DTN News: Philippines Wins South China Sea Case Against China

DTN News: Philippines Wins South China Sea Case Against ChinaSource: K. V. Seth - DTN News + The Guardian

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 12, 2016: China has lost a key international legal case over strategic reefs and atolls that it claims would give it control over disputed waters of the South China Sea. The judgment by an international tribunal in The Hague chiefly in favour of claims by the Philippines will increase global diplomatic pressure on Beijing to scale back military expansion in the sensitive area.

By depriving certain outcrops – some of which are exposed only at low tide – of territorial-generating status, the ruling effectively punches a series of holes in China’s all- 

encompassing “nine-dash” demarcation line that stretches deep into the South China Sea. It declares large areas of the sea to be neutral international waters.

Beijing claims 90% of the South China Sea, a maritime region believed to hold a wealth of untapped oil and gas reserves and through which roughly $4.5tn of ship-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also contest China’s claims to islands and reef systems close to their territory than Beijing’s.

Sporadic violence between Chinese vessels and those of south-east Asia militaries have broken out in recent decades and the verdict, the first international legal decision on the issue, could have unpredictable consequences.

The court case at the permanent court of arbitration in The Hague, the UN-appointed tribunal that adjudicates in international disputes over maritime territory, has been running since 2013.

The judgment does not allocate any of the outcrops or islands to rival countries but instead indicates which maritime features are capable under international law of generating territorial rights over surrounding seas. 

China has previously stated that it “will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines”. The tribunal ruled, however, that China’s refusal to participate did not deprive the court of jurisdiction and that the Philippines’ decision to commence arbitration unilaterally was not an abuse of the convention’s dispute settlement procedures.

Prof Philippe Sands QC, who represented the Philippines in the hearing, said: “This is the most significant international legal case for almost the past 20 years since the Pinochet judgment.” Last year, US officials claimed the Chinese had built up an extra 800 hectares (2,000 acres) on their occupied outposts across the South China Sea over the previous 18 months.

The main focus of activity has been on Mischief Reef, where satellite images reveal the island is growing bigger, and is surrounded by fleets of dredgers and tankers.

Speaking on the eve of the court’s ruling, Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she did not anticipate a major escalation from Beijing over its findings but admitted its reaction was hard to predict. “[If] the Chinese really do perceive that the ruling is just poking a finger in their eye I think there is a good possibility they will lash out,” she said.

“I believe we have all underestimated Xi Jinping,” Glaser said of China’s strongman president who has pursued an increasingly assertive foreign policy on issues such as the South China Sea. “He just seems quite comfortable with a high level of friction with every country.”

China’s foreign minister spoke to the US secretary of state, John Kerry, by telephone last week to warn Washington against moves that infringe on China’s sovereignty, Chinese state media reported.

And Beijing conducted military drills in the South China Sea, deploying at least two guided missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Ningbo, and one missile frigate deployed.

China says it follows a historical precedent set by the “nine-dash line” that Beijing drew in 1947 following the surrender of Japan. The line has been included in subsequent maps issued under Communist rule.

But the Philippines strongly contests China’s claims, specifically on nearby islands it says are part of the West Philippine Sea. Manila argued in seven hearings that China has exceeded its entitlement under the UN convention on the law of the sea. That gives China 12 miles of territorial waters around islands it controls, far less than claimed under the nine-dash line.

Beijing has the support of Russia and Saudi Arabia but has also garnered backing from dozens of smaller nations far from and not greatly affected by the hearing, including landlocked African countries Niger and Lesotho, as well as Palestine, Afghanistan and Togo. Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation of fewer than 300,000 citizens, also supports Beijing.

The Philippines has been backed by the US, UK, France, Japan and others.

The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, is widely considered unpredictable and his moves in the next days and weeks will determine what could happen next.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + The Guardian
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DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: US Spy Programs Raise Ire Both Home And Abroad

Asian Defense News: DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: US Spy Programs Raise Ire Both Home And Abroad

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lara Jakes - AP
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 10, 2013: The Obama administration faced fresh anger Monday at home and abroad over U.S. spy programs that track phone and Internet messages around the world in the hope of thwarting terrorist threats. But a senior intelligence official said there are no plans to end the secretive surveillance systems.

The programs causing the global uproar were revealed by Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old employee of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden, whose identity was revealed at his own request, has fled to Hong Kong in hopes of escaping criminal charges. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and supports the surveillance, accused Snowden of committing an "act of treason" and said he should be prosecuted.

