LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II, who has canceled recent public appearances on her doctors’ advice, will attend a national service of remembrance for Britain’s war dead this weekend, Buckingham Palace confirmed Thursday.
The palace said the 95-year-old monarch will watch the somber ceremony at the Cenotaph memorial in central London from a balcony, as she has for several years.
It said that “mindful of her doctors’ recent advice,” the queen will not attend another engagement, the opening of the Church of England’s governing General Synod on Tuesday.
The queen spent a night in a London hospital last month after being admitted for tests. On Oct. 29, the palace said she had been told to rest for two weeks. She canceled plans to attend the UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, but sent a video message.
The palace said at the time that the queen, who served in World War II as an army driver, had a “firm intention” to attend the Remembrance Sunday service.
The queen has continued to work from home, doing desk-based duties, during her period of rest. She has spent most of the time at Windsor Castle, west of London, and made a weekend visit to Sandringham, the royal family’s eastern England estate.
Britain’s longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, Elizabeth is due to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — next year.
Palace: Queen Elizabeth II will attend remembrance service
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Palace: Queen Elizabeth II will attend remembrance service
- The 95-year-old monarch will watch the somber ceremony at the Cenotaph memorial in central London from a balcony
- The queen spent a night in a London hospital last month after being admitted for tests
International baby milk recall leads to French legal action
- Eight French families have joined a lawsuit filed by Foodwatch
- The complaint, while not naming the manufacturers or government agencies, calls for a legal investigation
PARIS: A recall of potentially contaminated infant milk formula in some 60 countries has taken a legal turn in France after a watchdog and eight families filed a lawsuit accusing manufacturers and the government of acting too slowly.
Eight French families, who said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the recall, have joined a lawsuit filed by Foodwatch, which AFP has seen.
The complaint, while not naming the manufacturers or government agencies, calls for a legal investigation.
Foodwatch, a European consumer association, believes that producers could not have ignored the risks to babies by leaving their milk on sale in France and in more than a dozen European countries, as well as in Australia, Russia, Qatar or Egypt.
Several manufacturers, including giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis have issued recalls of infant formula in more than 60 countries, including France, since December due to a risk of cereulide contamination.
Cereulide, a toxin produced by certain bacteria, is “likely to cause primarily digestive problems, such as vomiting or diarrhea,” according to the French health ministry, though it said last week it so far had not determined a link to the symptoms experienced by the infants.
In the complaint, Foodwatch accuses milk powder manufacturers of delaying action between the initial warnings in December and the recalls, some of which were not widely publicized. They became more widespread in January.
Foodwatch believes that parents were told too little, too late, and in a confusing manner. French agriculture minister Annie Genevard said however that procedures had been “very well followed.”
Two separate criminal investigations have already been opened in France following the deaths of two infants who consumed infant formula recalled by Nestle due to “possible contamination” by a bacterial substance, although no “causal link” has yet been established, according to authorities.
Authorities are accused in the Foodwatch complaint of delaying action and of deficiencies in their controls.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced meanwhile that it had been asked by the European Commission to establish a standard for cereulide in children’s products. It will issue an opinion on February 2.
