Category: World News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he feels “positive” about the prospect of Western allies providing Kyiv with more fighter jets.

Zelensky spoke at a brief press conference alongside Rishi Sunak after the two leaders met at the British prime minister’s country retreat Chequers on Monday.

“Today we talked about the jets – a very important topic for us,” Zelensky said. “We want to create this jet coalition and I’m very positive about it. We spoke about it. And I see that in the closest time you will hear some, I think, very important decisions, but we have to work a little bit more about it.”

However, Sunak struck a more cautious tone. “We are going to be a key part of the coalition of countries that provides that support to Volodymr and Ukraine. It is not a straightforward thing … to build up that fighter combat aircraft capability,” he said.

Sunak announced in February that the UK would start training Ukrainian pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets.

Slow progress: For months, Ukraine has made pleas to its Western allies to supply more military hardware. More than just ammunition and artillery, Ukraine wants tanks and jets.

In January, Ukraine secured a major breakthrough after Germany announced it would permit the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to aid the country’s defense efforts. The United States also pledged to send Abrams tanks.

Yet many of Kyiv’s Western allies have been reluctant to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, with the notable exception of Poland.

However, Monday’s discussion of a fighter jet “coalition” shows that Ukraine has not abandoned its demands — and that its allies are still listening.

CNN

Turkey on Sunday voted in a momentous election that could extend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade grip on power or put the mostly Muslim nation on a more secular course.

Turnout was expected to be huge in what has effectively turned into a referendum on Turkey’s longest-serving leader and his Islamic-rooted party.

It is the toughest of more than a dozen that Erdogan has confronted — one that polls suggest he might lose.

“They have been in power since I was born,” 19-year-old Sila said after voting with her father in Ankara. “I want change now.”

Erdogan, 69, has steered the nation of 85 million through one of its most transformative and divisive eras in the post-Ottoman state’s 100-year history.

Turkey has grown into a military and geopolitical heavyweight that plays roles in conflicts from Syria to Ukraine.

The NATO member’s footprint in both Europe and the Middle East makes the election’s outcome as critical for Washington and Brussels as it is for Damascus and Moscow.

“My hope to God is that after the counting concludes this evening, the outcome is good for the future of our country, for Turkish democracy,” Erdogan said after casting his ballot in Istanbul.

‘We all miss democracy’

Erdogan’s first decade of economic revival and warming relations with Europe was followed by a second one filled with social and political turmoil.

He responded to a failed 2016 coup attempt with sweeping purges that sent chills through Turkish society and made him an increasingly uncomfortable partner for the West.

The emergence of Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his six-party alliance — a group that forms the type of broad-based coalition that Erdogan excelled at forging throughout his career — gives foreign allies and Turkish voters a clear alternative.

Polls suggest the 74-year-old secular opposition leader is within touching distance of breaking the 50-percent threshold needed to win in the first round.

A runoff on May 28 could give Erdogan time to regroup and reframe the debate.

But he would still be hounded by Turkey’s most dire economic crisis of his time in power and disquiet over his government’s stuttering response to a February earthquake that claimed more than 50,000 lives.

“We all missed democracy,” Kilicdaroglu said after voting in Ankara. “You will see, God willing, spring will come to this country.”

‘Can’t see my future’

Polls show Kilicdaroglu winning the youth vote — responsible for nearly 10 percent of the electorate — by a two-to-one margin.

“I can’t see my future,” university student Kivanc Dal told AFP in Istanbul on the eve of the vote.

Erdogan “can build as many tanks and weapons as he wants, but I have no respect for that as long as there is no penny in my pocket”.

But kindergarten teacher Deniz Aydemir said Erdogan would get her vote because of the economic and social progress Turkey made after half a century of corruption-riddled secular rule.

The 46-year-old also questioned how a country could be ruled by a coalition of six parties — a favourite attack line of Erdogan during the campaign.

“Yes, there are high prices… but at least there is prosperity,” she said.

Erdogan’s campaign became increasingly tailored to his core supporters as election day neared.

He branded the opposition a “pro-LGBT” lobby that took orders from outlawed Kurdish militants and was bankrolled by the West.

