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50,000 tonnes of mystery meat recalled

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 10 April 2013 | 23.18

Authorities across Europe have been inspecting beef products over fears they contain horse meat. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

DUTCH authorities are recalling some 50,000 tonnes of meat that was sold as beef across Europe and possibly containing horse meat, because the exact source of the meat cannot be established.

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority said around 370 different companies around Europe and 130 more in the Netherlands are affected by the recall because they bought meat from two Dutch trading companies.

The authority says that because the exact source of the meat cannot be traced, "its safety cannot be guaranteed".

The statement added that Dutch authorities currently have "no concrete indications that there is a risk to public health".

Dutch authorities began a large-scale investigation into the country's meat industry in February following revelations across Europe that horse meat was being sold as beef.


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Louvre staff walk out over thefts

The Louvre museum has been closed as staff called a strike due to pickpockets becoming more and more numerous and agressive. Picture: AFP Source: AP

PARIS'S Louvre museum has closed due to a walkout by some staff in protest at a growing number of increasingly aggressive pickpockets, including children, targeting both workers and tourists, a union says.

The museum's management said it had already lodged a complaint with prosecutors in December 2012 and demanded a greater police presence.

"Two hundred staff exercised their right to walk off the job on Wednesday," a museum spokesperson said.

About 100 staff later gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture where a delegation was received.

Christelle Guyader of the SUD union said staff had had enough of the situation.

"Sometimes they come to work afraid because they find themselves confronted with organised groups of pickpockets who are increasingly aggressive and which include children, who get into the museum free and even when taken in for questioning by police come back a few days later," she said.

 

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Woman kept three babies in freezer

A Polish woman has confessed to killing three infants kept in her freezer. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

PROSECUTORS in northern Poland are questioning a woman suspected of killing her three newborn boys whose bodies were found in the family's freezer.

Police spokesman Slawomir Nojman said that the woman, identified as 41-year-old Lucyna D. from the northern town of Lubawa, has confessed to killing the infants.

If convicted of homicide, the woman could face a life sentence.

The woman said she kept the bodies in the freezer because she "could not part from them," said police spokeswoman Anna Fic.

Forensic examinations are seeking to determine the cause of death, and whether the babies were born alive - both crucial elements for prosecutors to prove in a court case.

The woman's husband was also arrested and was being questioned.

The couple was arrested late Tuesday after a neighbour alerted police to her suspicions when she saw no baby resulting from Lucyna D.'s pregnancy. Police searched the home and found the bodies in the freezer.

The couple have four children aged between 6 and 22, who were being cared for by relatives following the arrest of the parents.

In November, another 41-year-old woman, identified as Beata Z., was arrested in northeastern Poland on suspicion of killing at least five of her newborn babies.

Bodies of two boys and two girls have been confirmed as her children. Investigators are still looking for another body and they suspect that a sixth newborn was also killed.


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Cruise giant fined for Italy disaster

The capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia. Picture: AP Source: AP

ITALY'S Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe, has accepted limited responsibility for the Costa Concordia disaster in which 32 people died.

A court ruled the company will have to pay a fine of one million euros ($A1.26 million) and will no longer be investigated for alleged responsibility in the disaster.

Costa will instead aim to take part in the expected trial as an injured party.

"It is a balanced solution," the company's lawyer, Marco De Luca, told reporters in Grosseto in Tuscany where the court hearing was held and where preliminary hearings will begin on Monday to decide whether the accused should face trial.

Prosecutors have levied charges against six people including captain Francesco Schettino and the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit Roberto Ferrarini for the January 2012 incident.

The charges have to be confirmed before any trial can go ahead.

The giant luxury liner crashed into the Italian island of Giglio with 4229 people on board just as many passengers were dining on the first night of their Mediterranean cruise, prompting a panicked and chaotic night-time evacuation.

Dozens of passengers are suing the company for damages, although most of those who were not injured or did not lose loved ones have accepted 11,000 euros in compensation from Costa, which belongs to US giant Carnival.

Wednesday's ruling bears only on the criminal investigation and not on civil proceedings.


