Security tight for Thatcher funeral
By Anonymous on Apr 17, 2013 02:42 am 16 April 2013 Last updated at 22:35 ET 
Lady Thatcher's union jack-draped coffin was placed in a chapel in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday
A security operation involving more than 4,000 police officers is getting under way for the funeral of former UK Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher.
Lady Thatcher's coffin will travel from Westminster and be taken in procession through central London for the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral at 11:00 BST.
Some 2,300 people, representing 170 countries, are expected to attend. The Queen will be among them.
Scotland Yard said it was expecting some protests along the funeral route.
Lady Thatcher, who was Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990, died on 8 April, following a stroke, at the age of 87.
'Humble service' She has been accorded a ceremonial funeral with military honours, one step down from a state funeral.
Continue reading the main story Rarely can a death have provoked such debate, such division, so much reflection. Today, though, is the moment when the British political establishment - the prime minister and other party leaders as well as all former occupants of Number 10 - comes together.
Messrs Cameron, Clegg and Miliband, Major, Blair and Brown will unite to pay their respects to and mark the passing of the woman who they all agree was the giant of her - of their - age. So too the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Big Ben will be silenced. Prime Minister's Questions has been cancelled.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the political arguments Margaret Thatcher once relished and provoked in death as well as in life may also be stilled - at least temporarily - as a family and friends mourn and a nation remembers a leader who had such a profound impact on our national life.
Her coffin will initially travel by hearse from the Palace of Westminster, where it has lain overnight, to the Church of St Clement Danes - the Central Church of the RAF - on the Strand.
It will then be transferred to a gun carriage to be drawn by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, who will lead it in procession to St Paul's.
The processional route will be lined by more than 700 armed services personnel. A gun salute will be fired from the Tower of London every minute while the procession is taking place.
The Dean of St Paul's said the funeral would be "relatively humble" in line with Lady Thatcher's wishes.
The Very Rev Dr David Ison said she had played a large part in planning the funeral over the past six years.
He said the "simple" service would be in contrast to the "pomp and ceremony" surrounding the transit of the coffin.
"Mrs Thatcher wanted something that was very simple and it is not at all triumphalist," he said.
Continue reading the main story How to watch or listen
- BBC One 09:15 BST - 12:15 BST: David Dimbleby hosts live coverage, starting as the coffin leaves Westminster to the end of service at St Paul's Cathedral. Coverage from the service at 11:00 BST will also be shown on BBC World News
- Radio 4 10:00 BST - 12:00 BST: Sian Williams and James Naughtie cover the procession and funeral
- Radio 5 Live 09:30 BST - 14:00 BST: Special outside broadcast with full coverage of the procession and funeral
- BBC News Channel 08:00 BST: Simon McCoy and Jane Hill host live coverage from Westminster and St Paul's
- BBC World Service 11:00 BST: World Service English and some language services will cover the funeral service live
- BBC News website 07:00 BST: Live coverage in text and video throughout the day
"There is no eulogy, she is only mentioned once or twice in the service. It uses the book of common prayer, which is actually quite austere in places."
As well as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, all 32 members of the current cabinet will attend the service, along with more than 30 members of Lady Thatcher's cabinets from her time as prime minister.
There will be more than 50 guests associated with the Falkland Islands, including veterans from the 1982 conflict with Argentina, but Argentina's ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, has declined an invitation to attend.
In total, two current heads of state, 11 serving prime ministers and 17 serving foreign ministers from around the world will attend.
Six police forces from outside London have sent specialist officers to help with escorting foreign dignitaries.
'Difficult balance' Wednesday's House of Commons sitting has been delayed until 14:30 BST, meaning the cancellation of Prime Minister's Questions, in order to allow MPs to attend - a move approved in a Commons vote on Tuesday.
The Metropolitan Police said it had been contacted by a small number of protesters to say they were planning action on the funeral route in protest at the impact of some of Lady Thatcher's policies while she was in power. Other protests are expected elsewhere.
Lady Thatcher was British prime minister between 1979 and 1990
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said although Monday's bomb attack at the Boston Marathon was not believed to have led to any significant changes in security for the funeral, it was expected that the police and public would be more vigilant.
He said arguably the biggest headache for police was how to respond to any spontaneous protests along the funeral route or close to mourners.
Senior officers acknowledged they had a "difficult" balance to strike between allowing people to express their opinions and maintaining order, he added.
Police have powers to arrest those who use "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour", but Scotland Yard said it was not for the police to "uphold respect".
Lady Thatcher's union jack-draped coffin was placed in the Palace of Westminster's Chapel of St Mary Undercroft overnight on Tuesday.
A short service, led by the Dean of Westminster, was held for members of the family, senior parliamentarians, and staff from Parliament and Downing Street.
The House of Commons speaker's chaplain kept vigil in the chapel through the night.
The chimes of Big Ben will be silenced for the duration of Lady Thatcher's funeral. St Paul's has published a full funeral order of service.
