandum in support of Arpad Pusztai who was forced to retire last year over his revelations about the effects of biologically altered potatoes on laboratory rats.

An expert on plant toxins, Dr Pusztai was suspended by the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen and did not have his annual contract renewed after he publicised his findings on British television.

Former president of the British Society of Allergy and Environmental Medicine Ronald Finn said: "Dr Pusztai's results at the very least raise the suspicion that genetically modified potatoes may damage the immune system."

He continued: "You can imagine a doomsday scenario. If the immune system of the population was weakened, then the mortality would be increased many, many times."

Dr Pustzai, 68, found the internal organs and immune systems of rats was altered by the presence of an additional gene - responsible for the production of the plant toxin lectin - in the potatoes.

A researcher at the department of pathology at Aberdeen University, Stanley Ewen, has just released details of his own experiments indicating rats fed on GM - or transgenic - potatoes absorbed lectin into their intestines.

Mr Ewen explained: "It may be that in GM food a drug-delivery system has been created, delivering something you didn't want to."

The director of the Rowett Institute, Philip James, has defended his decision to suspend Dr Pusztai saying he had become "muddled" over key aspects of the potato experiments.

He denied he had come under political pressure to dismiss the controversial scientist.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected calls for a moratorium on GM food saying there is a rigorous regulatory process before they reach supermarket shelves in the UK.

1990: Freedom for Nelson Mandela

England have

Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela has been freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years.

His release follows the relaxation of apartheid laws - including lifting the ban on leading black rights party the African National Congress (ANC) - by South African President FW de Klerk.

Mr Mandela appeared at the gates of Victor-Verster Prison in Paarl at 1614 local time - an hour late - with his wife Winnie.

Holding her hand and dressed in a light brown suit and tie he smiled at the ecstatic crowds and punched the air in a victory salute before taking a silver BMW sedan to Cape Town, 40 miles away.

Doctors treated over a hundred people as police clashed with youths looting shops in various cities and townships and several people were reported shot dead.

Mr Mandela, the deputy-president of the ANC, appeared on the balcony of Cape Town's City Hall to speak to the 50,000 people assembled outside at 2000 local time.

He acknowledged Mr de Klerk was a man of integrity, but said: "Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. Our march to freedom is irreversible."

"Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax now would be a mistake which future generations would not forgive," he continued.

As he addressed the crowd South African state television broadcast a profile of Mr Mandela - including a BBC interview from 1961 - which was the first time he had been shown speaking on TV.

Now 71, the lawyer from the Transkei homeland was convicted of treason and sabotage in June 1964 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

He spent most of his sentence on Robben Island, off Cape Town, doing hard labour.

Since the 1980s he has refused numerous offers for early release from the government in Pretoria because of the conditions attached.

1979: Victory for Khomeini as army steps aside

Artificially 1969:
The Supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini appear to be in control of the Iranian capital, Tehran, tonight.

Only 10 days since Khomeini's triumphant return to Iran from exile in Paris, the army has returned to barracks and given up the fight to defend the old regime.

Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar, brought in by the Shah only last month in an effort to win back popular support, has resigned and disappeared.

Iran radio is reporting rumours he has committed suicide after his home in North Tehran was attacked and burned down.

Abandoned tanks

Civilian demonstators have again been on the streets today, seizing control of police and fire stations, forcing the officers to flee and arming themselves with the weapons they found inside.

Khomeini set the country on a collision course five days ago when he established a provisional government under Mehdi Bazargan and called on people to demonstrate their support for an Islamic regime.

Ten people died in a battle for one police station today. In total the death toll is now put at 200 with 700 injured.

Demonstrators have taken control of the airport and radio and television station, where staff who had been on strike in support of the Ayatollah returned immediately and began broadcasting news about the takeover of the country.

Elsewhere protesters have set fire to barricades across the streets, even in the heart of the main shopping and business districts of the city.

Abandoned tanks have been left behind after soldiers previously loyal to the Shah have switched allegiances.

Foreign embassies have been raided for their weapons.

The only remaining resistance came from soldiers of the elite Imperial Guard, who were defending their headquarters in the north of the city at Lavizan and at two royal palaces.

An announcement on television said the three bases had been surrounded by revolutionary forces and negotiations were under way for their surrender.

Although there was no official announcement from Dr Bakhtiar of his resignation, the news has been repeatedly broadcast by the media.

There had been rumours of a possible military coup. But a meeting of senior generals this afternoon acknowledged this would split the army and cause serious bloodshed.

They put out a statement at 1400 local time ordering troops to return to their garrisons in order to prevent further bloodshed and anarchy .