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Chinese trade up but data questioned

March figures show a boost to China's trade but experts have questioned the figures. Source: AFP

CHINA reported stronger trade in March in a possible positive sign for its recovery but analysts said the data might be inflated.

Imports rose 14.1 per cent after growing 5 per cent rate for the combined January-February period, customs data showed on Wednesday, suggesting Chinese manufacturers and consumers might be buying more.

Export growth slowed to 10 per cent from the previous two-month period's 23.6 per cent. That could add to challenges for newly installed Communist Party leaders as they try to sustain the rebound from China's deepest downturn since the 2008 global crisis and avoid job losses.

Analysts said, though, the data might be distorted by companies misreporting trade or government manipulation, clouding the picture of whether an economic recovery is gaining traction.

Exports probably are lower than reported, based on what is known about shipments into Hong Kong, which Beijing lists as its biggest trading partner, said Francis Lun, chief economist of GE Oriental Financial Group. Hong Kong is Chinese territory but is treated as a separate customs region.

"The figures in Hong Kong to and from China do not add up," he said. "Instead of 10 per cent growth, you have 2 or 3 per cent."

China's economic growth rose to 7.9 per cent in the three months ending in December, up from the previous quarter's 7.4 per cent. Analysts say the recovery from the country's deepest downturn since the 2008 global crisis is being propped up by government spending and could be vulnerable if trade or state-driven investment weakens.

Commentators raised questions after China's strong trade data failed to match up with much lower figures reported by its trading partners.

Some suggested companies might be reporting phony exports to get tax rebates or to evade Beijing's strict capital controls and move money into China with fictitious billing of foreign customers. Others say Beijing might have exaggerated trade volume to make the economy look healthier during the transition to new Communist Party leaders in recent months.

"Today's trade data release has not instilled any more confidence in either the quality of data or the strength of the recovery," said IHS Global Insight analyst Alistair Thornton in a report.

Other indicators show economic activity recovering but at a slow pace. A survey of manufacturing by a Chinese industry group showed activity improved in March but by only a fraction of one point on a 100-point scale.

Also in March, inflation fell, suggesting consumer demand might be weaker than authorities hoped.

Referring to February's explosive reported export growth, Alaistair Chan of Moody's Analytics said in a report, "It now seems that it was probably due to some issue with the reporting of exports, or possibly over-invoicing as firms evaded capital controls to bring in more foreign capital."

Chinese customs officials defended their data on Wednesday at a news conference.

"Every dollar that is listed in the customs trade data can be traced back to an actual declaration form," said Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for the bureau. "The exported or imported goods listed on the declaration form have to be something shipped across the border, either in or out."

Beijing's capital controls and tax breaks and other privileges for foreign investors give Chinese companies an incentive to covertly bring in money from abroad. Economists believe a large share of China's reported foreign investment is money sent abroad by Chinese companies and "round-tripped" back into the country.

China's trade is volatile in the first few months of each year as companies shut down for several weeks during the Lunar New Year and then buy raw materials to resume production.

March exports rose to $US182.2 billion ($174 billion) while imports were $US183.1 billion, leaving a rare monthly deficit of $US900 million, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The trade surplus with the United States narrowed by 34 per cent from a year earlier to $US11 billion. The surplus with the 27-nation European Union shrank 35 per cent to $US5.3 billion.

Exports to Germany, China's biggest European trading partner, fell 7 per cent while shipments to France declined 6.7 per cent.

Analysts have warned Beijing also faces possible risks from a rapid rise in bank lending and local government debt, part of which paid for the stimulus that helped China rebound quickly from the 2008 crisis.

The ratings agency Fitch cut its rating on China's long-term local currency sovereign debt late Tuesday, citing potential risks from rapid growth in credit and local government debt loads. The rating was cut from AA- to a still healthy A+.

The change is unlikely to cause trouble for the government because it has relatively low debt levels compared with other major economies. Fitch left its rating on China's foreign-currency government debt unchanged.

Fitch said its analysts believe China's total credit may have risen to the equivalent of 198 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2012 from 125 per cent in 2008. It said that includes bank credit and informal lending used by entrepreneurs who often cannot get loans from the state-owned financial industry.

