1962: Russia frees US spy plane pilot

England have

American spy plane pilot Captain Francis "Gary" Powers has been freed from prison in the Soviet Union in exchange for a Russian spy jailed in the US.

Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison after his U-2 plane was shot down over Russia in May 1960.

But on Saturday Captain Powers, 32, walked into West Berlin across a bridge separating the city's east and western sectors.

At the same time Russian spy Colonel Rudolph Abel crossed in the opposite direction.

Colonel Abel had served five years of a 30-year term for running a spy ring in the US.

His sentence was commuted by US Attorney-General Robert Kennedy two weeks ago.

However, the Russians have always denied any knowledge of Colonel Abel and even now maintain Mr Khrushchev freed the US pilot simply as a "goodwill gesture".

Another American, student Frederic Pryor, was also freed from the eastern bloc at the same time as Gary Powers.

Mr Pryor had been held in East Germany without charge since last August.

Gary Powers' capture in 1960 caused an international crisis.

Initially the American authorities believed there was no evidence left of either plane or pilot and tried to convince the Russians the U-2 had been a weather plane.

However, the Russians then produced Mr Powers alive and well claiming he had admitted spying for the CIA.

Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev demanded an apology from US President Eisenhower and when none was forthcoming plans for a superpower summit in Paris collapsed.

US authorities have said it will be at least a week before the freed airman is allowed to meet the press.

In the meantime they will no doubt want to establish how Mr Powers came to be shot down when U-2s were believed to be impregnable to anti-aircraft fire.

They will also be keen to find out exactly how much Mr Powers told his captors about the spy planes.

There was speculation during his trial that he had said more than his oath of secrecy permitted.

The release of Captain Powers comes a year after that of the two US airmen whose reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over the Barents Sea in January 1960.

Four of the crew died. Authorities in the USSR claimed the plane had been in Soviet airspace.

The two survivors, John McKone and Freeman Olmstead, were held in prison in Moscow for a year before being freed.

1950: India shakes off British rule

Artificially 1969:
The The independent republic of India is officially born today, after nearly 100 years of British rule.

A public holiday has been declared throughout the country, and millions of people have been celebrating with processions and ceremonies to hoist the new flag of India for the first time.

India has been running her own affairs since the actual transfer of power from British to Indian hands on 15 August 1947.

But today's ceremonies mark the cutting of her last ties to Britain. India's first president has been sworn in, replacing the Queen as the country's head of state, and the new constitution ratified.

In the capital, Delhi, the day began with the 34th and last Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, reading out a proclamation announcing the birth of the Republic of India.

The new President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, then took the oath of office.

Dr Prasad was a key campaigner in the nationalist movement of Mahatma Gandhi, along with India's interim Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The president then addressed the crowd first in Hindi, and then in English.

"Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history," he said, "we find the whole of this vast land... brought together under the jurisdiction of one constitution and one union which takes over responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women who inhabit it."

Dr Prasad then drove through the streets in his state coach, greeted by thousands of people along the way.

The crowds were jubilant , but restrained - a marked change from the highly-charged atmosphere of August 15 1947, when the British finally left India.

Then, there were scenes of total chaos as the police struggled to control the crowd, and riots broke out across the city.

Over the next two years, hundreds of thousands died in the terrible violence that followed partition - the division of the British colony into two nations, the secular but Hindu-dominated India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Then in 1948 the man who steered India to independence, Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated.

Today, the place where he was cremated on the banks of the River Jumna became a site of pilgrimage for thousands of people.

Dr Prasad visited the spot soon after daybreak and joined in paying homage to the memory of the man now known as "the father of the nation".

1995: Space pioneers take first small steps

England have

The first Briton and the first African-American have walked in space as part of a Nasa experiment.

Dr Michael Foale - originally from Lincolnshire - and Dr Bernard Harris stepped out into the open cargo bay of the shuttle Discovery at 1210 GMT to test a modified space suit and astronaut endurance.

With his parents and American wife Mary watching by satellite link in a London TV studio, Dr Foale's first words as he peeped down to earth, 240 miles away, were: "Gosh it's high isn't it?"

