The Kennedys drive through the streets of Dallas moments before his death

England

There was no conspiracy surrounding the death of President Kennedy but there were serious failures by those responsible for his protection, according to a government report.

The 300,000-word document, prepared by a special commission set up by President Johnson to investigate the assassination, ends months of speculation about the death of the president on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

The commission, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren of the Supreme Court, concludes in its report that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he fired three rifle shots at the president from the Texas School Book Depository.

It rules out suggestions that Oswald, 24, had an accomplice and that shots were fired from an overpass situated in front of the president's car.

It states that Oswald was also to blame for shooting a police officer with a revolver approximately three-quarters of an hour later on a Dallas street.

Ballistics analysis revealed both guns were owned by Oswald.

The report also found that Jack Ruby, 53, who shot Oswald dead two days after the president's death at a Dallas police station also acted on his own initiative.

But the security services responsible for protecting the president were severely criticised by the report.

The Secret Service was criticised for not taking adequate safety precautions prior to the trip and for not liaising enough with other government departments.

It is understood the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Office of Naval Intelligence all had dossiers on Oswald prior to the shooting following his defection from Russia to America in 1961.

The Secret Service, however, was unaware of his existence, the report stated.

The FBI was criticised for taking "an unduly restrictive view of its responsibilities in preventive intelligence work prior to the assassination."

The press and the media were also criticised for turning Dallas police station into "bedlam" after the assassination and the police officers themselves were condemned for not following correct interviewing procedures when quizzing Oswald about the shooting.

Water is reported to have flooded in through an open bay door

A car and passenger ferry, MS Estonia, has sunk in the Baltic Sea with 950 people on board.

The Estline ferry was sailing from Estonia to Sweden in bad weather and heavy seas when it sent a distress signal saying it was listing heavily.

About 30 people have been rescued , but officials say hopes of finding other passengers alive in the extremely cold waters are fading rapidly.

A crew member who survived the accident has told the BBC he had seen a loading bay door open and taking in water minutes before the MS Estonia sunk.

The last message from the stricken ferry - which was carrying mainly Swedish passengers from Tallinn to Stockholm - was received by the Finnish Coastguard at 0124 BST.

Survivors reported the boat sank within five minutes.

Helicopters and ships are still searching the area where the ferry went down, but the Finnish Coastguard said weather and sea conditions were terrible and the water temperature was only 8C.

Another rescue official said it was likely they would rescue only a fraction of the total number on board.

"It is very terrible work but we will do our best," he told the BBC.

A Swedish Maritime Safety official, Anders Lindstrom, said he had checked watertight seals on the ferry only 24 hours ago and found they were not safe.

"Had they looked at the vessel they would have found out the port at the front was not acceptable - there was some damage to it," he said.

Mr Lindstrom added there had also been complaints about the crew's ability to seal cargo correctly.

But a representative for Estline defended the shipping company's position at a news conference saying no conclusions should be drawn until a full investigation.

conspiracy: a secret plan by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal（密謀策劃；陰謀）

list: to lean to one side（向一側(cè)傾斜）