Debt of local governments rose to 25.1 per cent of GDP at the end of 2012 from 23.4 per cent a year earlier, Fitch said.

"Risks over China's financial stability have grown," said a Fitch statement. It warned that "underlying structural weaknesses" including relatively low economic development despite rapid growth "weigh on China's ratings."
 


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Yamaha to make $500 motorbike

Spanish MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo rides a Yamaha. The company has plans to make a $US500 motorbike. Source: AP

JAPAN'S Yamaha said it was developing "the world's cheapest motorcycle" in India priced at $US500 ($478), which it plans to export.

The low-cost bike with an engine size of around 100cc will be worked on at its research centre in Uttar Pradesh state, but the company declined to give a launch date.

"Developing the product in India will give us substantial cost advantage and enable us to price it competitively," Hiroyuki Suzuki, chief executive of India Yamaha Motor told reporters in New Delhi.

The bike will be sold first in India and then exported to Latin America, Africa and the "factory to the world" China - usually the source of low-cost manufactured goods.

"Our target is to develop the cheapest bike at around $US500 for both in India and export markets," said senior Yamaha research and development manager Toshikazu Kobayashi.

Analysts see Yamaha's move as part of a strategy to target commuters in India having previously focused on producing sporty and performance-led bikes.

Yamaha currently produces 400,000 units in India, with a target of one million by 2014.

But some analysts had doubts about a cheap bike meant for Chinese consumers.

"China already has cheap gas or electric-run bikes, often priced very cheap," analyst Mahantesh Sabarad of Fortune Equity Brokers said.

Rival Bajaj Auto has also introduced low-cost variants for export to other Asian countries, analysts said.

Sales in India's once-booming motorcycle market touched 10.08 million units in the fiscal year to March 2013, up just 0.12 per cent year-on-year as low consumer spending and high-interest rates hit sales, industry data showed Wednesday.
 


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Ancient mystery beneath Sea of Galilee

An Israeli couple relax on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeologists have discovered a massive rock structure they believe could be more than 4000 years old beneath the waves. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

ARCHAELOLOGISTS have discovered a mysterious, ancient monumental stone structure in the waters of the Sea of Galilee.

The giant structure is cone-shaped, made of "unhewn basalt cobbles and boulders," and weighs around 54,400 tonnes, researchers wrote in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

The mysterious rock pile is 10 metres high and 70 metres in diameter - about twice the diameter of Stonehenge.

Researchers believe the structure is a giant cairn, or rock pile that is often used to mark burials.

"The shape and composition of the submerged structure does not resemble any natural feature. We therefore conclude that it is a man-made and might be termed a cairn," researchers wrote. They speculated it was either built under water to attract fish, or was built on dry land that has since been covered by rising sea levels.

The structure was first spotted during a sonar scan of the Sea of Galilee, prompting researchers to don scuba gear for a closer look. The structure is made up of large boulders around 1-metre long. There appear to be no walls, divisions or construction pattern.

The "effort invested in such an enterprise is indicative of a complex, well-organised society, with planning skills and economic ability," researchers wrote in their paper.

The large underwater structure consists of a pile of 1-metre tall boulders in a circular pile, with a diameter twice that of Stonehenge, above. Picture: Thinkstock

One of the researchers, Ben-Gurion University's Israel Antiquity Authority Yitzhak Paz said the structure could be 4000 years old, similar to other ancient structures found nearby.

"The more logical possibility is that it belongs to the third millennium B.C., because there are other megalithic phenomena [from that time] that are found close by," Mr Paz told LiveScience.

The ancient Khirbet Beteiha, which is made up of three concentric stone circles and dates to the Bronze Age, is 30 km north east of the underwater discovery.

The Sea of Galilee find is also just north of the site of ancient city Khirbet Kerak, which was one of Israel's largest and most heavily guarded cities in third millennium BC, researchers said.


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'Kim battling to control troops'

Former North Korean spy Kim Hyun-Hee says Kim Jong-Un is using threats to try and shore up support from his military. Source: AFP

A FORMER North Korean spy who bombed a South Korean airliner said that the North's leader Kim Jong-Un is struggling to control his military.