Erdogan’s ministers and pro-government media referred darkly to a Western “political coup” plot.

The opposition began to worry that Erdogan was scheming up ways to hold on to power at any cost.

The tensions boiled over when Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — a sworn foe of Erdogan who could become Kilicdaroglu’s vice president — was pelted with rocks and bottles while touring Turkey’s conservative heartland.

Heavy turnout

The election is expected to feature heavy turnout among the country’s 64 million registered voters.

The last national election saw Erdogan win 52.5 percent on a turnout of more than 86 percent.

Turkey has no exit polls but tends to count ballots quickly.

Polling stations close at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) and all reporting restrictions are lifted four hours later. The first results are sometimes published before then.

Voters will also select a new 600-seat parliament.

Polls suggest that Erdogan’s right-wing alliance is edging out the opposition bloc in the parliamentary ballot.

But the opposition would win a majority if it secured support from a new leftist alliance that represents the Kurdish vote.

AFP

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome Saturday for meetings with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in his first visit to Italy since Russia’s invasion.

“Today in Rome,” tweeted Zelensky, following his arrival at the military base of Rome’s Ciampino Airport shortly before 0830 GMT, where he was met by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

“I’m meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and the Pope. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!”

Television images showed a long cortege of vehicles carrying the Ukrainian leader departing the airport, as security forces locked down large areas of the capital.

As Zelensky arrived in Rome, Germany announced a 2.7 billion euro weapons package for Kyiv including tanks, armoured vehicles and air-defence systems.

Despite a history of warm ties with Moscow, NATO and EU member Italy has sent weapons and money to help Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022, and backed Western sanctions against Russia.

Still, the issue of sending weapons to Kyiv remains politically sensitive in Italy and the government has never disclosed exactly what it has provided.

Meloni, who visited Kyiv in February, hosted Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Rome last month, on the occasion of a conference on how Italian businesses could help rebuild the war-torn country.

It was not clear how long Zelensky would be in Rome, with speculation he could also be planning a trip to Germany this weekend.

AFP

Israel and Gaza militants traded more heavy fire Thursday, the third day of the worst escalation of violence in months that has killed 25 people in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Air strikes by the Israeli army since Tuesday have killed fighters as well as civilians, including several children, said officials in the crowded coastal territory.

Militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 500 rockets at Israel, causing no casualties so far, the military said.

Of these, 368 rockets made it over the border and 154 were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, while 110 fell inside Gaza, it said.

Early Thursday, shops in Gaza were shuttered and the streets were largely abandoned as Israeli military aircraft circled over the territory where several buildings lay in ruins.

The Islamic Jihad militant group told AFP that rockets were fired again at Israel around 9:00 am (0600 GMT).

Islamic Jihad confirmed it has lost four military leaders in strikes in recent days, the most recent being Ali Ghali, commander of a rocket launch unit.

Another militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said four of its fighters had been killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV address late Wednesday that “we are still in the midst of the campaign” and “fiercely attacking the Gaza Strip”.

“We say to the terrorists and the ones sending them: we see you everywhere, you cannot hide, and we choose the place and the time to hit you.”

‘Wave of escalation’

In Gaza City’s Al-Rimal district, Mamoun Radi, 48, said: “We hope that the wave of escalation will end, but we support revenge for the martyrs.

“Israel assassinated a leader of (Islamic) Jihad at dawn today because it does not want calm.”

Across southern Israel, sirens wailed intermittently through the night and Thursday morning.

Miriam Keren, 78, an Ashkelon resident, said a Gaza rocket had destroyed a workshop and damaged her house.

“All the shrapnel is in the room; the house was shaken very powerfully, the glasses fell, the walls were damaged,” she told AFP.

“Luckily I have a safe room and I entered it immediately and closed the door.

“This isn’t the first time the house was hit but I’m not afraid, neither was I yesterday. You’re shocked for a moment but it’s not about fear. It’s more unpleasant, very unpleasant.”

Ceasefire efforts

An Islamic Jihad source told AFP that senior member Mohammad al-Hindi, head of the group’s political department, would arrive in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials.