Coolly but firmly, officials in Germany and the European Union issued complaints over two National Security Agency programs that target suspicious foreign messages — potentially including phone numbers, email, images, video and other online communications transmitted through U.S. providers. The chief British diplomat felt it necessary to try to assure Parliament that the spy programs do not encroach on U.K. privacy laws.

And in Washington, members of Congress said they would take a new look at potential ways to keep the U.S. safe from terror attacks without giving up privacy protections that critics charge are at risk with the government's current authority to broadly sweep up personal communications.

"There's very little trust in the government, and that's for good reason," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. "We're our own worst enemy."

Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was considering how Congress could limit the amount of data spy agencies seize from telephone and Internet companies — including restricting the information to be released only on an as-needed basis.

"It's a little unsettling to have this massive data in the government's possession," King said.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said there are no plans to scrap the programs that, despite the backlash, continue to receive widespread if cautious support within Congress. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive security issue.

The programs were revealed last week by The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers.National Intelligence Director James Clapper has taken the unusual step of declassifying some of the previously top secret details to help the administration mount a public defense of the surveillance as a necessary step to protect Americans.

One of the NSA programs gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records to search for possible links to known terrorist targets abroad. The other allows the government to tap into nine U.S. Internet companies and gather all communications to detect suspicious behavior that begins overseas.

Snowden is a former CIA employee who later worked as a contractor for the NSA on behalf of Booz Allen, where he gained access to the surveillance. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said it was "absolutely shocking" that a 29-year-old with limited experience would have access to this material.

The first explosive document he revealed was a top secret court order issued by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that granted a three-month renewal for a massive collection of American phone records. That order was signed April 25. The Guardian's first story on the court order was published on June 5.

In a statement issued Sunday, Booz Allen said Snowden had been an employee for fewer than three months, so it's possible he was working as an NSA contractor when the order was issued.

He also gave the Post and the Guardian a PowerPoint presentation on another secret program that collects online usage by the nine Internet providers. The U.S. government says it uses that information only to track foreigners' use overseas.

Believing his role would soon be exposed, Snowden fled last month to Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that enjoys relative autonomy from Beijing. His exact whereabouts were unknown Monday.

"All of the options, as he put it, are bad options," Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who first reported the phone-tracking program and interviewed Snowden extensively, told The Associated Press on Monday. He said Snowden decided to release details of the programs out of shock and anger over the sheer scope of the government's privacy invasions.

"It was his choice to publicly unveil himself," Greenwald told the AP in Hong Kong. "He recognized that even if he hadn't publicly unveiled himself, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. government discovered that it was he who had been responsible for these disclosures, and he made peace with that. ... He's very steadfast and resolute about the fact that he did the right thing."

Although Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political. Any negotiations about his possible handover will involve Beijing, but some analysts believe China is unlikely to want to jeopardize its relationship with Washington over someone it would consider of little political interest.

Snowden also told The Guardian that he may seek asylum in Iceland, which has strong free-speech protections and a tradition of providing a haven for the outspoken and the outcast.

The Justice Department is investigating whether his disclosures were a criminal offense — a matter that's not always clear-cut under U.S. federal law.

A second senior intelligence official said Snowden would have had to have signed a non-disclosure agreement to gain access to the top secret data. That suggests he could be prosecuted for violating that agreement. Penalties could range from a few years to life in prison. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the process of accessing classified materials more frankly.

The leak came to light as Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is being tried in military court under federal espionage and computer fraud laws for releasing classified documents to WikiLeaks about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other items. The most serious charge against him is aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence. But the military operates under a different legal system.

If Snowden is forced to return to the United States to face charges, whistleblower advocates said Monday that they would raise money for his legal defense.

Clapper has ordered an internal review to assess how much damage the disclosures created. Intelligence experts say terrorist suspects and others seeking to attack the U.S. all but certainly will find alternate ways to communicate instead of relying on systems that now are widely known to be under surveillance.

The Obama administration must also now deal with the political and diplomatic fallout of the disclosures. Privacy laws across much of Western Europe are stricter than they are in the United States.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament, through its 27-nation executive arm, will debate the spy programs and whether they have violated local privacy protections. E.U. officials in Brussels pledged to seek answers from U.S. diplomats at a trans-Atlantic ministerial meeting in Dublin that begins Thursday.

"It would be unacceptable and would need swift action from the EU if indeed the U.S. National Security Agency were processing European data without permission," said Guy Verhofstadt, a leader in the Alde group of liberal parties.

Additionally, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel would question President Barack Obama about the NSA program when he's in Berlin on June 18 for his first visit to the German capital as president. In Germany, privacy regulations are especially strict, and the NSA programs could tarnish a visit that both sides had hoped would reaffirm strong German-American ties.