Kim Hyun-Hee, who said she was ordered by Jong-Un's father Kim Jong-Il to bomb the airliner in 1987 killing 115 people, said she believes the son is still trying to establish himself following his father's death in December 2011.

"Kim Jong-Un is too young and too inexperienced," she told Australia's ABC television in an exclusive interview from Seoul, where she lives at an undisclosed location surrounded by bodyguards.

"He's struggling to gain complete control over the military and to win their loyalty. That's why he's doing so many visits to military bases, to firm up support."

The North has been turning up the rhetoric for weeks and on Tuesday reiterated a warning that the Korean peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war, advising foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

Kim Hyun-Hee told ABC there was method in the North Koreans' madness in threatening thermo-nuclear war.

"North Korea is using its nuclear program to keep its people in line and to push South Korea and the United States for concessions," said Ms Kim, who was captured after boarding the doomed 1987 plane in Baghdad.

A North Korean soldier looks on from the banks of the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong.

She got off during a stopover in the Gulf, leaving a time bomb in an overhead compartment, but was arrested with another agent when they tried to leave Bahrain using fake Japanese passports.

Both immediately swallowed cyanide capsules. The man died almost instantly but Ms Kim survived and was brought to Seoul, where she confessed and was eventually pardoned.

Ms Kim published a book entitled Tears of My Soul describing her training at a North Korean spy school, and donated the proceeds to families of victims of the bombing.

She married one of her security guards and now lives in Seoul, still fearful that North Korean assassins could strike at any time, ABC said.

It came as South Korea has raised its military watch alert to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

U.S. Army soldiers prepare for an exercise during their annual military drills with South Korea in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "anytime from now on" and warned Pyongyang it could trigger a fresh round of UN sanctions.

On Tuesday, the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear'' war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

In a further sign of rising nuclear tensions, a key border crossing between North Korea and China has been closed to tourist groups, a Chinese official said Wednesday.

An official at the Dandong Border Office, who declined to give his name, told media: "Travel agencies are not allowed to take tourist groups to go there, since the North Korean government is now asking foreign people to leave. As far as I know, business people can enter and leave North Korea freely."

MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA 'REAL'.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.

A South Korean soldier walks along barricades on the road leading to North Korea at a military checkpoint in the border city of Paju.

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

In a separate report, Yonhap quoted a government source as saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, after other launch vehicles were reportedly detected carrying shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

Although the North's warnings to embassies in Pyongyang and foreigners in the South were both largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

UN warns of 'dangerous' tension

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome that he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama on Thursday.

"The current level of tension is very dangerous, a small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement may create an uncontrollable situation," Mr Ban said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, meanwhile, criticised Pyongyang for more "unhelpful rhetoric" that only served to create more uncertainty.

A North Korean soldier, centre top, looks at the southern side as South Korean soldiers stand guard at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War.

North Korea has wielded the "thermo-nuclear war" threat several times in recent months - most recently on March 7 - despite expert opinion that it is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.

The current crisis on the Korean peninsula has been intensifying almost daily since the North's nuclear test in February, which drew toughened UN sanctions.

Incensed by ongoing South Korean-US military exercises, Pyongyang has accused Washington and Seoul of preparing an invasion and threatened dire military actions from artillery barrages to nuclear strikes.

South Korea last went to Watchcon 2 around the time of the North's nuclear test, and its long-range rocket launch last December.

The Watchcon system solely relates to surveillance levels and is separate from the Defcon system of military preparedness.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4000 kilometres.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.

Japan, where the armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, said Tuesday it had deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

In addition to PAC-3 batteries, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles have been deployed in the Sea of Japan.

But a top US military commander, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said he favoured shooting down a North Korean missile only if it threatened the United States or Washington's allies in the region.

If North Korea pushes ahead with the launch, the UN Security Council will convene immediately, Foreign Minister Yun said.

"It's hard to predict what kind of action the Security Council might take, as the nature of such a launch would have to be analysed first," he said, adding fresh sanctions were a possibility.

