Lady Thatcher served from 1975 to 1990 as leader of the Conservative Party. She was called the "Iron Lady" for her personal and political toughness.
She made few public appearances in her final months, missing a reception marking her 85th birthday hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron in October 2010. She also skipped the July 2011 unveiling of a statue honoring her old friend Ronald Reagan in London.
In December 2012, she was hospitalized after a procedure to remove a growth in her bladder.
Thatcher won the nation's top job only six years after declaring in a television interview, "I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime."
During her time at the helm of the British government, she emphasized moral absolutism, nationalism, and the rights of the individual versus those of the state -- famously declaring "There is no such thing as society" in 1987.
Nicknamed the "Iron Lady" by the Soviet press after a 1976 speech declaring that "the Russians are bent on world dominance," Thatcher later enjoyed a close working relationship with U.S. President Reagan, with whom she shared similar conservative views.
But the British cold warrior played a key role in ending the conflict by giving her stamp of approval to Soviet Communist reformer Mikhail Gorbachev shortly before he came to power.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a powerful figure in postwar British and world politics - the only woman to become British prime minister, has died at the age of 87.
She suffered a stroke last Monday. A Reports say she died at the Ritz Hotel in London.
Thatcher's funeral will be at St. Paul's Cathedral, with full military honors, followed by a private cremation, the British prime minister's office announced.
Probably the most respected of all Prime Minister's of the UK since Sir Winston Churchill.
Anne Hunt:
European Co-ordinator
Janet Mosse:
News Editor
Sam Watts:
Print Editor Lyon
Susan Dean:
Bureau Chief
Rome
Five members of the NATO-led international force fighting in Afghanistan have been killed in a helicopter crash in the south of the country.
'The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time,' the coalition said following the incident on Monday.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not release the nationality of casualties, but Australian, US and British soldiers operate in the south of Afghanistan, battling an Islamist insurgency.
Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong NATO mission relies heavily on air transport.
Last August, seven American soldiers and four Afghans died when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the southern province of Kandahar. Taliban militants claimed responsibility for bringing down the aircraft.
Celeste Duval:
News Editor
Paris
Somalia's Shebab insurgents claim to have executed a captured Kenyan soldier and repeated threats to kill five other hostages.
'While the mujahedeen have executed the serving KDF (Kenya Defence Force) soldier, there is still a chance of securing the release of the remaining five prisoners,' the Shebab said in a statement on Friday. But the claims could not be verified.
Last month the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents issued a February 14 deadline ordering Kenya - whose troops are fighting the Shebab inside Somalia - to release 'all Muslim prisoners held on so-called terrorism charges in Kenya'.
The Shebab, who have previously released videos of Kenyan public servants they have kidnapped, have said they would execute five hostages within three days unless the Kenyan government buckled to their demands.
Kenya has been hit by a spate of attacks since it invaded southern Somalia in late 2011 to attack Shebab bases, following a string of kidnappings inside Kenya blamed on the Islamists.
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