He and Dr Harris clung to each other as they sat on the shuttle's robot arm.

They moved into the coldest area, in Discovery's shadow, and hung motionless in space for 20 minutes to test the efficiency of new insulation systems in their suits.

Indigenous Americans

Dr Harris dedicated his space walk "to all African-American achievements" and carried with him the flag of the Navajo nation to draw attention to indigenous Americans.

Together they manoeuvred a 1.25 tonne space-dust collecting satellite - the first of its kind.

But their planned five hours out in space were cut short when both astronauts complained of cold and the Nasa control-centre called them back into the shuttle at 1620 GMT. They spent over three hours at an average temperature of -92C.

It was Dr Foale's boyhood dream to be the first Briton in space - but he was beaten by Helen Sharman in 1991 - and he emigrated to the US to join Nasa in 1982.

A Cambridge graduate, with a doctorate in astrophysics, Michael Foale learnt to fly while he was at university and has already spent more than 436 hours in space since 1992.

Discovery's current mission is to last a total of eight days in preparation for building the international space station, scheduled to begin in 1997.

1966: New nuclear reactor for Dounreay

Artificially 1969:
The A nuclear reactor described as "the system of the next century" is to be built at the Dounreay power station on the north coast of Scotland.

Minister for Technology Frank Cousins made the announcement in parliament today.

Dounreay has been awarded the ?0m Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) in the face of competition from the Winfrith nuclear power station in Dorset.

Dounreay's remote location in Caithness, Scotland's most northerly county, was an important factor when construction of the nuclear power station began in 1955.

Its remoteness is believed to be one of the reasons why the PFR will be built there.

But Mr Cousins said the government had also taken into consideration the fact that Dounreay already had many of the required skilled staff and the necessary facilities.

At a press conference, Mr Cousins said there had been a change in attitude towards nuclear power and many local authorities had wanted the PFR built in their area.

Mr Cousins said the new reactors were "the future".

"They will be able to produce new nuclear fuel in the course of their operation and offer a prospect of even greater economy, as well as conservation in the use of uranium," Mr Cousins explained.

Scientists say the technology used by the PFR is the most economical way to produce electrical power.

Current nuclear reactors can extract only 2% of the energy available in nuclear fuel compared with up to 10% for the new reactors.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) will build and operate the prototype reactor.

UKAEA chairman Sir William Penney said it was hoped to have commercial power stations in operation by 1978.

But they would have a "real tough time" meeting that target, Sir William added, and it not come to fruition until a couple of years later.

Dounreay was the world's first electricity-producing "fast" reactor - the reactor itself being enclosed in a distinctive dome.

The new reactor will benefit the local economy in Caithness with 700 construction jobs to be filled.

1974: Americans end outer space marathon

England have

Three US astronauts have returned safely to Earth after a record-breaking stay in space.

The men - Dr Edward Gibson, Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Carr and Lieutenant Colonel William Pogue - proved mankind can live in space for prolonged periods.

They spent 85 days in the American space station, Skylab, which orbits the Earth at a height of 270 miles.

It was Nasa's last manned space flight for this decade and the third and final mission to Skylab.

Skylab will now be abandoned as space junk and is expected to break up in the atmosphere in about 11 years.

After a five hour journey through space the astronauts splashed down, as planned, in the Pacific Ocean in spite of a leak in one of the two jets on their landing craft.

Dr Gibson emerged from the scorched Apollo capsule saying "I feel great".

The three men overcame many of the problems associated with living in space, such as weightlessness.

The astronauts experimented with new diets and exercise routines to counter the changes in muscle, blood and bone commonly experienced by space crews.

It will still take them several weeks to fully recover from their three month trip, but they were already re-gaining their sense of gravity on board the assault ship - New Orleans - that picked them up off San Diego.

The 20,000 photographs and 19 miles of sound recordings the astronauts brought back with them will take scientists and astronomers several years to analyse.

A joint US-Soviet mission early next year - the Apollo-Soyuz project - will mark the last use of the rocket technology that landed Apollo on the moon and launched Skylab.

Nasa's first phase of extra-terrestrial adventure began 15 years ago and has so far cost millions of dollars.

