King Charles III officially announced as Britain’s new monarch

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Updated 10 September 2022
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King Charles III officially announced as Britain’s new monarch

  • King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have congratulated King Charles III on his accession as Britain’s new monarch
  • Prince and Princess of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet crowds together

LONDON: King Charles III was officially announced as Britain’s monarch Saturday, in a pomp-filled ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism — and, for the first time, broadcast live.

Charles automatically became king when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Thursday, but the accession ceremony is a key constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country.

Scores of senior politicians past and present, including Prime Minister Liz Truss and five of her predecessors, gathered in the ornate state apartments at St. James’s Palace for the meeting of the Accession Council.

They met without Charles, officially confirming his title, King Charles III. The king joined them to make a personal declaration, vowing to follow his mother’s “inspiring example” as he took on the duties of monarch.

“I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me,” he said.

Speaking of his personal grief, he said: “I know how deeply you and the entire nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathize with me in this irreparable loss we have all suffered.”

The new king formally approved a series of orders — including one declaring the day of his mother’s funeral a public holiday. The date of the state funeral has not been announced, but it is expected to be around Sept 19.

This is the first time the accession ceremony has been held since 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne.

Charles was accompanied at the ceremony by his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, and his eldest son Prince William. William is now heir to the throne and known by the title Charles long held, Prince of Wales.

The ceremony ended with a royal official publicly proclaiming King Charles III the monarch from a balcony at the palace — a relic of centuries past, when this would have been the first official confirmation the public had of their new sovereign.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Britain’s new monarch King Charles III on the accession to the throne, the Russian embassy in London said on Twitter.

“Please accept my sincere congratulations on Your Accession to the throne,” the statement from Putin read.

“I wish Your Majesty success, good health and all the best,” it added.

David White, the Garter King of Arms, made the proclamation flanked by trumpeters in gold-trimmed robes before leading cheers — “hip, hip, hooray!” — for the new king.

Gun salutes rang out in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and at military sites around the UK as he announced the news, and scarlet-robed soldiers in the palace courtyard doffed their bearskin hats in a royal salute.

The proclamation will also be read out in the medieval City of London and at other locations across the UK.

Two days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland following an unprecedented 70 years on the throne, people still came in their thousands to pay their respects outside Buckingham Palace in London. The scene was repeated at other royal residences across the UK and at British embassies around the world.

The monarch set the tone for his reign on Friday, vowing in a televised address to carry on the queen’s “lifelong service,” with his own modernizing stamp.

Charles looked to both the past — noting his mother’s unwavering “dedication and devotion as sovereign” — and the future, seeking to strike a reassuring note of constancy while signaling that his will be a 21st-century monarchy.

He reflected on how the country had changed dramatically during the queen’s reign into a society “of many cultures and many faiths,” and pledged to serve people in Britain and the 14 other countries where he is king “whatever may be your background or beliefs.”

He also tried to overcome a reputation for aloofness in his first hours as monarch, spending time shaking hands with some of the thousands who came to leave flowers and pay tribute to the queen at the gates of Buckingham Palace. He was greeted with shouts of “Well done, Charlie!” and “God save the king!” One woman gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Britain is holding a period of mourning for the queen, with days of carefully choreographed ceremonies marking the death of the only monarch most people have ever known.

In the next few days the queen’s body will be brought from Balmoral, first to Edinburgh and then to London, where she will lie in state before a funeral at Westminster Abbey.

In his speech, Charles struck a personal note, speaking of his sorrow at the loss of “my darling Mama.”

“Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years,” he said, ending with a quote from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” — “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’”


Bangladesh government will not ban ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s party

Updated 3 sec ago
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Bangladesh government will not ban ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s party

  • Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League was accused of extensive human rights abuses during her 15-year tenure
  • This includes a violent crackdown on last year’s protest movement that killed more than 800 people
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim government says it has no plans to ban the political party of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, putting it at odds with the student revolutionaries who overthrew her in an uprising last year.
Hasina’s Awami League was accused of extensive human rights abuses during her 15-year tenure, including a violent crackdown on last year’s protest movement that killed more than 800 people.
Student leaders still grieving the deaths of their comrades have demanded the party, which played a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s bloody 1971 independence war under Hasina’s father, be outlawed.
But Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the de facto leader of the caretaker government that took office after her toppling, said it had no intention of doing so.
“Professor Yunus stated that the interim government has no plans to ban the party,” said a government statement issued late Thursday.
“However, individuals within its leadership who are accused of crimes, including murder and crimes against humanity, will be tried in Bangladesh’s courts.”
A tribunal in Dhaka has already issued arrest warrants for Hasina, who took refuge in neighboring India after her toppling, and her allies.
A fact-finding mission from the UN rights office said last month that her government was responsible for systematic attacks and killings of protesters in an attempt to hold onto power last year.
It found “reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment, and the infliction of other inhumane acts have taken place.”
Since she was toppled, students have consistently demanded the party be banned ahead of elections for a new government, expected by June next year.
The interim government did ban the Awami League’s student wing last October, citing its involvement in violent attacks on last year’s protests, while leaving open the fate of its parent organization.
Hasnat Abdullah, one of the leading figures of a new student-backed political party, planning to contest the next polls, slammed the government’s decision.
“The Awami League has to be banned,” he wrote on Facebook.
Fellow student leader Nasir Uddin Patwary warned last month that failure to ban the party “will push Bangladesh toward civil war,” according to local newspaper Prothom Alo.
Shafiqul Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s main Islamist party Jamaat, likewise wrote on social media Friday that people would not accept the party’s “rehabilitation.”

Undocumented migrants 'forget problems' at Madrid Ramadan meal

Updated 17 min 39 sec ago
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Undocumented migrants 'forget problems' at Madrid Ramadan meal

  • Since 2018 a group of Senegalese have distributed iftar meals in the square during Ramadan to anyone
  • Last year a record 46,843 migrants illegally reached the archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa

Madrid: At a bustling square in Madrid’s multicultural Lavapies neighborhood, Baye Serigne, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from Senegal, broke his Ramadan fast with a few friends on a recent evening.
“It fills your stomach,” he said as he ate a yassa sandwich, a speciality made with marinated beef and onions after spending more than an hour on public transport to reach the square from the migrant shelter where he lives.
“Here it is a bit like my Dakar, where you can find ways to get by,” said Serigne, a mechanic by training who arrived in the Spanish capital in October and is spending his first Ramadan alone in Spain, far from his family.
During the month of Ramadan, which this year runs through March, observant Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sundown, breaking their fast with a meal known as iftar.
Since 2018 a group of Senegalese have distributed iftar meals in the square during Ramadan to anyone, whether they are Muslim or not.
Fewer than 30 people turned up in the early days, but on some nights this year the group hands out more than 400 sandwiches, said Aliou Badara Wagnan, one of the organizers of the meal distribution.
This year between 50 and 200 people gather in the square every evening for an iftar meal under the watchful eye of the police, he added.
“For those who have just arrived in Spain, it’s very complicated,” the 33-year-old said.
“They are staying in shelters, they don’t have enough to buy what they need or to cook. We are simply trying to make sure that everyone can eat.”
'Talk and laugh'
For many west African migrants without papers, the gathering is about more than just free food — it is a chance to exchange survival tips or to talk about the disappointments of their lives as undocumented immigrants.
“I try to come every day. It feels good to have a good time and forget about the problems. We talk and laugh with each other,” said Assana, a 23-year-old former fisherman from Saint-Louis, a coastal city in northern Senegal.
Like Serigne, Assana, who did not want to give his surname, is spending his first Ramadan far from his homeland. He scrapes by on the little more than 1,000 euros ($1,080) a month he earns doing odd jobs.
“The biggest problem is not the work, but the lack of papers,” Assana said.
Without permission to work, many young migrants like Assana — who cannot stay in their shelters during the day — wander aimlessly around Lavapies, with its narrow streets filled with Bangladeshi fruit shops and African restaurants.
“We do nothing all day. If someone gave me money to leave, I think I would,” said one migrant who declined to be named.
Pro-immigration stance
Most still hope to become legal residents.
All of the undocumented migrants interviewed by AFP in Lavapies, aged 18 to 30, risked their lives to reach Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic from Africa in precarious boats.
Last year a record 46,843 migrants illegally reached the archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa, often the first port of call for people quitting the continent hoping for a better life in Europe.
Spain needs “more hands” to work, said Wagnan, who has lived in Spain for the past seven years where he says he has easily found work on building sites.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez seems to agree.
Unlike the bulk of his counterparts in Europe, the Socialist premier argues immigration is needed to fill workforce gaps and counteract an aging population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state.
Spain’s economy expanded by 3.2 percent in 2024, far outperforming its eurozone peers due to a booming tourism sector and a rising population as a result of immigration.