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Pressure cooker clues to Boston bomb
By Anonymous on Apr 17, 2013 03:29 am 16 April 2013 Last updated at 18:40 ET 
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The blasts left three people dead and more than 170 injured
US President Barack Obama will travel to Boston on Thursday for a religious service dedicated to the victims of the bomb attack on the city's marathon.
The White House said Mr Obama has cancelled a planned trip to Kansas to speak at the interfaith service.
Three people died, including an eight-year-old boy, and more than 170 were injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of Tuesday's race.
Meanwhile, the FBI says the bombs may have been hidden in black backpacks.
FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers told a news conference that pieces of nylon - which could be from backpacks - had been recovered from the scene along with fragments of ball bearings and nails that were "possibly contained in a pressure-cooker device".
He said they were being sent to the agency's laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, where experts would reconstruct the devices to determine their make-up and components.
Continue reading the main story "Start Quote
The mood in America after the Boston bombings generally seems one of sadness and horror but not one of anger or ramped-up patriotism. This is not 9/11"
End Quote He added: "The investigation is in its infancy. There are no claims of responsibility and the range of suspects and motives remains wide open."
Speaking at the same news conference, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the Boston community would "recover and heal" from the attack.
"This is one community. We are all in this together," he said
Earlier, President Obama condemned the bombings as a terrorist act.
He said the bombing was "heinous and cowardly" but cautioned that the motive was not yet known and no-one was in custody.
One of those who died has been named as eight-year-old Martin Richard, from the Dorchester area of Boston.
He was at the finishing line with his mother and sister, who were both seriously injured.
"They were looking in the crowd as the runners were coming to see if they could identify some of their friends when the bomb hit," Congressman Stephen Lynch, a friend of the Richard family, told Associated Press.
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Boston police: "When you have an event like this, you can't lock it down"
Flowers and tributes were being placed outside the family's home on Tuesday.
A second victim was named in US media as Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager.
Her father released a statement saying the family was devastated.
Boston University said the third person who died was a graduate student. In a statement on Tuesday, it said it was not releasing the name or any other information about the student pending permission from the family.
However, it said the student was one of three friends watching the race near the finish line. Another of the three students was injured and is in a stable condition in hospital, the university added.
Read in browser » Tesco's exit from US to cost £1.2bn
By Anonymous on Apr 17, 2013 03:17 am 17 April 2013 Last updated at 02:20 ET 
Tesco has 199 Fresh & Easy stores in the US
Tesco's annual profits have fallen for the first time in almost 20 years, as the UK's biggest supermarket confirmed it was pulling out of the US.
Tesco is closing its US chain of 199 Fresh & Easy shops, which have never made a profit, at a cost of £1.2bn.
Including write-downs and one-off costs, Tesco's statutory pre-tax profits tumbled 51% to £1.96bn.
The results come a difficult time, with supermarkets in the UK recovering from the horsemeat scandal.
Read in browser » Cardiff fans celebrate promotion
By Anonymous on Apr 17, 2013 01:51 am 16 April 2013 Last updated at 17:45 ET 
Fans celebrate Cardiff City's promotion after the draw with Charlton
Cardiff City fans are celebrating the club winning promotion to the Premier League.
The Championship leaders needed just a draw at home to Charlton to secure top level football next season.
It came exactly 53 years to the day Cardiff last won promotion to football's top tier but a first since the Premier League came into being.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said promotion was fantastic news for Cardiff City and for Welsh football.
"The club and its supporters have been through some testing times in recent years but this season Malky and the team have done a great job of keeping their heads and getting results and with this promotion. They have made the city truly proud," said Mr Jones.
"This achievement will place Cardiff on the world-stage, with visiting supporters bringing vast economic benefits to the city.
Grown men cried "We must now work together to maximise the opportunities that promotion brings to the club, the city and to Wales."
Inside the Cardiff City stadium there was an expectant but nervous atmosphere throughout most of the game.
Thousands of fans who had seen their team go so close so many times were aware that city had a painful habit of stumbling.
But as word spread round the ground that Watford were losing supporters got to their feet, finally convinced that this would be the night.
When the final whistle blew the stadium erupted and thousands of fans poured onto the pitch.
Grown men cried and hugged each other as the realisation that a dream had come true.
It took a long time to clear the fans to allow the club owner Vincent Tan and the players to reappear for more accolades.
Eventually the stadium emptied as thousands of supporters headed into the night and for a celebratory drink or two.
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The Championship leaders only needed a draw at home against Charlton Athletic to secure top flight football next season
Herald bonanza The club can also expect a major windfall from TV revenue by joining Swansea City among the elite.
They drew 0-0 with Charlton Athletic, gaining the point they needed to secure promotion to the Premiership.
Next season two of the Premier League's 20 clubs will be Welsh.
Malaysian-owned Cardiff were last promoted to the old first division of the Football League on 16 April 1960.
The club were relegated two seasons later and have had their share of struggles over the years, including periods in the league's bottom tier in the late 1980s and 1990s.
