7月5日号 1面
Man of the Moment
90歳を迎えるマンデラ氏、ジンバブエ情勢を懸念
The 90th birthday celebrations in London for Nelson Mandela, revered elder statesman of South Africa, were overshadowed by his criticism of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
On June 25, Mandela noted one of the crises currently facing the world is the "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
Mandela was in London to mark his 90th birthday on July 18 in a series of events, including meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Queen Elizabeth II and a June 27 concert for almost 50,000 people.
But Mandela had been pressed to comment on Mugabe, who ran unopposed in a presidential runoff election on June 27 after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the poll on June 22 and fled to the Dutch Embassy in Harare for safety.
Tsvangirai, who outpolled Mugabe in a March 29 presidential election but failed to gain the majority needed to take power, welcomed the former South African president's support.
"We appreciate the solidarity from Nelson Mandela," he said. "It is something we cherish."
A Zimbabwean government spokesman dismissed Mandela's comments, saying they came after bowing to Western pressure.
Mandela's concert, meanwhile, went ahead at Hyde Park with stars such as Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis,
Queen and Annie Lennox performing before 46,664 people. Mandela runs an AIDS / HIV charity called 46664, the prison number he was given when imprisoned for 27 years while fighting South Africa's apartheid rule. The concert was held 20 years after a feted show in London featuring Sting, Simple Minds and Stevie Wonder among the stars who urged Mandela's release from prison.
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【WORDS 単語をチェック】
revered 尊敬される statesman 指導者 overshadow 影を落とす note 言及する crisis (pl. crises) 危機 failure of ~ ~の失敗 press 強く求める run unopposed 対立候補無しで(選挙戦に)立候補する(後出 run は運営する) runoff election 決戦投票 opposition 野党 withdraw from the poll 選挙戦から撤退する flee to ~ ~へ避難する outpoll ~ ~より多く得票する gain the majority 過半数を得る take power 政権に就く appreciate 感謝する solidarity 結束 cherish 大事にする dismiss ~ ~を退ける bow to ~ ~に屈する imprison 投獄する apartheid 人種隔離政策 feted 敬意を表した urge 要求する 【写真説明】 proceeds 収益


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