Yuri Gagarin Statue

Aw, no, not another statue of Michael Jackson, you mutter. No, this statue is of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space; but it looks just as bad as the one of Jacko his old chum Mohammed Al Fayed unveiled recently (CLICK). London is to receive a copy of the original, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's historic spaceflight when he circled the Earth for 108 minutes in his Vostok capsule on 12 April 1961. The 12ft zinc-alloy statue will be erected next to Admiralty Arch, just off The Mall. It's a gift from the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) to the British Council. Cor, thanks. Just what we wanted. Yuri Gagarin's daughter Elena Gagarina - director of the Kremlin Museums - will unveil the statue on 14 July.