They came close to promotion to the Premier League in 2010 but lost to Blackpool in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Craig Bellamy celebrates after Cardiff's historic promotion to the Premier League
Led by Scottish manager Malky Mackay, the Bluebirds have been top of the Championship since late November and another sell-out crowd of more than 26,000 saw the team clinch promotion at Cardiff City Stadium.
Promotion to the top flight is expected to herald a bonanza for both the club and the city of Cardiff.
A recent study estimated that Swansea's first Premier League season was worth £58m to the city, creating or securing about 340 jobs.
Various estimates put the value to the city from Cardiff's promotion as being worth between a few hundred to 5,000 jobs.
Cardiff Council leader Heather Joyce congratulated the club on securing promotion, calling it a fantastic achievement and said it was a historic, exciting day.
"Having Premier League football in Cardiff is vitally important for this city," she said.
"As a capital we're used to hosting major events but Premier League football has been the missing piece in our sporting jigsaw so it is really thrilling that Cardiff will now be able to host some of the biggest names in world football such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
"And of course the economic boost for the city will also be huge, with today's promotion potentially leading to hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs as well as the tourism benefits that the number of visiting fans will bring."
South Wales Central AM and leader of the Conservatives in the assembly Andrew RT Davies said: "Cardiff have had a fantastic season and I am overjoyed that promotion has now been secured."
Cardiff City chairman Vincent Tan celebrating his team's promotion
Plaid Cymru AM Lindsay Whittle, the party's spokesperson on sport, said: "This is great news for Wales for we will have two teams in the top division for the first time in history. I'm sure fans of Cardiff City and Swansea City are looking forward to renewing their passionate rivalry."
For the 20 Premier League sides, the new TV deal is expected to be worth £30m to each club in the 2013/14 season.
Cardiff City's Malaysian owner Mr Tan is understood to have big plans for the club with its growing stature.
In an interview with BBC Wales earlier this year he revealed he plans to turn the club into a force in Asia.
Mr Tan said he would spend up to £25m on new players if City reached the Premier League and defended the controversial re-brand in which the team's shirts changed from blue to red.
Read in browser » 'Ricin' in letter to US senator
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 10:12 pm 16 April 2013 Last updated at 18:52 ET 
A letter containing ricin or another poisonous substance has been posted to a US senator, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said.
The letter was intended for Roger Wicker, a Republican senator representing Mississippi, Mr Reid told the Associated Press news agency.
It was intercepted at a centre handling post for the Capitol in Washington DC, US media report.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
Read in browser » MMR campaign targets 2,000 pupils
By Anonymous on Apr 16, 2013 09:16 pm 16 April 2013 Last updated at 21:16 ET 
Health officials have urged parents to ensure their children have the MMR vaccine
A targeted MMR vaccination campaign begins later, starting with more than 2,000 pupils at five comprehensives in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board said more schools would follow in the weeks ahead.
It comes as the number of Swansea measles epidemic cases has reached 765, amid warnings it will continue to rise.
Other health boards will also offer catch-up clinics targeting schools with low vaccine uptake.
Last weekend, around 1,750 people received the MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccination at special clinics held at four hospitals.
'Horrible disease' Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board said nurses would be vaccinating on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at schools with the highest numbers of pupils at risk of catching measles - those that were either unvaccinated or had only had one jab instead of two.
Continue reading the main story School vaccinations and numbers of pupils at risk
- Wednesday and Thursday: Bishop Vaughan, Swansea - 527; Bishop Gore , Swansea - 488
- Wednesday: Bishopston Comprehensive, Swansea - 446
- Thursday: Morriston Comprehensive, Swansea - 327
- Friday: Cwmtawe Community School, Neath Port Talbot - 245
The health board's director of public health Dr Sara Hayes said: "Children and young people who have not received the full course of MMR are at high risk of catching measles and there is no doubt it is a horrible disease.
"I would urge parents whose children need to have MMR to ensure they take advantage of the vaccination sessions at schools."
The health board said letters would again be distributed to parents of children who, according to records, were believed to need the MMR.
Health officials said on Tuesday there had been an increase of 72 measles cases since last Thursday, taking the total to 765.
'Sense of panic' Swansea GP Dr Dai Lloyd said Public Health Wales did not expect cases to peak for several more weeks.
"It's been a busy few months anyway, winter months usually are, but on top of all that we've had many cases, obviously many people worried and in fact invoking a sense of panic about whether or not their child has got measles," said Dr Lloyd on the BBC News Channel.
"People are dropping in on a daily basis, on a ad hoc basis, in all our GP surgeries to have the MMR jab.
"It hasn't peaked yet. Even though there's hundreds of children and young people being immunised in the last couple of weeks with extra clinics everywhere in our major hospitals, there's going to be a lag so we'll see the number of cases continue to rise."
The Welsh government has a target to ensure 95% of children receive both doses of the MMR vaccine. Some 94.3% have received the first dose by the age of two, but only 89.9% have received the second dose by the age of five.
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