An Israeli official had told AFP on Wednesday that Egypt was “trying to facilitate a ceasefire”.

The Arab League has condemned the “barbaric Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip, which targeted civilians, children and women in residential neighbourhoods”.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad support for Israel’s security”.

Both Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Islamic Jihad are considered terrorist groups by Israel and the United States.

This week’s Gaza clashes are the worst since a three-day escalation in August killed 49 Palestinians, with no Israeli fatalities.

Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army has staged repeated raids against militants which have often flared into street clashes or gun battles.

On Thursday, a Palestinian died from his wounds after being shot by the Israeli army in a raid the day before in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The conflict has escalated since veteran leader Netanyahu returned to power late last year heading a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Israel has also been shaken by its biggest domestic political crisis in decades as mass protests have flared against plans to reform the justice system, spearheaded by Netanyahu who is also battling corruption charges in court.

Channels TV

Following a Manhattan federal jury finding that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and the awarding of $5 million to her for battery and defamation, the verdict may not have any legal effect on Trump’s presidential candidacy.

For one, it is a civil case, and during the 2016 campaign, Trump also faced all sorts of civil action – like the fraud cases concerning Trump University that were settled shortly after he was elected – that had no bearing on the requirements for the presidency that are laid out in the Constitution.

Trump also faces unrelated criminal exposure, most prominently in the case that Manhattan prosecutors have brought against him for hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed they two had an extramarital affair (Trump denies the claim).

At the same time, a successful criminal prosecution of the former president is unlikely to affect – at least from a legal standpoint – his ability to be reelected to the White House.

Notably, there is precedent for convicted felons to run for federal office – including for the office of the presidency. Eugene V. Debs, a perennial socialist candidate for the White House in the early 20th century, was incarcerated on an espionage conviction when he won more than 900,000 votes in a 1920 presidential campaign.

Carroll alleged Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. Trump denied all wrongdoing. He does not face any jail time as a result of the civil verdict.

CNN

A Manhattan federal jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation.

Carroll alleged Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. Trump denied all wrongdoing. He does not face any jail time as a result of the civil verdict.

While the jury found that Trump sexually abused her, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, the jury did not find that Carroll proved he raped her.

Carroll filed the lawsuit last November under the “New York State Adult Survivors Act,” a state bill which opened a look-back window for sexual assault allegations like Carroll’s with long-expired statutes of limitation.

Trump did not attend the trial. Like any defendant in a civil case, he was not required to appear in court for trial or any proceedings and has a right not to testify in his own defense.

Carroll called the verdict a victory for her and other victims of abuse.

“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” she said in a statement. “Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

Carroll’s lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan also released a statement saying, “No one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States.”

In videos posted to his social media platform Truth Social Tuesday evening, Trump said he plans to appeal the verdict, calling it a “disgrace” and “political witch hunt.” He also repeated his claim he did not know who Carroll was.

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina outside the court Tuesday said that he had spoken to the former president and that he is “ready to proceed and go forward.”

“He’s firm in his belief, as many people are, that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City based on the jury pool,” Tacopina said.

Tacopina called the verdict “strange,” emphasizing that the jury had not found Trump liable for rape.

“This was a rape claim. This was rape case all along and the jury rejected that, but made other findings,” he said. “But they rejected her rape claim and she’d always claimed this was a rape case so it’s a little perplexing, but we move forward.”

The verdict comes as the 2024 Republican presidential primary field takes shape, with Trump as the early frontrunner.

His potential rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have so far criticized Trump on electability grounds but have stayed away from the former president’s legal troubles – including Carroll’s allegations and the Manhattan probe into a hush money scheme.

That reluctance to attack Trump over allegations stems from his ability to survive scandals that would have doomed most politicians – including the 2016 release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he bragged that stars can “do anything” to women. Tacopina asserted after the verdict that the tape shouldn’t have been allowed as evidence, saying “We’re very confident on the appellate issues here.”

But as his legal troubles mount, with probes in New York, Washington, DC, and Georgia still underway and primary debates set to begin in August, Trump’s goodwill with GOP voters will again be tested in the coming months.