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague was forced to deny allegations that the U.K. government had used information provided by the Americans to circumvent British laws. "We want the British people to have confidence in the work of our intelligence agencies and in their adherence to the law and democratic values," Hague told Parliament.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama is open for a discussion about the spy programs, both with allies and in Congress. His administration has aggressively defended the two programs and credited them with helping stop at least two terrorist attacks, including one in New York City.

But privacy rights advocates say Obama has gone too far. The American Civil Liberties Union and Yale Law School filed legal action Monday to force a secret U.S. court to make public its opinions justifying the scope of some of the surveillance, calling the programs "shockingly broad." And conservative lawyer Larry Klayman filed a separate lawsuit against the Obama administration, claiming he and others have been harmed by the government's collection of as many as 3 billion phone numbers each day.

Army records indicate Snowden enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Special Forces recruit in May 2007 and was discharged that September without completing any training or getting any awards.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Frederic Frommer and Matt Apuzzo in Washington, Robert H. Reid in Berlin and Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

___

Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lara Jakes - AP
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - UK DEFENSE NEWS: Recruiting Former Gurkhas Into The Army Reserves Is A No-Brainer

Asian Defense News: DTN News - UK DEFENSE NEWS: Recruiting Former Gurkhas Into The Army Reserves Is A No-Brainer

*The MoD must do more to retain the Gurkhas’ unique skills, writes Nick Harvey

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Nick Harvey
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 8, 2013: Gurkhas are a widely admired, loved and revered part of the British Army. But strangely, five years after allowing them to settle here after completing their service, we still don't routinely recruit them to the reserves when they leave, despite their desire to continue to serve. At the same time, there are serious concerns about whether we can meet the ambitious new targets as part of the Army 2020 vision and restructure in which the reserves will play a vital role. It seems a no-brainer that we should retain some of the toughest and bravest fighters we have, and instead help them lead the way for the future reserves.

The 2010 defence review, which I was involved in as a minister, triggered a mass restructure of our Armed Forces. What we have now is an ambitious plan for a future Army that relies in part on a highly-trained and deployable reserve force. In practice, it means that we need to double the number of trained and ready reserves from what we currently have in the Territorial Army.

The 2010 defence review, which I was involved in as a minister, triggered a mass restructure of our Armed Forces. What we have now is an ambitious plan for a future Army that relies in part on a highly-trained and deployable reserve force. In practice, it means that we need to double the number of trained and ready reserves from what we currently have in the Territorial Army.

A huge recruitment drive and massive rejuvenation of the reserve forces will be far from easy. We’re already lagging behind: we will need a serious culture change within the Ministry of Defence and the Army of how we view the reserves if we’re achieve our targets. Currently, public concerns persist that reserves are simply "making up numbers" after troop redundancies, that they are just an add-on to the "real" Army. Countering such perceptions is essential and the Gurkhas can lead the way. That is why I am asking that we begin signing up our former Gurkha soldiers as part of the culture shift towards a battle-ready, fully integrated reserve force rather than losing them completely as we currently do.

Gurkhas have been an integral part of the British Army for almost 200 years, characteristically loyal, courageous and dedicated – earning 13 Victoria Crosses between them, and they lost 45,000 lives during the two world wars. More recently, their contribution in Afghanistan highlighted not only their bravery, but also a unique affinity with our Afghan partners culturally and linguistically. Above all, these fierce fighters are one of the most highly regarded, robust and respected elements of our Army.

At the moment, unlike most ex-service personnel who have a reserve liability on leaving the forces, former Gurkhas are not routinely recruited into the reserves. As Nepalese citizens, they can only join the voluntary reserves – the Territorial Army (TA). By and large they don’t join the TA: there isn’t a culture of them joining as they could not stay in Britain until the Liberal Democrats led the campaign to change that.

Sadly, just like the rest of the regular Army, the Gurkhas have faced the bitter pill of forced redundancies as we bring down our record budget deficit. Their much-sought-after talents are currently helping private security companies, but their willingness to continue serving this country does not disappear. Instead of allowing this loss of talent and dedication to happen, the MoD must do more to retain the Gurkhas’ unique skills. We should start by giving them the reserve liability, recognising the contribution they still have to offer.

As regular reserves they can lead the way in building the Territorial Army and the regular reserve into the new future reserves. This will send a strong signal that the new, rejuvenated reserve force is more robust and battle-ready than ever.

Recruiting Gurkhas into the reserves is not only good for defence, but good for the Gurkhas too. Gurkha communities continue to feel a huge sense of prestige about the legacy of Gurkha regiments. That was why the successful campaign to give them residency rights was such a proud moment for the Liberal Democrats. It remains as important as ever that we look out for them in return for the sacrifice they have made for Britain.