Satellites find 'missing' NK missiles

The move to Watchcon 2 comes after it was revealed United States spy satellites had found two 'missing' North Korean nuclear-capable missiles.

CNN reported US officials were expecting a launch by North Korea "at any time".

Any such "test" launch would be seen as a further escalation of already high tensions in and around the Korean peninsula.

Things could be made worse if North Korea does not issue a "standard warning" of a missile test firing to commercial aviation and maritime shipping.

"We hope they issue a notification but at this point we don't expect it. We are working on the assumption they won't, " the official said.

US officials have confirmed that satellites have been kept over the suspected launch areas for the past week in order to locate - and monitor - the launch vehicles. Bad weather has made their job harder, they said.

The launchers are said to be about half-way down the North Korean east coast and about 20km inland. Satellite imagery shows the missiles have been fuelled and positioned for launch.

The Pentagon has announced it is ready to respond to any missile aimed at America or its allies.

The commander of US forces in the Pacific sought to reassure Congress that the Pentagon would be able intercept a missile. US satellites and radars in the region will be able to detect and quickly calculate the missiles' trajectory.

HOWARD REJECTS IRAQ WAR BASED ON A LIE.

This would help determine if the launch was hostile - or a test.

The missiles would be shot down by land or sea based anti-missile weapons if they were to track over South Korea or Japan.

Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear said: "We have a credible ability to defend the homeland, to defend Hawaii, to defend Guam, to defend our forward deployed forces, and to defend our allies,'' Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The US has never sought to shoot down a North Korean missile, and it's unclear if such a move would escalate the tension that has roiled the region. The Obama administration has moved additional military forces into the Pacific, but has sought to calibrate its response in the matter to avoid fueling the crisis.

A "counter-provocation plan" drawn up by US and South Korean officials calls for their combined military forces to respond proportionally to a North Korean attack, but to avoid any step that could set off an escalation of hostilities.

Direct attack on South unlikely

Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea's 1.2 million-man army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.

South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast but nothing pointed toward South Korea.

Still, North Korea's earlier warning that it won't be able to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats after April 10 has raised fears that it will conduct a missile or nuclear test today, resulting in US retaliation.

The United States and South Korea have raised their defence postures, and so has Japan, which deployed PAC-3 missile interceptors in key locations around Tokyo yesterday as a precaution against possible North Korean ballistic missile tests.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermonuclear war due to the evermore undisguised hostile actions of the United States and the south Korean puppet warmongers and their moves for a war against" the North, said a statement by the North Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, an organisation that deals with regional matters.

The statement is similar to past threats that analysts call an attempt to raise anxiety in foreign capitals. Observers say a torrent of North Korean prophecies of doom and efforts to raise war hysteria are partly to boost the image of young and relatively untested leader Kim Jong-un at home, and to show him as a decisive military leader.

GALLERY: KOREAN TENSIONS INTENSIFY.

Another reason could be to use threats of war to win Pyongyang-friendly policy changes in Seoul and Washington. Last week, North Korea told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang that it will not be able to guarantee their safety as of Wednesday. It is not clear what the significance of that date is.

Tourists continued to arrive in Pyongyang despite the war hysteria.

Australian Mark Fahey of Sydney said he was not concerned about a possible war.

"I knew that when I arrived here it would probably be very different to the way it was being reported in the media," he told The Associated Press at Pyongyang airport. He said his family trusts him to make the right judgment but "my colleagues at work think I am crazy."

Chu Kang Jin, a Pyongyang resident, said everything is calm in the city.

"Everyone, including me, is determined to turn out as one to fight for national reunification ... if the enemies spark a war," he said, in a typically nationalist rhetoric that most North Koreans use while speaking to the media.

WHAT WILL CHINA DO IF NORTH KOREA ATTACKS?

In Seoul, South Korean Presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing told reporters that the North Korean warning amounted to "psychological warfare."

"We know that foreigners residing in South Korea as well as our nationals are unfazed," she said.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has sought to re-engage North Korea with dialogue and aid since taking office in February, expressed exasperation with what she called the "endless vicious cycle" of Seoul answering Pyongyang's hostile behaviour with compromise, only to get more hostility.