Jurors urged not to identify themselves

Judge Lewis Kaplan (no relation to attorney Roberta Kaplan) dismissed the jury after the verdict and informed them they are now allowed to identify themselves publicly if they choose. However, the judge suggested they remain silent.

“My advice to you is not to identify yourselves. Not now and not for a long time,”Lewis Kaplan said. “If you’re one who elects to speak to others and to identify yourselves to others, I direct you not to identify anyone else who sat on this jury. Each of you owes that to the other whatever you decided for yourself.”

As the verdict was read, Carroll held onto the hand of her attorney Shawn Crowley. She looked relieved and appeared to rock forward. They exchanged smiles with each other as the clerk read through each of the counts going in her favor.

After the judge dismissed the jury, Trump attorney Tacopina walked over to Carroll and shook her hand. He also shook the hands of her attorneys.

Carroll and her lead attorney Roberta Kaplan embraced each other’s shoulders. They exited together.

Carroll testimony

On the stand last week, Carroll testifying in chilling detail about what happened in 1996.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen,” Carroll testified. “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try to get my life back.”

Carroll acknowledged she is a registered Democrat and thinks Trump is “evil” and “vile” and was a terrible president, but testified that her political views have nothing to do with her pursuit of this lawsuit.

“I’m not settling a political score,” Carroll said. “I’m settling a personal score because he called me a liar repeatedly and it really has decimated my reputation. I’m a journalist – the one thing I have to have is the trust of the readers.”

Carroll’s attorney Michael Ferrara asked why she didn’t go public with her allegations when Trump first ran for president.

“I noticed that the more women who came forward to accuse him, the better he did in the polls,” she said.

Tacopina, in cross examination, repeatedly asked questions about why Carroll did not scream during the approximately 3-minute alleged attack

“I’m not a screamer,” Carroll responded. “I was too much in panic to scream.”

“You can’t beat up on me for not screaming,” she told the defense lawyer. “Women who don’t come forward, one of the reasons they don’t come forward is they are asked why they didn’t scream. Some women scream, some women don’t. It keeps women silent.”

Donald Trump’s video deposition that was played before the jury at his civil battery and defamation trial has been made public. in the video, Trump confirms that he made the allegedly defamatory statements denying knowing Carroll, calling her allegations that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing room in the mid-1990s a “hoax,” and saying she is not his type. He also tells Carroll’s attorney that she, too, is not his type. And many times during the deposition, he calls Carroll a series of names, including “nut job,” a “wack job” and “mentally sick”

In his closing argument Monday, Tacopina said he knows Trump is a divisive figure, but that shouldn’t matter to jurors when reaching a verdict.

“People have very strong feelings about Donald Trump. That’s obvious,” Tacopina said. “There’s a time and a secret place to do that: it’s called a ballot box during an election.”

“What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts,” Tacopina added. “All objective evidence cuts against her.”

Jury did not find that Carroll proved rape

While the jury did not find that Carroll had proven rape, it did find that she proved Trump committed sexual abuse.

The jury had been instructed that a person is liable for sexual abuse when they another person to sexual contact without consent.

Under New York law, “sexual contact” means “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party.”

The state’s law says that a person is liable for rape when a person forces sexual intercourse with another person without their consent. For the purposes of this law, “sexual intercourse” means “any penetration, however slight, of the penis into the vaginal opening.”

Both sexual abuse and rape are sexual offenses in New York.

Verdict doesn’t affect Trump’s legal ability to run for president

The verdict not have any legal effect on Trump’s presidential candidacy. For one, it is a civil case, and during the 2016 campaign Trump also faced all sorts of civil action – like the fraud cases concerning Trump University that were settled shortly after he was elected – that had no bearing on the requirements for the presidency that are laid out in the Constitution.

Trump also faces unrelated criminal exposure, most prominently in the case that Manhattan prosecutors have brought against him for hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed they two had an extramarital affair (Trump denies the claim).

At the same time, a successful criminal prosecution of the former president is unlikely to affect – at least from a legal standpoint – his ability to be reelected to the White House.