London’s Heathrow airport closed after fire causes major power cut

Updated 5 min 7 sec ago
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London’s Heathrow airport closed after fire causes major power cut

London: Britain’s Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, was shut down early Friday for 24 hours after a major fire at an electricity substation cut power to the sprawling facility west of London, officials said.
Airport authorities said they “expect significant disruption” over the coming days, with hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers affected.
“Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,” the airport operator said in a statement on its website, adding it would be closed until just before midnight Friday (2359 GMT).
“Passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
Online flight tracking service FlightRadar24 said Heathrow’s closure would affect at least 1,351 flights to and from the airport.
It said 120 flights to the airport were in the air when the closure was announced.

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What we know about London’s Heathrow airport

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London Fire Brigade said there had been a “significant” fire at a substation in Hayes, a nearby town in the London borough of Hillingdon, which caused the power outage.
It said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters were on the scene, while around 150 people had been evacuated from nearby properties.
Images on social media — which could not immediately be verified by AFP — showed huge flames and smoke rising from the substation.
Other videos, apparently shot inside Heathrow’s terminals, showed shuttered shops and deserted corridors, lit only by emergency lighting.
“The fire has caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses, and we are working closely with our partners to minimize disruption,” said London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne.
He said the blaze was first reported at 11:23 p.m. (2323 GMT).
“This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” a statement said.
British utility firm Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said on its website that an “unplanned outage” had left more than 16,000 homes without power in the area.

Britain's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, was shut down early March 21 after a major fire at an electrical substation supplying power to the sprawling facility west of London, officials said. (AFP)


Heathrow handles more than than 80 million passengers a year and the operator says there are around 1,300 takeoffs or landings a day.
Seven United Airlines flights returned to their airport of origin or to other airports and all Friday flights to London Heathrow are being canceled, a spokesperson said.
In Sydney, Qantas said two flights en route to Heathrow — a non-stop flight from Perth and another via Singapore — had both diverted to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.
It said two other flights scheduled to fly out of London on Friday were likely to be impacted.
In January, the government gave permission for Heathrow to build a third runway — which could be ready by 2035 — after years of legal wrangling brought on by complaints from local residents.
Five major airports serve the capital and towns nearby.
But capacity is stretched, especially at Heathrow whose two runways each measure almost four kilometers in length, while the airport covers a total area 12.3 square kilometers.
It opened in 1946 as London Airport before being renamed Heath Row, a hamlet demolished two years earlier to make way for the construction.
Situated 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of central London, the present Heathrow serves 200 destinations in more than 80 countries, with passengers having access to four terminals.
Among its main flight destinations last year were Dublin, Los Angeles, Madrid and New York.