The second chapter of space discovery will begin in the 1980s with a reusable shuttle.

1952: New Queen proclaimed for UK

Artificially 1969:
The Princess Elizabeth has formally proclaimed herself Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith.

Lords of the Council - numbering 150 - representatives from the Commonwealth, officials from the City of London - including the Lord Mayor - and other dignitaries witnessed the accession of the deceased king's eldest daughter this morning.

The new monarch read an official Proclamation - also ordered to be published - declaring her reign as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.

Queen Elizabeth II read: "By the sudden death of my dear father I am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty."

"My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over."

Her husband, Prince Philip of Greece, the Duke of Edinburgh, was also present at the 20 minute meeting at St James's Palace.

The couple returned to the UK yesterday after cutting short a tour of the Commonwealth - beginning in Kenya a week ago - because of King George VI's sudden death on 6 February.

After the Accession Declaration, at 1000 GMT, the new Queen held her first Privy Council meeting and her Proclamation was signed by the Lord Chancellor, the Prime Minister, and many other Privy Counsellors along with representatives of the Commonwealth and the City and the Lord Mayor of London.

During the ceremonies the 25-year-old Queen also took an oath to assure the security of the Church of Scotland and approved several other Orders in Council.

Other dignitaries formally announced the new sovereign across the UK and Commonwealth.

In a statement this evening UK Home Secretary Sir David Fyfe asked the nation for two minutes' silence on 15 February when the late King will be buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor.

1945: Black Sea talks plan defeat of Germany

England have

Plans are being drawn up by London, Washington and Moscow for the final phase of the war against Germany.

Leaders of the three countries, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Marshal Joseph Stalin, have been meeting at a secret location in the Black Sea area.

A statement issued this evening is the first official confirmation of the talks which are said to have begun three days ago.

According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Information in London the purpose of the meeting is to complete plans for the defeat of the "common enemy" and to build firm foundations for a lasting peace.

The three leaders, who are also accompanied by their chiefs of staff, foreign secretaries and other advisers, are said to have reviewed the latest information from all the battle fronts in Europe.

The statement continued: "There is complete agreement for joint military operations in the final phase of the war against Nazi Germany. The military staffs of the three governments are now engaged in working out jointly the detailed plans."

Discussions on how to secure a lasting peace have also been held. Topics likely to be considered are the occupation and control of Germany, the political and economic problems of a liberated Europe and proposals for an international organisation to maintain peace.

A further communiqu?is to be issued at the conclusion of the talks.

The statement gave no further details of the exact location of the meeting. But the Black Sea was considered an ideal choice as it gave Marshal Stalin easy access to Moscow and news from the eastern front.

There has been some speculation the three leaders might appeal over the heads of the German leadership to the people themselves to get out of a "lost war". The German media has already issued warnings that any such appeal should be ignored as an attempt to undermine the fighting will of its forces.

It seems likely much of the conference will be spent on working out the details of the administration of an occupied Germany. Already General Charles de Gaulle of France has declared his country would like to be involved.

There is also the thorny issue of a Russo-Polish settlement as well as a need to get urgently needed food and other supplies distributed as quickly as possible.

1987: S Korea clashes over student death

Artificially 1969:
The The independent republic of India is officially born today, after nearly 100 years of British rule.
A public holiday has been declared throughout the country, and millions of people have been celebrating with processions and ceremonies to hoist the new flag of India for the first time.

India has been running her own affairs since the actual transfer of power from British to Indian hands on 15 August 1947.

But today's ceremonies mark the cutting of her last ties to Britain. India's first president has been sworn in, replacing the Queen as the country's head of state, and the new constitution ratified.

In the capital, Delhi, the day began with the 34th and last Governor-General of India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, reading out a proclamation announcing the birth of the Republic of India.

The new President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, then took the oath of office.

Dr Prasad was a key campaigner in the nationalist movement of Mahatma Gandhi, along with India's interim Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

The president then addressed the crowd first in Hindi, and then in English.

"Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history," he said, "we find the whole of this vast land... brought together under the jurisdiction of one constitution and one union which takes over responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women who inhabit it."

