UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee

UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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Britain’s Prince Charles, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London on June 5, 2012. (File/AP)
UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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FILE — Britain’s Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Commonwealth Service on Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey in London, on March 14, 2022. (File/AP)
UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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Britain’s Prince Charles with his wife Princess Diana in front of Lodge Canberra, Australia, Nov. 7, 1985. (File/AP)
UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles walk through the Royal Gallery in the Houses of Parliament prior to the Queen making The Queen’s Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in London on June 21, 2017. (File/AP)
UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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Britain’s Royal family watch a fly past as they appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, after attending the annual Trooping the Color Ceremony in London in 2017. (File/AP)
UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II waves from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, following her Coronation at Westminster Abbey, June 2, 1953. (File/AP)
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Updated 01 June 2022

UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee

UK overlooks crisis to celebrate queen’s jubilee
  • The Platinum Jubilee takes place as Britons contend with a surge in prices not seen since the 1970s
  • With two public holidays from Thursday and then the weekend, pubs, restaurants and retailers are hoping for a timely sales boost

LONDON: Britons prepared Wednesday to mark a record-breaking 70 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth II, with four days of festivities offering temporary respite from an inflationary crisis and doubts over the monarchy’s future.
The Platinum Jubilee takes place as Britons contend with a surge in prices not seen since the 1970s, with many households struggling to put food on the table and pay rocketing bills.
But with two public holidays from Thursday and then the weekend, pubs, restaurants and retailers are hoping for a timely sales boost, after a difficult period including the Covid pandemic.
Supermarket chain Co-op predicted “a bigger sales period than Christmas.”
On The Mall, a red-paved avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, royal enthusiasts from far and wide have been camping out, despite heavy downpours.
“The last 24 hours have been horrendous. We had rain, hail, thunder, lightning,” Mary-Jane Willows, 68, from Cornwall, southwest England, told AFP.
“It’s the only way to make sure that you are at the front of the barrier when that royal coronation coach goes past, that golden coach.... It will be the most magical moment,” she said.
Angie Hart, 51, traveled from Canada to stake out a camping spot on The Mall with her husband and two daughters.
“It has always been something that I wanted to do,” she said. “I just have a real respect for the queen.”
But in Britain and the wider Commonwealth, support for the monarchy overall is an open question once the increasingly frail, 96-year-old monarch departs the scene.
With Prince Charles taking over more of his mother’s duties for occasions of state, there is a sense that the first — and possibly the last — Platinum Jubilee in British history marks a turning of the page.
A poll for The Sun newspaper this week gave the queen a 91.7-percent approval rating. Charles commanded only 67.5 percent, behind his son Prince William on 87.4 percent.
In Australia, where the queen is also head of state, new center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed an “assistant minister for the republic” in a move welcomed by the republicans.
Albanese has previously described Australia becoming a republic as “inevitable.”
Historian Anthony Seldon, of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), said “how traumatic it’s going to be when it unravels, as well as it might in the next two, three, four years when the change comes.”
Unlike the vocal Charles, the queen has rarely expressed an opinion in public, and her sheer longevity means that she has been a fixture of the life of nearly every Briton alive.
She has overcome numerous family traumas, including Charles’ very public split from Princess Diana and personal heartache when her consort Prince Philip died aged 99 last year.
The jubilee is being seen as a chance for the nation to give thanks to the queen publicly, after social distancing last year prevented crowds at Philip’s funeral.
The celebrations kick off Thursday with Trooping the Color, a military parade that has officially marked the British monarch’s birthday for centuries.
A fly-past will include Spitfires, the iconic fighter plane that helped win the Battle of Britain and fend off Nazi Germany in 1940.
The aerial display is expected to be watched by the queen and senior royals from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Balcony numbers have been limited to “working royals” only, leaving no place for self-exiled grandson Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan — returning on a rare visit to Britain — nor Elizabeth’s disgraced second son Prince Andrew.
Patriotic nostalgia runs red, white and blue throughout the festivities, culminating in Ed Sheeran singing “God Save the Queen” in front of Buckingham Palace on Sunday.
Participants in a giant public parade through central London earlier Sunday will be familiar to anyone acquainted with British popular culture since 1952.
But Bollywood dancers and a Caribbean carnival will also reflect the changes in British society since then, from one that was predominantly white and Christian, to one that is multicultural and multi-faith.
Britain’s Empire has given way to a Commonwealth of nations — 14 of which still count the queen as their head of state, including Australia and Canada.
But recent royal tours of the Caribbean have laid bare growing tensions about the British monarchy’s status further afield.
“This queen has been a significant glue within that Commonwealth,” said Michael Cox, emeritus professor of international relations at LSE.
“Whether, how successfully, Charles is going to play the same role, I don’t know,” he said.


