“Our experts are still on the ground investigating the use of chemical weapons,” Mr. Ban told journalists at Vienna City Hall, adding that the investigation team will continue its activities until tomorrow, leave Syria by Saturday morning and then inform him as soon as they are out.

The team led by Swedish scientist Dr. Ake Sellstrom, has been carrying out its work without incident following a pause in the investigation Tuesday, when its convoy was attacked by snipers while heading to the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, where chemical weapons were allegedly used on 21 August.

The shortened visit means the UN chief will not participate in the UN European Alpbach Forum, which will now be chaired by President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Union.

Earlier today, Mr. Ban said he spoke by phone with United States President Barack Obama about how the United Nations, the US and the world can work together, as well as “how we can expedite the process of the investigation.”

Mr. Ban said he expressed his wish that the investigation team should be allowed to continue their work as mandated by the Member States to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Government at Khan al-Asal and other claims.

“I told him that we will surely share the information and the analysis of samples and evidence with Members of the Security Council and UN members in general,” Mr. Ban said.

Also today, Mr. Ban discussed the investigation and the overall situation in Syria with Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Chancellor Werner Faymann.

“We are of the opinion that the situation should be resolved in a peaceful way through dialogue,” he told journalists after the meetings.

Mr. Ban and other senior UN officials, including Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States Lakhdar Brahimi, have repeatedly urged pursuing all diplomatic options to bring the Syrian parties to the negotiating table, and stressed there is no military solution to the crisis.

In a joint press encounter last night with Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans in the Netherlands, Mr. Ban said that his responsibility and mandate were “to conduct a thorough and complete investigation” of the allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria and any actions on a response would be deemed by the Security Council.

In response to speculation that the West is planning to take military action, Mr. Ban said he would not speculate on anything on which he is not aware, adding, “If there needs to be any such unilateral or military actions… as Secretary-General I would like to emphasize that it is the Charter that provides the framework for action to ensure international peace and security.”

Meanwhile, British lawmakers on Thursday voted against military intervention in Syria, in a major setback for both British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Obama administration in their push to punish the Assad regime for an alleged chemical weapons strike.  The measure was defeated, by 285 votes to 272 votes.

The outcome raises serious questions for Obama, who has not yet made a decision on the way forward in Syria but had indicated his administration would need international support for any strike.

Mr. Ban has reiterated that the use of chemical weapons by anyone, for any reason, under any circumstances are crimes against humanity and that must be held accountable.

A ‘pioneering leader’ and a ‘great model’ are among the praises Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bestowed on Margaret Thatcher today following news of the death of former the British prime minister known as the ‘Iron Lady,’ as he expressed his deepest condolences to her family and country.

“We will miss her great leadership. She was a pioneering leader for her contribution to peace and security, particularly at the height of the Cold War,” the Secretary-General told journalists at The Hague.

“She was also a great model as the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who not only demonstrated her leadership but has given such great hope for many women for equality, gender equality in Parliament,” Mr. Ban continued.

“We will owe a great deal to her leadership,” he said, adding that Ms. Thatcher’s leadership “will inspire many people around the world for peace and security and human rights.”

In November 1989, Ms. Thatcher addressed the UN General Assembly for the last time in her official capacity as prime minister. She focused her speech on the global environment and the need to preserve air, water and land.

“We know more clearly than ever before that we carry common burdens, face common problems, and must respond with common action,” Ms. Thatcher had said. “It is life itself – human life, the innumerable species of our planet – that we wantonly destroy. It is life itself that we must battle to preserve.”

Britain’s only woman prime minister, led the Conservatives to three election victories,
governing from 1979 to 1990, the longest continuous period in office by a British prime minister since the early 19th century, according to Reuters.

According to her spokesperson, Ms. Thatcher suffered a stroke earlier today and died at the age of 87.

Ms. Thatcher’s funeral will be at St. Paul’s Cathedral, with full military honours, followed by a private cremation, the British prime minister’s office announced.

Among the approximately, 60, 000 audience watching the event, were celebrities, dignitaries including U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama as well as presidents, prime ministers and European royalty, according to Reuters.

More than a billion more people around the world watched the official start to 17-day event where  16,000 athletes from 204 countries around the globe will compete.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth arrived at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, applauded by  the crowd as she appeared in the stadium to formally declare the games open. She walked into the opening ceremony and before a choir sang the national anthem.

The traditional parade of nations at the opening ceremony saw the athletes marching behind the flags of the 204 participating nations. Greece had the lead, as the spiritual home of the games, and Team Great Britain was last, as the host.

Brunei and Bahrain featured female flagbearers. The London Games 2012 is set to be the first Olympics in history whereby every participating nation will have at least one female representative. Three Saudi women marching behind the men in their delegation flashing victory signs with their fingers.

Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

Spain, Italy, Candada, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, announced the expulsions after talks with each other on what they called intolerable levels of violence, according to Reuters reports.

British Foreign Minister William Hague said the expulsions aimed to tell Assad’s government  that time was running out for them to comply with the peace plan.

French President Francois Hollande said the Syrian ambassador was to be expelled, hours after Australia announced a similar move, as France is preparing to host a new Friends of Syria meeting in early July, President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday, AP reported.

Spain is also expelling its Syrian ambassador, DPA reported, while Canada said all remaining diplomats are being told to leave.

Italy declared the Syrian ambassador and other embassy staff  “persona non grata,” the foreign ministry said,

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad’s 11-year-rule broke out in March 2011, most of them opposition supporters killed by the army or security forces.

Meanwhile, Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy, has held talks with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, as the UN human rights office has declared that more than 90 people who were killed in the Houla region were “summarily executed”.

Annan expressed what his spokesperson, Ahmed Fawzi, called “the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria” when he met Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal was quoted in the newspaper Politiken as saying that such a step would “clearly show consumers that the products are produced under conditions that not only the Danish government, but also European governments, do not approve of.”

The decision is to support the notion of a “two-state solution,” Sovndal added.

The move follows reports of a recent decision by the minister for trade and industry, Rob Devies, in South Africa announced this month that Israel would henceforth be obliged to label any products it makes on Palestinian land as “Made in Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

South Africa recognizes the State of Israel only within the borders demarcated by the UN in 1948.

Minister Rob Davies said he would “require traders in SA not to incorrectly label products that originate from occupied Palestinian territory as products of Israel” adding, “Consumers in SA should not be misled into believing products originating from occupied territories are products originating from Israel. The burden of proving where the products originate will lie with the traders,”
 IMEMC reported.

This has outraged Israeli officials as Israeli Foreign Minister labeled the decision as an “essentially racist decision”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry was said to be seeking clarification both here and in South Africa concerning the decision with some calls to downgrade South Africa’s diplomatic status, according to Haaretz.

Both states, however, noted the moves do not intend to support a boycott of Israeli goods but only those produced in territories occupied after 1967, when Israeli troops occupied additional land in Palestine, Egypt and Syria.