A reserves White Paper is due to be published this summer. How better to build on the Gurkhas’ heritage in that White Paper than to extend reserve liability to the Gurkhas, re-form some of them as reserve regiments and offer a pathway into a second Army career as a reservist?

Nick Harvey is the Member of Parliament for North Devon and a former Minister of State for the Armed Forces

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Nick Harvey
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DTN News - U.K. DEFENSE NEWS: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - Simply A Penomenal Flying Machine

Asian Defense News: DTN News - U.K. DEFENSE NEWS: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - Simply A Penomenal Flying Machine

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, at Patuxent River Naval Base, Maryland 8:0AM BST 04 May 2013
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 4, 2013: The smile on the face of the test pilot as he completed a successful vertical landing of Britain’s newest generation of fighter jets said it all. “This is simply a phenomenal flying machine.”

After all the bitter controversy over the Government’s decision to scrap the iconic Harrier jump jet in 2010 as part of the defence cuts, a team of Britain’s top gun fighter pilots has now arrived in the U.S. to begin testing its successor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Under the Government’s plans to build two new aircraft carriers equipped with state-of-the-art fighters, the role of the F-35 is crucial to the programme’s success. Like the Harrier before it, the F-35 has the ability to conduct vertical landings.

And last week at the American military’s Patuxent River naval air base in Maryland, I became the first British journalist to see one of the British pilots conducting a perfect test landing of an aircraft that is set to become one of Britain’s leading strike fighters for the next generation.

One of the most impressive aspects of Britain’s first stealth warplane is its Rolls Royce vertical landing system, which will enable the aircraft to land on the deck of the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers that are currently under construction in Scotland.
During last week’s test flight I watched as one of Britain’s prototype F-35 fighters approached the landing area at around 150mph, before the aircraft slowly came to a complete halt. It then hung perfectly motionless in the sky for a full minute at around 100 feet before making a gentle landing on the tarmac.

“This aircraft is light years ahead of the Harrier in terms of what it can do,” said Peter Wilson, 47, the British test pilot who conducted the landing. A veteran Harrier pilot who has flown combat missions in Iraq, Bosnia and Sierra Leone, Mr Wilson, who is now one of Britain’s leading test pilots, said the Harrier was a difficult plane to fly, and required immense skill on the part of the pilot to conduct vertical landings. “We have learnt our lessons and the F-35 has all the Harriers faults designed out of it,” said Mr Wilson, from Whalley, Lancs.

A key element in the versatility of the Harriers, which played a vital role in the campaign to liberate the Falkland Islands and more recently saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, was their ability to make vertical landings in the most challenging conditions, whether on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a driving gale or at a remote desert airstrip.

Now the team of British pilots and technicians working on the F-35 are making sure the new aircraft has the same capability. If all goes according to plan, and the new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are built on time, then the F-35s will available to fly off the decks on combat operations by 2020.

Apart from its flying capability, the F-35 is also fitted with the latest intelligence-gathering and stealth technology. Named Lightning II in honour of Britain’s supersonic jet fighter during the early Cold War era, the F-35 can fly at nearly twice the speed of sound and its stealth capability means it can penetrate deep into enemy territory without being tracked by radar. “The stealth factor means you can detect enemy aircraft but they cannot detect you,” explained Mr Wilson.

“It is a joy to fly,” said Lt. Commander Ian Tidball, 43, a former Royal Navy Harrier pilot who arrived in the U.S. four weeks ago to begin test flights. “It is very responsive compared to the Harrier, and has a far wider range of capabilities.”

These include a specially designed helmet that gives the pilot a 350 degree view around the aircraft simply by tilting his head, while the cockpit is filled with a multi-screen display consol that enables the pilot to collect and assess intelligence collected by the aircraft’s advanced sensors will assessing which targets to attack. In all the most advanced combat aircraft ever flown by the British military contains around eight million lines of software code.

“The helmet is like wearing a laptop on your head, while the cockpit has been designed with its own in-built i-Pad before the i-Pad had even been invented,” explained Group Captain Harv Smyth (correct spell), 41, another veteran RAF Harrier pilot who won the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Iraq War in 2003 and is overseeing the project. “The main problem we face is that the technology is now so advanced that we have to make sure it fits in with our air worthiness requirements.”

At $110 million (around £71 million) a piece, the Lightning does not come cheap and, like the previous Eurofighter project that produced the RAF’s Typhoon interceptor, the development programme has been beset by spiralling costs and serious equipment setbacks. During early trials pilots found that the helmets – which cost around £300,000 each – did not function when the plane hit turbulence, a potentially fatal failing in a combat environment, while more recently the entire test fleet was grounded earlier this year when cracks were found in the engine turbine blade.