Pro-Palestinian activists call for Israel’s Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes during London visit

Pro-Palestinian activists call for Israel’s Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes during London visit
Updated 19 sec ago

Pro-Palestinian activists call for Israel’s Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes during London visit

Pro-Palestinian activists call for Israel’s Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes during London visit

LONDON: “Anti-apartheid campaigners” have called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes on Friday, as he met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street in London on Friday, organizers said.

This comes after the International Center of Justice for Palestinians called on the British government to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Palestine.

“Netanyahu has violated the laws of war several times during his 15 years as Israeli prime minister, constituting war crimes under international law,” said Friends of Al-Aqsa, a UK-based nongovernmental organization concerned with defending the human rights of Palestinians and protecting the Al-Aqsa sanctuary.

“For 15 years, Netanyahu has personally overseen the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian towns and villages and the targeted killing of Palestinian men, women and children living under illegal Israeli occupation…Today, we are holding him to account for these war crimes” said Shamiul Joarder, head of public affairs at FOA.

“The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Putin, but what about Netanyahu? Sunak should be holding Netanyahu to account, not signing agreements to strengthen ties with an apartheid state and welcoming a war criminal to Downing Street.”

FOA said that Netanyahu’s visit comes after a “2030 roadmap for UK-Israel relations” was signed earlier this week.

“Yet the first three months of 2023 have seen some of the worst Israeli violence against Palestinians in decades, (and) Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 89 Palestinians, including 15 children,” the NGO said.

FOA added that Israel’s attacks on residential buildings in Gaza under Netanyahu’s premiership in the summer of 2021 and 2022 were widely condemned as war crimes.

“These brutal bombardments killed 66 Palestinian children and on May 16, 2021, Israel deliberately targeted two residential buildings of the Abu Al-Ouf and Al-Kolaq families, killing 30 family members including 11 children.

“Israel’s use of live ammunition against Palestinians who posed no imminent threat to life at the Great March of Return protests in 2018 and 2019 — including medics and journalists — has also been widely condemned as a war crime under international law,” it added.

“Netanyahu also oversaw Israel’s attacks on Gaza in 2014, which left 1,000 Palestinian children permanently disabled.”


Love, pain and loss at historic Ukraine cemetery

Love, pain and loss at historic Ukraine cemetery
Updated 39 min 28 sec ago

Love, pain and loss at historic Ukraine cemetery

Love, pain and loss at historic Ukraine cemetery
  • Located in southeastern Lviv, the Lychakiv cemetery is one of the oldest graveyards in Europe
  • It is the resting place of prominent figures including the poet Ivan Franko and thousands of soldiers who perished during World War I and II