Notably, there is precedent for convicted felons to run for federal office – including for the office of the presidency. Eugene V. Debs, a perennial socialist candidate for the White House in the early 20th century, was incarcerated on an espionage conviction when he won more than 900,000 votes in a 1920 presidential campaign.

CNN

…Putin Presides Over Victory Day Parade at Red Square 

Russian cruise missiles exploded in the air over Kyiv on Tuesday and tanks and soldiers assembled in Red Square for a military parade, as Moscow marked the anniversary of victory over the Nazis with a new attack on Ukraine.

Ukraine said its air defences shot down 23 of 25 missiles, fired chiefly at the capital Kyiv, and there were no reported casualties. It was the second night in a row of major Russian air strikes and fifth so far this month.

“Overnight into the ‘sacred’ May 9, (they) launched an attack on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s air force said on its Telegram messaging app.

Sergei Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said the Russians were trying to kill civilians. “As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed.”

Debris fell on a house in the Holosiivskyi district in the southwest of Kyiv but caused little damage, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Debris lay in a road in the often-targeted Shevchenkivskyi district of central Kyiv.

Moscow denies targeting civilians and says its air strikes are aimed at reducing Ukraine’s ability to fight.

It has stepped up its attacks this month in anticipation of a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive, after a failed Russian winter campaign captured little ground despite the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two.

May 9, which marks the day of Germany’s surrender in 1945, is the most important holiday in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, who says his country is again fighting for survival after what the West calls his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Kyiv symbolised its break from Moscow this year by formally shifting its observance of Victory Day to May 8 in line with its European allies; on May 9 it is marking Europe Day, celebrating the founding of the body that became the European Union.

It hosted EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who tweeted a picture of herself arriving at Kyiv station by train.

“Good to be back in Kyiv. Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday,” she wrote, calling it a “such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe.”

In Moscow, Putin welcomed the leaders of ex-Soviet allies Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan at the Kremlin before taking their places on the dais outside.

State television broadcast pictures of tanks and nuclear capable strategic ballistic missiles parked on the square, where dignitaries assembled under sunny skies for the parade. Ranks of soldiers in dress uniforms saluted.

The Soviet victory over the Nazis is Russia’s defining state story under Putin, who says independent Ukraine now represents a return of the World War Two threat.

Ukraine, which suffered greater per capita losses than Russia in World War Two, says Moscow’s account of the shared history has been distorted to justify Russian aggression.

The parade comes at a crucial juncture in the war, with Kyiv preparing to launch a counteroffensive in coming weeks after keeping its troops on the defensive for the past six months.

During that time, Russia launched a major winter campaign, enduring huge losses in the bloodiest ground fighting in Europe since World War Two but making scant gains.

Kyiv says Russia tried and failed to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut in time for the holiday to give Putin a trophy for the campaign.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose private army Wagner made up mainly of convicts recruited from prison led Russia’s fighting in Bakhmut for months, has threatened to abandon the city, accusing generals of withholding the ammunition his forces need.

On Tuesday he said the ammunition had still not arrived but he did not want to “spoil” the Victory Day parade and would reveal more details later.

Reflecting increased security concerns, including from drones that nearly struck a Kremlin dome last week, Russian authorities have cancelled the traditional flyover for Tuesday’s parade in Moscow.

Parades in some other cities have been cancelled. There have also been reports of fewer soldiers and less military hardware joining this year’s parade as the Ukraine conflict takes a heavy toll on men and equipment.

Authorities nationwide have cancelled the “Immortal Regiment” processions, where people carry portraits of relatives who fought against the Nazis.

Arise News

From the religious symbolism of his anointment to the moment when the crown is placed on his head, what are the highlights to look out for during the coronation of King Charles today?

Coach procession

According to Reuters, a grand procession by the royals in historic coaches through central London is always a highlight of any major state occasion.

For the coronation, Charles and his wife, Camilla, who will also be crowned queen during the ceremony, will break with tradition and travel from Buckingham Palace to London’s Westminster Abbey in the modern Diamond Jubilee State Coach, made to commemorate his mother’s 60th year on the throne.

They will return from the Abbey in the Coronation Procession in the 260-year-old Gold State Coach which weighs four tonnes and needs to be pulled by eight horses. It has been used at every coronation since King William IV’s in 1831 and was first used by George III to travel to the State Opening of Parliament in 1762.