Yesterday North Korea said it was suspending work at the Kaesong industrial park near its border, which is combines South Korean technology and know-how with North Korea's cheap labour. North Korea pulled out more than 50,000 workers from the complex, the only remaining product of economic cooperation between the two countries that started about a decade ago when relations were much warmer.

Other projects from previous eras of cooperation such as reunions of families separated by war and tours to a scenic North Korean mountain stopped in recent years.

Forces deployed on the Korean Peninsula.


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Falklands troops in Thatcher funeral plans

A line of British soldiers in camouflage advancing during the Falklands War. Some troops from the war will be involved in Margaret Thatcher's funeral service. Source: Getty Images

SOLDIERS involved in recapturing the Falkland Islands will be involved in the funeral procession for former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Details of the funeral came as Baroness Thatcher's son spoke for the first time of his 87-year-old mother's death on Monday saying she would have been "honoured and humbled" by her funeral arrangement and particularly the planned attendance by the Queen.

The British Ministry of Defence said today the Welsh Guards would be among the troops and act as coffin bearers next Wednesday during Baroness Thatcher's funeral procession from The Strand to St Paul Paul's Cathedral.

The Welsh Guards, which suffered heavy losses during the Falklands conflict with 32 fatalities among 48 members of the British forces who died when troop ship Sir Galahad was bombed by the Argentines in May 1982.

Baroness Thatcher's coffin will be taken on a Gun Carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from St Clement Danes Church, the church of the Royal Air Force, in the Strand to St Paul's.

The Gun Carriage will be drawn by six horses, three of which are to be mounted, with a sergeant riding alongside, an officer riding in front and three dismounted troops on foot.

A Bearer Party made up of all three services will walk alongside the coffin, and will include those from ships, units and stations notable for their service during the Falklands Campaign.

Members will be taken from the Royal Navy/Royal Marines; the Scots Guards; the Welsh Guards; the Royal Artillery; the Royal Engineers; the Parachute Regiment; the Royal Gurkha Rifles; and the RAF.

A band of Royal Marines will also take part in the procession, and as it takes place the Honourable Artillery Company will fire Processional Minute Guns from the Tower of London.

Sir Mark Thatcher said his mother had been blessed with "a long life, and a very full one", but her death was a very sad moment.

"We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support, condolence, of every type, from far and wide, and I know that my mother would be pleased they have come from people of all walks of life," he said.

Sir Mark added the messages of support following his mother's death would be a "source of encouragement and strength as we face the inevitable days ahead".

Yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron led the tributes to Baroness Thatcher's legacy at a hastily recalled parliament.

Mr Cameron gave an animated address, peppered with colourful anecdotes from her life, illustrating her contrast as a strong leader and a caring and loving wife and mother.

He recognised many in the House, particularly from Labour ranks, would have profoundly disagreed with her policies but he said it showed the importance of British statesmanship that so many attended parliament during what is suppose to have been a recess.

He said she was an "extraordinary woman" who had rescued Britain from post-war decline and while her policies were controversial, many were now accepted by politicians of all colours.

"They say 'cometh the hour, cometh the man', well in 1979 came the hour and came the lady," Mr Cameron told the House.

"She made the political weather, she made history, and - let this be her epitaph - she made our country great again."

Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband gave a very measured, deft view of her legacy, praising her for recognising the economy needed to change, right to recognise the Falklands needed to be defended, right to reach out to Mikhail Gorbachev – that would later lead to the thawing of the Cold War and warned of climate change before many people had even heard of the term. She broke the mould in many respects he said.

But he said it had to be recognised she also created deep divisions, her policies had left communities feeling anger and abandonment and some sections like gays and lesbians felt stigmatised, she was wrong in action against the miners and misdirected in her criticism of Nelson Mandela.

He said she did however define the age and take on established orthodoxies and believed that ideology mattered.

Third speaker for the day was Tory MP John Redwood, a former chief policy adviser for Baroness Thatcher who became an MP himself, described her as the best boss he had ever had. He began his speech praising both the prime minister and Opposition leader for their very fine tributes.

A substantial number of Labour MPs chose not to attend the recalled Westminster sitting.
 


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