Critics of the ambitious plan to provide a new generation of aircraft carriers with top-range fighters also say that at a time when the Government is trying to cut the deficit Britain simply cannot afford to continue with the most ambitious military project undertaken in recent British history.

But Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, who visited the American test site last week, said he remained committed to maintaining the £10 billion programme. He said Britain’s participation in the American-led F-35 venture will create 25,000 jobs and has the potential to earn an estimated £35 billion in exports during the life of the programme. In addition it will help to strengthen the transatlantic alliance.

“It’s great to be back in the business of vertical landing aircraft again,” said Mr Hammond. “This aircraft will enable Britain to have one of the world’s leading war-fighting capabilities for many years to come.”

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, at Patuxent River Naval Base, Maryland 8:0AM BST 04 May 2013
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: The Salute Is To Mark The 61st Anniversary of The Queen's Accession To The Throne

Asian Defense News: DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: The Salute Is To Mark The 61st Anniversary of The Queen's Accession To The Throne
Rein of Terror - The moment An Army Rider Is Thrown From The Saddle As Her Horse Is Spooked By Cannon Fire At Ceremony To Mark Queen's Ascent To Throne
*As the gun's roared to honour Her Majesty, one horse was spooked by the thunderous explosions
*It threw the rider from the saddle, despite her desperate attempts to stay mounted
*She rolled away from the animal's dangerous hooves and, a little shaken, returned to her mount

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Keith Gladdis - Daily Mail UK
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 7, 2013: In her immaculate ceremonial uniform this proud soldier was marking the 61st anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne.

But as the first of 41 shots were fired from six field guns in London’s Green Park her horse began to get skittish.

As more shots were fired at ten second intervals the horse from the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, got increasingly agitated.

Eventually it unceremoniously threw its mount from her saddle and reared on to its hind legs. The unfortunate soldier could easily have been crushed to death but seconds later she had wiped away her tears and was back in her saddle.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Panic: The terrified horse bucks after the gun salute by The King's Troop Royal Artillery in Green Park London. The event was held to mark the 61st anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne

Spooked: The trooper falls forward as the horse plunges towards the floor

One bystander said: ‘At first the soldier tried to control the horse and calm it down but then the guns fired again and she was thrown to the ground.

‘It was pretty terrifying because the horse stood up on its hind legs and looked like it could have landed on top of her.

‘By the time the horse landed she was up on her feet and out of the way. She was in tears but I think it was her pride that was hurt rather than anything else.

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‘Despite being in tears there was no time for sympathy and she was told to get straight back onto her horse.

‘The soldier was shaken but carried out the rest of her duties perfectly.’

Hundreds gathered in Green Park yesterday to see 71 horses pull the 13-pounder, First World War ear field guns from the nearby Wellington Barracks.

The rider desperately tries to cling onto the thrashing horse but cannot stay mounted

Horror: A bystander said onlookers were stunned by the accident

The horse grew more and more nervous at each passing roar of the cannon before it could take no more and threw the woman

The horse rears above the fallen rider, its powerful hooves loom dangerously above her head

Evasion: The trooper rolls away from the thrashing animal's hooves

There were gasps as the trooper was thrown from her horse but the Royal Salute was not interrupted.

Gun salutes are customarily fired, both on shore and at sea, as a sign of respect or welcome

A 62-gun salute also rang out at Gun Wharf, Tower of London yesterday by the Honourable Artillery Company, while gunners from the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) fired a 21-gun salute at Edinburgh Castle.

Wounded pride: The teary-eyed trooper is comforted by a comrade but wasted no time getting back into the saddle

Stoic: A little shaken, she returns to her mount and continues her duties, as is expected of a soldier

The Queen spent the day in private at Sandringham, as is her custom. It is a sombre day for Her Majesty, as it marks the moment her father King George VI died, leaving her to take the throne the aged just 25.

This year will see the Queen will mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation and a service of celebration will be held on June 4, at Westminster Abbey.

The coronation will also be marked by a four-day festival in Buckingham Palace Gardens in July.

The Queen will return to Buckingham Palace next week following her annual break in Norfolk.

Firepower: The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, fire a 41-gun salute as the enthralled crowd looks on

Fusillade: The cannon blasts were what caused the steed to panic and throw the rider

Majestic: Riders thunder across Green Park during the ceremony

Rigorous: It takes four to five years to become a fully trained military saddler in the King's Troop

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Keith Gladdis - Daily Mail UK
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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