The return journey will be much slower as the Gold State Coach can only travel at walking pace – but the distance itself will be about a third of the 7.2 km (4.5 mile) route taken by his mother Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when millions thronged the streets of London to watch.

It will also involve some 4,000 armed forces personnel in a procession one mile long, making it the largest of its kind for a generation.

Anointing

During the service, Charles will be anointed with holy Chrism oil, made using olives from the Mount of Olives and consecrated in Jerusalem.

The tradition dates back to the Old Testament of the Bible which describes the anointing of King Solomon by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet, and has been maintained to emphasise the spiritual status of the monarch.

“This is often thought to be the most sacred part of the ceremony. It’s an ancient and very symbolic ceremony … historically it was akin to the anointing of priests and bishops.

“It’s a way of the church cementing their relationship with the new monarch but also a clear symbol to all present that the monarch has been marked out as very special”, Charles Farris, Public Historian at Historic Royal Palaces, said.

Music

The ceremony will feature 12 new works, which Charles commissioned or selected, including a new coronation anthem by musical theatre impresario, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Along with the new, there will be the usual trumpet fanfares and music which has been historically used at coronations over the last four centuries.

Perhaps the most notable is “Zadok the Priest” which was composed by George Frideric Handel as a coronation anthem for King George II in 1727 and has been sung at every one since. Soccer fans might recognise the famous tune as the UEFA Champions League anthem.

Crowning

The key moment of the ceremony will be when Charles – sitting on a coronation chair dating back more than 700 years – is given regalia, from bejewelled orbs and sceptres to swords and a ring.

The culmination sees the 360-year-old St Edward’s Crown, weighing in at 2.2 kg (4 lb 12 ounces) and a replacement for an original dating back to the 11th Century, placed onto Charles’ head by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“It is the most blingy way of signing your job contract. The big moment, the big photograph moment, the big moment that everyone’s going to be talking about, making memes of, making TikToks of, that’s when the king is crowned, when the king has the crown put on his head”, royal historian, Professor Kate Williams, said.

Balcony scene

Having returned to Buckingham Palace, the big finale – as it is for weddings, jubilees and other major royal events – is the appearance by the senior Windsors on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

There will be a fly past by military aircraft including the Red Arrows Royal Air Force aerobatic team and historic planes from World War Two.

While the newly-crowned king and queen will be the centre of attention, all eyes will be on whether Charles’ younger son, Prince Harry, appears.

People will also be watching Prince Louis, the youngest child of heir Prince William, who stole the show last year during celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee by covering his ears and screaming amid the din caused by the aircraft fly past.

Tribune/AFP

 

Britain’s first coronation in 70 years takes place on Saturday, with Charles III crowned king in an elaborate Christian ceremony steeped in solemn ritual and more than a millennium of history.

The coronation, the first of a British king since 1937, is the religious confirmation of his accession after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, last September.

Much of the Anglican service at London’s Westminster Abbey — which will also crown Charles’s second wife Camilla as queen — would be recognisable to the 74-year-old king’s forebears 1,000 years ago.

But there will also be a clear departure with the involvement of women bishops, minority faith leaders and a more diverse and representative guest list of British society than the lords and ladies of old.

So too is the environmental theme at the ceremony, including vegan anointing oil and recycled ceremonial garb, reflecting Charles’s lifelong championing of sustainability and biodiversity.

Coronation organiser the Earl Marshal, Duke of Norfolk Edward Fitzalan-Howard, called the event “a proud moment” in British history.

“During the coronation, the king will swear before God and the nation to serve our country as head of state, upholding our laws and maintaining justice for all,” he told reporters this week.

– Opposition –

The duke, whose family has organised state events since 1483, said the coronation was also a chance to unite Britain and the 56-nation Commonwealth grouping, which Charles also heads.

Not everyone is in the mood to celebrate, however. Republican opponents who want an elected head of state plan to protest on the day with signs declaring “Not my king”.

Younger people, too, say the coronation — and the monarchy in general — leaves them cold, according to polling.

