Month: September 2022

TORONTO -- King Charles III was officially proclaimed Canada’s monarch Saturday in a ceremony in Ottawa. Charles automatically became king when Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday. But like the ceremony in the United Kingdom hours earlier, the accession ceremony in Canada is a key constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country. Charles is now is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies. “Canada has enjoyed a long history and a close friendship with His Majesty King Charles III, who has visited our country many times over the years," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. “On behalf of the Government of Canada, we affirm our loyalty to Canada’s new King, His Majesty King Charles III, and offe...

CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic after elections in May, said Sunday that now was the time not for a change but for paying tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Many regarded Australians’ respect and affection for the late monarch as the biggest obstacle to the country becoming a republic with its own head of state. Albanese, who describes himself as the first candidate with a “non-Anglo Celtic name” to run for prime minister in the 121 years that the office has existed, had created a new position of Assistant Minister for the Republic and appointed Matt Thistlethwaite to the role in June. Thistlethwaite had said there would be no change in the queen’s lifetime. “Now is not a time to...

NEW DELHI -- India on Sunday observed a day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II with flags lowered to half-staff on all government buildings. Official entertainment events were also canceled “as a mark of respect to the departed dignitary,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said. Flags atop Indian Parliament, President House, Red Fort and other government offices in New Delhi were lowered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called Elizabeth “a stalwart of our times.” Britain ended two centuries of colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Two more U.S. military planes loaded with tons of aid for Pakistanis affected by flooding from deadly monsoon rains landed Sunday in southern Sindh province, one of the worst-affected regions in the impoverished country. Saif Ullah, spokesman for the country's Civil Aviation Authority, said each plane was loaded with about 35 tons of relief aid that would be distributed in the province by the World Food Program. The aircraft landed at Sukkur Airport in Sindh and Ullah said the U.S. operation that began Thursday would continue until Sept. 16. Pakistan has suffered under extremely heavy monsoon rains that started early this year — in mid-June. Multiple officials and experts have blamed the rains Hoka Sneakers and resulting floodwaters on climate change. U.N. Secretary-...

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin is passing through the rugged Scottish countryside Sunday on a final journey from her beloved summer estate Balmoral Castle to London, with mourners quietly lining roads and some tossing flowers to honor the monarch who died after 70 years on the throne. The hearse drove past piles of bouquets and other tributes as it led a seven-car cortege from Balmoral, where the queen died Thursday, for a six-hour trip through Scottish towns to Holyroodhouse palace in Edinburgh. The late queen's coffin was draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath made of flowers from the estate, including sweet peas, one of the queen's favorites. “A sad and poignant moment as Her Majesty, The Queen leaves her beloved Balmoral for the final ti...

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian forces on Sunday pushed its counteroffensive in the country's east, exploiting quick gains they made in a week of fighting that has sharply changed the course of the conflict. Ukraine's quick action to reclaim Russia-occupied areas in the northeastern Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being surrounded and leave behind significant numbers of weapons and munitions in a hasty retreat as the war marked 200 days on Sunday. The jubilant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mocked the Russians in a video address late Saturday, saying that “the Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do — showing its back." On Sunday, he posted a video of Ukrainian soldiers hoisting the national flag over Chkalovske, a...