Dr Prasad then drove through the streets in his state coach, greeted by thousands of people along the way.

The crowds were jubilant , but restrained - a marked change from the highly-charged atmosphere of August 15 1947, when the British finally left India.

Then, there were scenes of total chaos as the police struggled to control the crowd, and riots broke out across the city.

Over the next two years, hundreds of thousands died in the terrible violence that followed partition - the division of the British colony into two nations, the secular but Hindu-dominated India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Then in 1948 the man who steered India to independence, Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated.

Today, the place where he was cremated on the banks of the River Jumna became a site of pilgrimage for thousands of people.

Dr Prasad visited the spot soon after daybreak and joined in paying homage to the memory of the man now known as "the father of the nation".

1986: Seven dead in space shuttle disaster

England have

The American space shuttle, Challenger, has exploded killing all seven astronauts on board.

The five men and two women - including the first civilian in space - were just over a minute into their flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida when the Challenger blew up.

The astronauts' families, at the airbase, and millions of Americans witnessed the world's worst space disaster live on TV.

The danger from falling debris prevented rescue boats reaching the scene for more than an hour.

In 25 years of space exploration seven people have died - today that total has been doubled.

President Ronald Reagan has described the tragedy as "a national loss".

The Challenger's flight, the 25th by a shuttle, had already been delayed because of bad weather. High winds, then icicles caused the launch to be postponed from 22 January.

But Nasa officials insist safety remains their top priority and there was no pressure to launch the shuttle today.

The shuttle crew was led by Commander Dick Scobee, 46. School teacher Christa McAuliffe, 37, married with two children, was to be the first civilian in space - picked from among 10,000 entries for a competition.

Speaking before the launch, she said: "One of the things I hope to bring back into the classroom is to make that connection with the students that they too are part of history, the space programme belongs to them and to try to bring them up with the space age."

President Reagan has put off his state of the union address. He was meeting senior aides in the Oval Office when he learned of the disaster.

He has called for an immediate inquiry into the disaster but he said the space programme would go on - in honour to the dead astronauts. Vice-President George Bush has been sent to Cape Canaveral to visit the victims' families.

This evening, the president went on national television to pay tribute to the courage and bravery of the seven astronauts.

He said: "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

1968: Radiation alert following B-52 crash

Artificially 1969:
The A recovery team is searching for wreckage from an American Air Force B-52 bomber armed with four hydrogen bombs which crashed into the sea near the Arctic air base of Thule in Greenland.

Investigators are searching the area eight miles west of Thule for radioactive debris. The accident happened a week ago when the plane caught fire and the crew bailed out before the plane crashed through the ice.

The United States defence department says parts of the bombs have been found. But it is thought the radioactive detonators are still missing.

A team of 47 men with dog sleigh teams have been brought in to clear the wreckage. The sea surrounding the crash site has since re-frozen.

One of the scientists involved in the operation said all the wreckage was emitting low level radiation but there was no evidence of radiation on the snow.

The risk of contamination is said to be slight - except to those working on the spot who are equipped with protective clothing.

Two years ago, there was a similar accident involving a B-52 over the sea off Palomares in south-east Spain. The plane dropped its bombs over the Spanish coast.

It took nearly 80 days to recover the last of the four bombs on board that plane. The Spanish subsequently banned flights carrying nuclear weapons over their territory.

Plutonium specialist Dr Wright Langham, who is serving as a consultant to the recovery operation at Thule, said preliminary indications of the radiation levels showed two of the four weapons had broken.

He said: "One point to make is that since the count level is comparable to what we saw in Spain we can equate what we have here to what we had in Spain."

Dr Langham has insisted radiation is not a hazard at Thule. Most of the crash site has now been cleared of radioactive debris.

1987: Aquino surpresses rebel uprising

England have

President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino has forced a group of heavily armed rebels occupying a television station to surrender.

Her troops fired tear gas into the Channel 7 building in Manila to try to flush out the group who have occupied the centre for the last two days.

A few minutes later they all surrendered.

Around 1,000 heavily armed troops wearing gasmasks, surrounded the building just before the attack.