Further afield, Charles’s position looks increasingly tenuous as the hereditary monarch in 14 Commonwealth countries outside the UK.

Jamaica could hold a referendum on severing ties with the monarchy as early as next year, according to Marlene Malahoo Forte, the Caribbean nation’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs.

“Jamaica in Jamaican hands,” she told Sky News. “Time to say goodbye!”

Australia is mulling constitutional change to give Indigenous people, once oppressed by the British crown, a greater institutional “voice” in policymaking, which could presage future separation.

Charles is also facing calls to apologise for his ancestors’ involvement in colonialism and the slave trade.

And South Africa has called for the return of the world’s largest diamond, which was unearthed under British rule and is now part of the crown jewels to be used in the abbey on Saturday.

– Cost –

Back home, political leaders will be hoping the coronation will show Britain at its best, going some way to repair the country’s international standing dented by its exit from the European Union.

The presidents of France and Germany and senior EU leaders will be among the 2,300 guests attending, along with global royalty.

The opulent display of jewels, crowns and gilded coaches, however, sits uneasily with many Britons struggling due to the rising cost of living, and widespread strike action for better pay.

“We are not living the same life. At this time people are struggling,” Eden Eawit, 38, told AFP in north London.

“I cook only two days a week, I eat only sandwiches. Some people are not eating at all. It is very hard,” she said.

Much of the final taxpayer-funded bill, widely estimated to be upwards of £100 million ($126 million), is likely to come from the huge security operation.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “A national occasion like this, a great state occasion, does attract huge global interest that more than repays the expenditure that goes with it.”

UKHospitality, a trade body, said the coronation weekend, which includes a public holiday on Monday, could generate £350 million for the sector including pubs.

– Pageantry –

All the stops have been pulled out for the biggest display of British pomp and pageantry in decades, outstripping the queen’s state funeral last September.

In all, around 7,000 military personnel — from mounted troops to marching bands — will take part in a parade rehearsed with minute precision.

Charles and Camilla will travel from Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, then back along the same route in the older Gold State Coach after the two-hour service at the abbey.

At the palace, they will take a salute from members of the armed forces, then watch a ceremonial fly-past from the balcony with other members of the royal family.

AFP

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denied Moscow’s claim that Ukraine had attempted to assassinate Russian leader Vladimir Putin after Russia said two drones were shot down over the Kremlin.

“We didn’t attack Putin… We fight on our territory, we are defending our villages and cities,” Zelensky told reporters at a press conference with Nordic leaders in Helsinki.

“We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We don’t have enough weapons for this,” he added.

Russia said Wednesday it had shot down two drones targeting Putin’s Kremlin residence in what it called a Ukrainian “terrorist” assassination attempt.

“The devices were put out of action,” a Kremlin statement said.

Moscow said Putin was not hurt and there were no casualties.

Asked about why Moscow would accuse Kyiv, Zelensky replied, “Russia has no victories.”

“He (Putin) can no longer motivate his society and he can no longer send his military to die for nothing,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader on Wednesday participated in a summit in Helsinki gathering the leaders of the five Nordic nations.

Zelensky reaffirmed that Ukraine aims to become a member of NATO, while the Nordic NATO members issued a statement declaring they would “continue to support Ukraine on its path towards future membership.”

“Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO and we are actually cooperating for the sake of common defence,” Zelensky said.

Channels TV

Russia’s first large-scale air attacks in nearly two months come as Ukraine prepares for a counteroffensive.

At least 12 people have been killed and several injured after Russian forces attacked cities and regions across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, in a series of night-time air raids.

In the central city of Uman, at least 10 people were killed and 17 wounded when a missile hit an apartment building, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

In Dnipro, city’s Mayor Borys Filatov said, a woman and a young child were killed in the attacks in the early hours of Friday but gave no further details.

“No more words,” he wrote.

Videos shared on social media showed part of the building in Uman, a city of 80,000 people in the Cherkasy oblast, up in flames with rubble underneath.

Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said emergency services were at the scene and five people were hospitalised.

“We have two cruise missile hits on Uman; a residential building and a warehouse building,” Taburets wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “We are finding out the consequences.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that this “Russian terror must face a fair response from Ukraine and the world”.