LVIV, Ukraine: At a historic military cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Valeriy Pushko lights up two cigarettes. One is for himself, the other for his son whose portrait is fixed to a cross planted in the ground.
“I smoke with my son,” said the grey-haired man.
“We used to take cigarette breaks together. It’s a bad habit but it makes things easier. I talk to him, think about him and that makes me feel better.”
Pushko said many others come here to smoke with their fallen husbands or sons.
Located in southeastern Lviv, the Lychakiv cemetery is one of the oldest graveyards in Europe and is often compared to the historic Père Lachaise in Paris, where dozens of celebrities are buried.
It is the resting place of prominent figures including the poet Ivan Franko and thousands of soldiers who perished during World War I and II.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, rows of new graves have appeared. A sea of blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags and red-and-black nationalist banners mark them.
Some mourners leave stuffed animals, cigarettes, and cups of coffee at the graves of their loved ones.
More unusual symbols of love and sorrow included children’s drawings, vinyl records, a golf ball, and a bottle of beer.
Shortly after the Russian invasion in February 2022, authorities began burying soldiers killed in fighting at the Lychakiv cemetery.
But the area initially designated for military burials quickly filled up, said city official Oleg Pidpysetsky.
The authorities then began laying Ukrainian servicemen to rest at a new site bordering Lychakiv.
Funerals are held nearly every day in the new burial ground. Called the Field of Mars, it now contains about 350 graves.
“No one knew how critical the situation was,” Pidpysetsky told AFP.
“Someone thought it would end in a month, two, three, six months. But, unfortunately, the war has only gotten bigger.”
Oleg, one of the mourners who came to visit a friend’s grave, called the losses “irreparable.”
“We will have our victory of course, but this is the price we pay. And that is not the end,” said the 55-year-old.
“These people gave their lives for us.”
Oleg mourns the loss of his 45-year-old friend also called Oleg.
He said the father of two volunteered to go to the front.
“Unfortunately, nothing can be done now. Thousands of Russians will not replace my Oleg,” he said bitterly.
Kyiv does not reveal the number of its military casualties but Western officials say more than 100,000 Ukrainians have been killed or wounded.
Olga, who came to visit her brother-in-law’s grave, says the mementos people leave “is all that’s left, the only connection with their heroes.”
Her sister comes to the cemetery every day, she added.
“That’s her second home now,” said Olga.
Vyacheslav Sabelnikov, who served in the infantry before receiving a serious injury, says several men he fought with are now buried at the cemetery.
“I came to visit a friend whose birthday is today,” said Sabelnikov, placing a candle in front of his portrait.
Sabelnikov said he lights up candles to remember his friends, saying it was important to “honor” their memory.
Anna Mikheyeva, a 44-year-old social worker, came to visit her son Mykhailo’s grave. He served in the 80th Parachute Brigade and was killed last year at the age of 25.
Mikheyeva says she often brings her son things “he liked” including Coca-Cola, sweets, and cigarettes.
“If I come in the morning, I buy a coffee for myself and also for him,” added the dark-haired woman.
She said she felt calm at the Field of Mars.
“There are only young people here. They are like sons and brothers to me.
“When I come I always say ‘Hi guys’. And I always, always thank them.”


Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West

Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West
Updated 25 March 2023

Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West

Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West
  • “You know, when Finnish and Swedish politicians question the democratic nature of our political system, that’s really unacceptable,” Szijjártó said
  • A vote on Sweden is harder to predict, he said

UNITED NATIONS: The West’s steady criticism of Hungary on democratic and cultural issues makes the small European country’s right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said.
In an interview with AP, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also said Friday that his country has not voted on whether to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because Hungarian lawmakers are sick of those countries’ critiques of Hungarian domestic affairs.
Lawmakers from the governing party plan to vote Monday in favor of the Finnish request but “serious concerns were raised” about Finland and Sweden in recent months “mostly because of the very disrespectful behavior of the political elites of both countries toward Hungary,” Szijjártó said.
“You know, when Finnish and Swedish politicians question the democratic nature of our political system, that’s really unacceptable,” he said.
A vote on Sweden is harder to predict, Szijjártó said.
The EU, which includes 21 NATO countries, has frozen billions in funds to Budapest and accused populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban of cracking down on media freedom and other rights. Orban’s administration has also been accused of tolerating an entrenched culture of corruption and co-opting state institutions to serve the governing Fidesz party.
In a European Parliament resolution, EU lawmakers declared last year that Hungary had become “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” under Orban’s nationalist government and that its undermining of the bloc’s democratic values had taken Hungary out of the community of democracies.
That criticism raised objections within Hungary and made it hard for the government to support Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO, Szijjártó said. Skeptics insist that Hungary has simply been trying to win lucrative concessions.
When it comes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Szijjártó said that his country’s advocacy of peace does not mean accepting that Russia would keep the territory it currently controls.
“You know, stopping the war and sitting around the table does not mean that you accept the status quo,” he said. “When the war stops and the peace talks start, it’s not necessary that the borders would be where the front lines are. We know this from our own history as well ... Cease-fire has to come now.”
As for relations with the United States, Szijjártó said they had a heyday under former President Donald Trump. His government found things more difficult under President Joe Biden.
In perfect, nearly unaccented English, Szijjártó explained that Hungary is “a clearly rightist, right-wing, Christian Democratic, conservative, patriotic government.” He then went on in terms that would be familiar to millions of Americans.
“So we are basically against the mainstream in any attributes of ours. And if you are against the liberal mainstream, and in the meantime, you are successful, and in the meantime, you continue to win elections, it’s not digestible for the liberal mainstream itself,” he said. “Under President Trump, the political relationship was as good as never before.”
Key to that relationship was Trump’s acceptance of Hungary’s policies toward its own citizens.
The law has been condemned by human rights groups and politicians from around Europe as an attack on Hungary’s pride community.
Szijjártó said Trump was more welcoming of such measures than the Biden administration.
“He never wanted to impose anything. He never wanted to put pressure on us to change our way of thinking about family. He never wanted us to change our way of thinking about migration. He never wanted us to change our way of thinking about social issues,” Szijjártó said.
He also said Trump’s attitude toward Russia would be more welcome by some parties today.
During Trump’s term in the White House, Russia did not start “any attack against anyone,” Szijjártó said.