The rebels were warned that they had 15 seconds to surrender over a loud speaker but the army were forced to move in.

Following the stand off President Aquino said: "Here was a determined attempt to disrupt the affairs of government and those of the people at large.

"Here was a determined attempt to overthrow the first principle of democracy, which is civilian supremacy by those specially charged with its preservation."

Earlier, the rebel leader Colonel Oscar Canlas had hinted that they would surrender and follow orders from the Armed Forces, Chief General Fidel Ramos, who had repeatedly ordered the group to give themselves up.

But Colonel Canlas insisted that unspecified arrangements had to be made first and the armed forces refused.

Although the rebels had control of the building, loyal officials cut off their electricity supply to prevent them from broadcasting.

The take-over was part of a series of carefully orchestrated attacks on key military bases and broadcasting stations.

The rebels also attacked the Villamor air force base near Manila airport in the south of the city but armed forces prevented their assault after 10 minutes of heavy fighting.

Two rebels were killed and another 50 captured in the conflict.

General Ramos later said that government troops are now in control of all the areas targeted by the armed group.

1985: Thatcher snubbed by Oxford dons

Artificially 1969:
The Oxford University has delivered a stunning snub to the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by refusing her an honorary degree.

Academics have led a campaign against honouring Mrs Thatcher in protest against the government's cuts in funding for education.

The vote against the prime minister was much higher than expected 738 to 319 and was greeted with cheers by students who handed in a 5,000 signature petition.

It means she becomes the first Oxford-educated prime minister since the war to be denied the honour.

Over 1,000 academics and administrators packed into the ticket-only meeting last night.

The call to bestow an honorary doctorate of civil law on Mrs Thatcher, who obtained a second-class honours degree in chemistry at Somerville college, Oxford, in 1947, provoked a two-hour debate behind closed doors.

Academics are particularly concerned about government support for scientific research, which, they say, is now at crisis level.

The warden of All Souls, Sir Patrick Neill, was one of Mrs Thatcher's leading supporters. He was disappointed at the decision and said: "We have never given honorary degrees in the past because we approved or disapproved of someone's policies.

The principal of Mrs Thatcher's old college, also supported her nomination. Daphne Park said: "You don't stop someone becoming a fellow of an academic body because you dislike them."

But Professor Peter Pulzer, of All Souls, who led the opposition, said: "This is not a radical university, it is not an ideologically motivated university.

"I think we have sent a message to show our very great concern, our very great worry about the way in which educational policy and educational funding are going in this country.

"I hope the prime minister and the government and the country at large will take note."

Mrs Thatcher has not commented on the decision but a Downing Street spokesman said: "If they do not wish to confer the honour, the prime minister is the last person to wish to receive it."

1965: Last farewell to Churchill

England have

Thousands of people have paid their last respects to Britain's greatest wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill who was buried today after a full state funeral.

Silent crowds lined the streets to watch the gun carriage bearing Sir Winston's coffin leave Westminster Hall as Big Ben struck 0945. The procession travelled slowly through central London to St Paul's cathedral for the funeral service.

Sir Winston died six days ago, following a stroke earlier in the month from which he never regained consciousness.

A total of 321,360 people filed past the catafalque during the three days of lying-in-state.

Today, millions around the world watched the funeral procession at home and abroad as television pictures were beamed from 40 BBC cameras placed along the route.

The mourners were led by Sir Winston's wife, Lady Clementine Churchill, his son Randolph and daughters Mary Soames and Lady Sarah Audley. The Queen and other members of the royal family, the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and representatives of 112 countries packed into the cathedral for the service.

The funeral cortege was accompanied by a 19-gun salute and an RAF fly-past as it began the journey to Sir Winston's final resting place. At Tower Hill, the coffin was piped aboard the launch Havengore for the voyage up the Thames.

From Waterloo, it was placed onto a train drawn by a Battle of Britain locomotive named Winston Churchill. Thousands gathered to pay tribute at wayside stations. At many football matches a two-minute silence was observed.