 


67,000 white South Africans express interest in Trump’s plan to give them refugee status

Updated 21 March 2025
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67,000 white South Africans express interest in Trump’s plan to give them refugee status

  • Trump has offered refugee status to some white South Africans who claimed they are victims of racial discrimination by their Black-led government

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: The United States Embassy in South Africa said Thursday it received a list of more than 67,000 people interested in refugee status in the US under President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate members of a white minority group he claims are victims of racial discrimination by their Black-led government.
The list was given to the embassy by the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US, which said it became a point of contact for white South Africans asking about the program announced by the Trump administration last month. The chamber said the list does not constitute official applications.
Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 7 cutting US funding to South Africa and citing “government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
Trump’s executive order specifically referred to Afrikaners, a white minority group who are descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa in the 17th century. The order directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to prioritize humanitarian relief to Afrikaners who are victims of “unjust racial discrimination” and resettle them in the US under the refugee program.
There are approximately 2.7 million Afrikaners in South Africa, which has a population of 62 million. Trump’s decision to offer some white South Africans refugee status went against his larger policy to halt the US refugee resettlement program.
The South African government has said that Trump’s allegations that it is targeting Afrikaners through a land expropriation law are inaccurate and largely driven by misinformation. Trump has posted on his Truth Social platform that Afrikaners were having their farmland seized, when no land has been taken under the new law.
The executive order also criticized South Africa’s foreign policy, specifically its decision to accuse Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a case at the United Nations’ top court. The Trump administration has accused South Africa of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran and taking an anti-American stance. The US has also expelled the South African ambassador, accusing him of being anti-America and anti-Trump.
An official at the US Embassy in the South African capital, Pretoria, confirmed receipt of the list of names from the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US but gave no more detail.
Neil Diamond, the president of the chamber, said the list contains 67,042 names. Most were people between 25 and 45 years old and have children.
He told the Newzroom Afrika television channel that his organization had been inundated with requests for more information since Trump’s order and had contacted the State Department and the embassy in Pretoria “to indicate that we would like them to make a channel available for South Africans that would like to get more information and register for refugee status.”
“That cannot be the responsibility of the chamber,” he said.
Diamond said only US authorities could officially register applications for resettlement in the United States. The US Embassy in South Africa said it is awaiting further instructions on the implementation of Trump’s order.
 


In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks

Updated 21 March 2025
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In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks

  • NHTSA warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard
  • The recall of 46,096 Cybertrucks covers all 2024 and 2025 model years, manufactured from November 13, 2023, to February 27, 2025

US safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall, which covers more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
The stainless steel strip, called a cant rail assembly, between the windshield and the roof on both sides, is bound to the truck’s assembly with a structural adhesive, the NHTSA report said. The remedy uses an adhesive that’s not been found to be vulnerable to “environmental embrittlement,” the NHTSA said, and includes additional reinforcements.
Tesla will replace the panel free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 19, 2025.
The recall of 46,096 Cybertrucks covers all 2024 and 2025 model years, manufactured from November 13, 2023, to February 27, 2025. The NHTSA order says that Tesla became aware of the problem early this year.
Videos posted on social media showing people ripping the panels off of Cybertrucks with their hands have gone viral in recent days.

Tesla Cybertrucks are seen on a dealership lot on March 20, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)

The Cybertruck, which Tesla began delivering to buyers in late 2023, has been recalled eight times in the past 15 months for safety problems, including once in November because a fault in an electric inverter can cause the drive wheels to lose power. Last April, the futuristic-looking trucks were recalled to fix acceleration pedals that can get stuck in the interior trim. Other recalls were related to windshield wipers and the display screen.
It’s the latest setback for the Elon Musk-owned electric automaker, which has come under attack since President Donald Trump took office and empowered Musk to oversee a new Department of Government Efficiency that’s slashing government spending.
While no injuries have been reported, Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have been targeted.
Prosecutors in Colorado charged a woman last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships, including Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on a building.
And federal agents in South Carolina last week arrested a man they say set fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston. An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit that authorities found writings critical of the government and DOGE in his bedroom and wallet.
Even before the attacks ramped up in recent weeks, Tesla has been struggling, facing increased competition from rival electric vehicles, particularly out of China.
Though largely unaffected by Thursday’s recall announcement, Tesla shares have plummeted 42 percent in 2025, reflecting newfound pessimism as sales crater around the globe.
With regard to Thursday’s recall, Cybertruck owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236, or go to nhtsa.gov.