2 men plead guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan at gunpoint

Two men have pleaded guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan (pictured, with his wife) at gunpoint of his £70,000 diamond watch
Two men have pleaded guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan (pictured, with his wife) at gunpoint of his £70,000 diamond watch
Updated 25 March 2023

2 men plead guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan at gunpoint

Two men have pleaded guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan (pictured, with his wife) at gunpoint of his £70,000 diamond watch
  • Khan and his wife were leaving a restaurant in Leyton in east London when suspect brandished gun
  • Khan: ‘I have been put in the toughest situations, but this is something different’

LONDON: Two men have pleaded guilty to robbing boxer Amir Khan at gunpoint of his £70,000 ($86,000) diamond watch, Metro newspaper reported.

London’s Snarebrook Crown Court convicted Dante Campbell, 20, and 25-year-old Ahmed Bana on Friday after the two pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to rob and possession of an imitation firearm, with sentencing to be set at a later date.

Stuart Ponder, Met Flying Squad detective constable, said: “This was carefully planned and executed by individuals who knew exactly who they were targeting and what for.

“Despite being on a busy street with other members of the public close by, they had no qualms about brandishing a firearm and threatening Mr. Khan with the most brazen and extreme level of violence.”

The robbery, caught on CCTV, took place just after 9 p.m. on April 18, 2022, when 36-year-old Khan and his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, left a restaurant in Leyton in east London.

Pointing a gun in the former light welterweight champion’s face as the couple crossed the road, Campbell yelled, “Take off the watch,” before fleeing the scene in a silver Mercedes driven by Bana, which had pulled in front of Khan’s car just moments before the attack.

A Flying Squad investigation used CCTV footage to identify the car as being insured by Bana and through him identified Campbell as the gunman, with the pair arrested on June 22.

Speaking at a previous hearing, Khan told the court: “I am a sportsman, a fighter. I have been put in the toughest situations, but this is something different. This is really, really scary. When he put the gun to my face, I couldn’t recognize him because he had a mask on. I looked away because I didn’t want him to pull the trigger.”

Ponder said that every robbery leaves a “significant” mark on the victim, praising Khan for speaking out about the impact it had on both him and his family.

“That is why we are doing everything we can to target individuals who think they can get away with this type of behavior, from extra patrols at known robbery hotspots and developing intelligence on those carrying out these crimes,” Ponder added.

“Anyone who is a victim of a robbery should report it as soon as possible. This helps us ascertain crucial forensic evidence to take these violent criminals off our streets.”

Two other men arrested on suspicion of acting as “spotters” by dining in the restaurant to keep track of Khan’s movements were acquitted by a jury at Snaresbrook on Friday, while another man, Hamza Kulane, remains wanted in connection with the robbery.


Evacuated villagers tell how Spain’s forest fire forced them to leave animals

Evacuated villagers tell how Spain’s forest fire forced them to leave animals
Updated 25 March 2023

Evacuated villagers tell how Spain’s forest fire forced them to leave animals

Evacuated villagers tell how Spain’s forest fire forced them to leave animals
  • Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind
  • More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver

BARRACAS, Spain: Spain’s first major wildfire of the year scorched more than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of forest and forced 1,500 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia region.
Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind.
“Bad, how am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning, Our animals were there and no one can tell us anything,” Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who had to leave the village of Puebla de Arenoso, told Reuters.
More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, emergency services said on Saturday.
However, they had managed to stop the fire spreading to other areas.
“The surrounding forest has been reached by fire and we don’t know how exactly the area looks,” Montse Boronat, from Los Calpes, told Reuters.
Ximo Puig, president of the Valencia region, told reporters the blaze was made more “voracious” by summer-like temperatures of about 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).
Las Provincias, a regional newspaper, reported police believe that the blaze may have been started by a spark from a machine used to gather brushwood.
A Spanish Civil Guard spokeswoman said that an investigation was underway into the cause of the fire.
An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe has raised concern that there could be a repeat of last year’s devastating wildfires.
The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along Spain’s northeastern Mediterranean coast, increasing the risk of fires, meteorological agency AEMET said last week.
Last year some 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, according to European Commission (EC) statistics.
In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land, according to the Commission’s European Forest Fire Information System.