Sir Winston was finally laid to rest in the Oxfordshire parish churchyard of Bladon, close to Blenheim Palace where he was born 90 years before, with only family members

1991: US Marines killed at Al Khafji

Artificially 1969:
The Iraqi troops have seized control of a town inside the Saudi Arabian border after a fierce battle in which both sides suffered casualties.

The Allies destroyed at least 24 Iraqi tanks in the fight for control of Al Khafji. Twelve American marines lost their lives - the first Allied casualties on land since Desert Storm began 14 days ago. There were no British soldiers involved in the fighting.

The attack on Al Khafji came as a surprise and the US military commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf, said it showed the Iraqis have "plenty more fight in them".

He was speaking to reporters as the first detailed assessment of the Allies' progress in the war was made public.

General Schwarzkopf said the Allies now have total air supremacy.

He said: "The Iraqis have abandoned centralised control of air defence within Iraq and Kuwait, a very important point."

Ammunition dumps have been destroyed and the main supply route between Baghdad and Kuwait disrupted.

Saddam Hussein's elite troops, the Republican Guard, have come under sustained aerial bombardment

At sea, 46 Iraqi ships have now been sunk. More warplanes and ships have taken refuge in Iran.

General Schwarzkopf said: "The simple fact of the matter is that now every time an Iraqi airplane takes off the ground it is running away, as a result [we] have now claimed air supremacy."

Reports from the northern Gulf suggest the Iraqis have begun dumping oil into the sea at Mina Al Bakr.

Iraqi shelling has already created a slick measuring 50 miles long by 12 miles wide (80km by 19km) which could seriously hamper any seaborne defence of Kuwait.

In his state of the union address to the American people following news of the first land battle, President George Bush praised the troops serving in the Gulf.

He said, "There is no-one more devoted more committed to the hard work of freedom than every soldier and sailor, every marine and coastguardsman, every man and woman now serving in the Persian Gulf."

1996: Fifty dead in Sri Lanka suicide bombing

England have

At least 53 people have been killed and another 1,400 injured in a suicide attack in the capital of Sri Lanka.

A lorry loaded with explosives crashed into the central bank in the heart of Colombo's financial district.

The authorities said the explosion, which ripped through the business district at 1100 local time was the work of the separatist Tamil Tigers.

The group's fight for an independent homeland has resulted in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people over the last 12 years.

It is believed that the intended target was the neighbouring navy headquarters.

Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe, a Sri Lankan military spokesman, said: "It had to be the Tamil Tigers. Who else would have done such a thing like this?"

The blast is thought to be in response to the army's claim on the main Tiger guerrilla base at Jaffna, on the north of the island, during a long and bloody campaign that ended last December.

Witnesses said a lorry stopped near the bank at about 1045 local time and the driver was confronted by security staff.

Three people jumped out of the vehicle with guns blazing and detonated two bombs.

Meanwhile, the lorry reversed into the central bank and blew up.

The police said the driver of the truck died in the blast.

Two youths wearing jackets filled with explosives were later arrested at the Fort railway station nearby.

The blast caused the first two floors of the 10-storey central bank to collapse and it shattered the windows of a 39-storey trade centre that was still under construction.

Office workers trapped on the upper floors of burning buildings nearby were lifted to safety by helicopters.

The Intercontinental Hotel, one of several luxury hotels in the area, was evacuated.

Most of the dead and wounded were in the Central Bank building, where Sri Lanka's gold reserves are held and the country's financial policy is made.

The director of the National Hospital's trauma unit, Hector Weerasinghe, said 53 people had died so far.

Around 1,060 people were admitted to two hospitals nearby while hundreds of others were released after treatment.

The blast comes as the government prepares an ambitious political offensive to end more than a decade of fighting.

It also follows a major government victory last month, when the Sri Lankan Army seized the city of Jaffna, a former stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Anuruddha Ratwatte, the deputy defence minister, said on state television: "If Velupillai Prabhakaran [the Tamil Tiger chief] thinks that by these acts he can stop our military offensive, he is dreaming.

"We say quite clearly that these acts will make us even more determined to destroy terrorism.''

The economic consequences of the blast for Sri Lanka will be catastrophic, both through direct losses and because of lost tourism and foreign investment.