It was not clear what Russia was targeting, although it has regularly struck civilian infrastructure, particularly energy facilities throughout the winter.

Beginning late last year, Russia launched such attacks roughly weekly, though they had tapered off as winter ended, with Western countries saying Moscow had used up much of its long-range missile arsenal in a failed bid to freeze Ukrainian cities.

Moscow says it does not deliberately target civilians, but its assaults have killed thousands of people and devastated cities and towns across Ukraine.

Kyiv says attacks on cities far from the front lines have no military purpose apart from intimidating and harming civilians, a war crime.

There were no immediate reports on the damage or any casualties in Kyiv, with city officials saying air defence systems had destroyed at least 11 cruise missiles and two drones.

“Woke up to explosions,” a Kyiv resident told Al Jazeera via text message. “It felt like an earthquake.”

Blasts were also heard in Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine, as well as Mykolaiv in the south, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency and social media channels.

The wave of raids, the largest assault in months, comes as Moscow’s forces continue to battle for control of the ruined city of Bakhmut, and as Kyiv prepares to retake territory in the country’s east and south.

The attacks also follow a landmark phone call between Zelenskyy and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first between the two leaders since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

China is trying to position itself as a peacemaker between the two countries.

“China always stands on the side of peace and China’s core position is to promote peace via talks,” the state-run Global Times quoted Xi as saying during the call.

China unveiled its 12-point peace plan on Ukraine – calling for de-escalation and an eventual ceasefire – on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Al Jazeera

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday he is running for re-election in 2024, plunging at the record age of 80 into a ferocious new White House campaign “to finish the job.”

“Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms,” Biden wrote on Twitter, along with a video.

“I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for re-election as president of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job.”

After a series of big legislative wins and momentous foreign policy struggles in his first two years in office, Biden has no real challenger from within the Democratic Party.

But in a campaign that may result in a rematch of the 2020 election against Donald Trump, he is expected to face constant and fierce scrutiny over his age.

The veteran Democrat would be 86 by the end of a second term. Even if a medical exam in February found him “fit” to execute the duties of the presidency, many including in his own voter base believe he is too old.

An NBC News poll released over the weekend found that 70 percent of Americans, including 51 percent of Democrats, believe he should not run.

Sixty-nine percent of all respondents who said he shouldn’t run cited concerns over his age as a major or minor reason.

Biden likes to answer those concerns by saying, “watch me” — meaning that voters should focus on his policy wins at home and his marshaling of an unprecedented Western alliance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

Over the next year and a half, Biden will have all the advantages of incumbency, backed by a united party, while Republicans are only just starting a messy primary season.

Trump, despite becoming the first former or serving president to be criminally indicted — and facing probes into his attempt to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 election — is the overwhelming Republican frontrunner.

On Monday, Trump was quick to pitch in his own criticism of the man who defeated him last time around.

“With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection,” he said in a statement.

The most likely Republican challenger to the 76-year-old Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, presents a similarly right-wing figure, though starkly younger at 44.

Biden will underline his foreign policy credentials Tuesday when he meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is starting a state visit to the White House.

Like in 2020, Biden’s video message framed his election bid as a fight to save American democracy from Trump and increasingly far-right Republicans. However, he also stressed his message of restoring an economy with heavy focus on the manufacturing base and jobs for the middle class.

Later Tuesday he was scheduled to deliver an economic address to a union conference being held in Washington.

While not a campaign event, the scheduled theme — “how his investing in America agenda is bringing manufacturing back, rebuilding the middle class, and creating good-paying union jobs” — was set to be at the heart of the Democrat’s 2024 message.

Biden’s approval ratings have not topped 50 percent for more than a year and a half.

However, he has consistently over-delivered when it matters. Supporters say the Democratic Party’s surprisingly strong performance in 2022 midterm congressional elections validated the Biden brand.

And while Biden may seem bland in comparison to Trump, he would bank on his moderate, old fashioned image being the secret weapon needed in an increasingly extreme era.

“My dad had an expression,” Biden often says. “Joey, don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.”

(Channels TV)