Mr Aquino returned in spite of threats to his life

England have

The Philippines opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, has been assassinated just minutes after returning home from exile.

Mr Aquino, 50, had spent the last three years in the US but was returning home to contest next year's expected elections.

Speaking aboard the plane returning him to Manila, Mr Aquino told reporters he was well aware of the risk he was taking.

"I suppose there's a physical danger because you know assassination's part of public service," he said.

"My feeling is we all have to die sometime and if it's my fate to die by an assassin's bullet, so be it."

When his plane landed at Manila airport Mr Aquino was taken into custody by soldiers andescortedoff the plane.

Shortly afterwards witnesses on the plane said a volley of shots rang out and they saw him lying in a pool of blood on the runway tarmac.

The body of the man said to have been the assassin was nearby.

Mr Aquino's long-time rival, Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has said the assassin was a "professional killer".

But his claim that Mr Aquino was the victim of a lone gunman has not convinced many in the Philippines or the wider world.

The opposition parties in the Philippines are in disarray after nearly 20 years of rule under Ferdinand Marcos.

But it was widely expected that Mr Aquino would be able to unite them and mount a challenge to President Marcos in next year's elections.

Before his self-imposed exile he looked set for presidency after becoming the country's youngest member of parliament at the age of 35.

But after the imposition of martial law in 1972 he was labelled a Communist by President Marcos and imprisoned for seven years.

Three years after being sentenced to death for subversion in 1977 he was offered the chance to leave the country for heart surgery in the US.

After his treatment he did not return and became a focal point fordissidentsin the US.

The glacier has already caused massive damage

Large areas of forest, sea animals and fish stocks are endangered by the ice block - known as the Hubbard Glacier - which is on the move after thousands of years of inactivity.

The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidal water glacier in North America.

Rising 300-feet (91-metres) high and 6-miles (10km) wide from the ocean near Yakutat Bay off the coast of Canada and is moving up to 100 feet (30 metres) per day.

Dubbed the "galloping glacier", its endpoint has already blocked access to the Russell Fjord thereby turning it into a lake.

The ice advanced so rapidly that it trapped seals,porpoises, and other marine animals in the new lake.

A rescue effort has been mounted by environmentalists to capture the animals and transport them to safety.

Residents of the nearby town, Yakutat, are concerned the new freshwater lake may overflow into a local river.

They fear if that happens they may suffer from the loss of a profitable salmon-farming industry and a drop off in tourists who come to the town for fishing holidays.

Millions of pounds worth of damage has already been caused to the timber industry as whole sections of forest have beensubmerged.

Larry Mayo of the United States Geological Survey said the movement of the Hubbard Glacier was unprecedented in modern times.

"The sprint of the Hubbard is causing probably the largest natural alteration to occur in North America within our lifetimes," he said.

The Hubbard has been moving at a very slow pace for years but scientists say its current surge was set off last winter by the movement of other nearby glaciers.

They believe water may have built up beneath the glaciers reducing the natural friction that holds the ice in place.

escort: to accompany as safeguard（護(hù)衛(wèi)；護(hù)送）

dissident:a person who disagrees from some established policy（持不同政見者）

porpoise: any of several small gregarious cetacean mammals having a blunt snout and many teeth（海豚）

submerge:sink below the surface;cover completely or make imperceptible（淹沒；湮滅）