Witnesses described scenes of carnage in the minutes following the blast

England have

A bomb has exploded at a crowded concert in Atlanta, Georgia, the city hosting this year's Olympic Games.

Two people are reported to have been killed and firefighting officials say as many as 200 people may have been injured.

The explosion happened at 0125 local time during a rock concert in the Centennial Olympic Park.

Three months ago, the Atlanta Olympic Committee transformed the 21-acre site from an unused area of slums and old warehouses into a popular entertainment venue.

It has attracted an estimated 100,000 people day and night who gather to hear music, watch concerts and contests on giant screens or buy souvenirs.

A band called Jack Mack and the Heart Attack had just finished playing a song when the bomb went off near a sound tower.

After the blast, the area was immediately surrounded by police and cordoned off.

The nearby press centre was closed because guards feared another explosion.

Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos and carnage. People lay on the ground with head and other injuries as police tried to clear the area.

The police say they received a phone call warning of the bomb and describing its location but it was too late to evacuate the park. They did, however, manage to clear the immediate vicinity.

It is reported the caller's voice had the characteristics of a white American male.

Security at the Games - already billed by the authorities as the largest peacetime security operation for a public event in American history - has been stepped up with extra bag searches and regular sweeps for explosives.

It seems most visitors are determined the attack will not stop them enjoying the Games and events such as boxing, diving and track and field attracted healthy numbers of spectators today.

President Bill Clinton has reacteddefiantlysaying the Olympic Games should carry on as planned to show the nation would not be cowed by acts of terrorism.

"An act of vicious terror like this is clearly directed at the spirit of our own democracy," he said. "We must not let these attacks stop us from going forward. We cannot let terror win. That is not the American way."

He made his comments during a White House news conference just two days after announcing strict new security measures at US airports following the crash of TW Flight 800. On 17 July just 45 minutes after it left New York's Kennedy Airport the plane carrying 228 people exploded in mid air.

Bob Hope worked tirelessly to entertain American troops

He had been ill with pneumonia, and died in his sleep at home in Toluca Lake, California, with his family at his bedside.

US President George Bush led the tributes which poured in from around the world.

"Today America lost a great citizen," he said.

"Bob Hope made us laugh. He lifted our spirits. Bob Hope served our nation. We will mourn the loss of a good man."

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen, who met British-born Hope many times, was "very sad" to hear the news and would be sending a private message to his widow, Dolores, who was married to Hope for 69 years. The couple had four children.

Film-maker Woody Allen also joined the tributes, saying, "It's hard for me to imagine a world without Bob Hope in it."

Film critic Derek Malcolm said he was a talented comic actor.

"Many comics are depressed in real life, but he wasn't - unless he'd had a bad round of golf," he said.

Birthday celebrations were held in May to mark Bob Hope's centenary, but with failing eyesight and hearing, the comedian was not well enough to attend.

He was born Leslie Townes Hope in south-east London in 1903, the son of a stonemason and a Welsh concert singer.

He lived in Britain until he was four, when his family emigrated to Ohio, in the United States.

He trained in vaudeville, the American form of music hall entertainment, and became increasingly well-known through his film, television and radio work.

With Bing Crosby, he created one of the big screen's most memorable partnerships, with such classic comedies as "Road to Singapore".

He was a close friend of many US presidents, including Kennedy, Nixon, Ford and Reagan, and was especially known for his tireless work entertaining American troops wherever they were stationed around the world.

He was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honour in 1962 and received an honorary knighthood from the Queen in 1998.

But he never won the prize he most wanted - the Oscar.

Introducing the Oscars ceremony in 1968, he joked: "Welcome to the Academy Awards. Or as it's known in my house - Passover."

He was, however, given four honorary Oscars for his contribution to show business.

defiantly :挑戰(zhàn)地