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King Charles III and Kate will attend remembrance events as both royals slowly return to duty

King Charles III and Kate will attend remembrance events as both royals slowly return to duty
Front row (L-R) Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Princess Anne, Princess Royal attend "The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance" ceremony at Royal Albert Hall, in London, on November 9, 2024 as part of the Remembrance Day commemorating the end of World War I. (AFP)
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Updated 10 November 2024
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King Charles III and Kate will attend remembrance events as both royals slowly return to duty

King Charles III and Kate will attend remembrance events as both royals slowly return to duty
  • King Charles III and the Princess of Wales both plan to attend the United Kingdom’s annual ceremony honoring fallen service personnel on Sunday.
Updated 10 November 2024
AP
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LONDON: King Charles III and the Princess of Wales both plan to attend the United Kingdom’s annual ceremony honoring fallen service personnel on Sunday, a sign that the royal family is slowly returning to normal after a year in which two of the most popular royals were sidelined by cancer.
Remembrance Sunday is a totemic event in the UK, with the king leading senior royals, political leaders and envoys from the Commonwealth countries that fought alongside Britain in the two world wars in laying wreaths at the Cenotaph, the Portland stone memorial in central London that serves as the focal point for honoring the nation’s war dead.
The presence of both Charles, who is the commander in chief of the military, and Kate signals that normal royal service has been restored — at least for one day.
“They are showing respect to us, as we’ve shown to them by serving,” said Victor Needham-Crofton, 91, an army veteran who served during the Suez Crisis of 1956 and later in Kenya.
Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February, forcing him to step away from public appearances for two months as he focused on his treatment and recovery. Just a few weeks later, Kate announced her own cancer diagnosis, which sidelined her for much of the year as she underwent chemotherapy.
The king has been in good form in recent months and recently completed a taxing trip to Australia and Samoa. Kate, who made her first post-diagnosis public appearance during the monarch’s birthday parade in June, is slowly returning to public duties.
Prince William, Kate’s husband and the heir to the throne, reflected this week on the strain that the cancer scare has placed on the royal family.
“I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” William told reporters on Thursday as he wrapped up a four-day trip to South Africa. “But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
Charles’ ceremonial role as commander in chief of the armed forces is a holdover from the days when the monarch led his troops into battle. But the link between the monarchy and the military is still very strong, with service members taking an oath of allegiance to the king and members of the royal family supporting service personnel through a variety of charities. Charles and William both served on active duty in the military before taking up full-time royal duties.
On Sunday, Charles will lay a wreath of poppies at the base of the Cenotaph. William will leave his own floral tribute – featuring the Prince of Wales’ feathers and a new ribbon in Welsh red.
Kate will watch from a balcony of the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as is tradition.
All will be present for the culmination of the event, when 10,000 military veterans march past the memorial and lay their own wreaths honoring fallen comrades.
While the Cenotaph is the focus of the national remembrance service, communities throughout the UK will hold their own ceremonies on Sunday.
Needham-Crofton, who served with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before a truck accident ended his military career, plans to attend a local service in Eastbourne on the south coast of England.
He has spent much of his time honoring veterans and trying to help them, including 20 years as a volunteer for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. Like some of his army tasks, raising cash was rather grueling as it involved standing in front of London subway stations collecting coins to help fund the group’s efforts.
“I like to respect all the veterans and do what I can for them,’’ he told The Associated Press. “It’s a brotherhood really. Even if you don’t know a veteran that you meet, you feel a kinship toward them. That is very important to me. I shall be like that for the rest of my life.’’

Topics: UK UK royals King Charles III Kate Middleton

US’s Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov to face off at OSCE meeting in Malta

US’s Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov to face off at OSCE meeting in Malta
Updated 59 min 42 sec ago
Reuters
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US’s Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov to face off at OSCE meeting in Malta

US’s Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov to face off at OSCE meeting in Malta
Updated 59 min 42 sec ago
Reuters

VIENNA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his outgoing US counterpart Antony Blinken are due to face off over the war in Ukraine on Thursday at an annual meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta.
While Ukraine will be the dominant political issue, the meeting is due to formally approve last-minute agreements reached on issues including senior staff positions at the security and rights body where Western powers often accuse Russia of flouting human rights and other international norms.
The gathering of foreign ministers and other officials from 57 participating states in North America, Europe and Central Asia is overshadowed this year by the return of US President-elect Donald Trump, whose advisers are floating proposals to end the war that would cede large parts of Ukraine to Russia.
With Trump due to take office in just over a month, Western powers plan to reiterate their support for Ukraine while Russia is likely to renew its criticism of the organization. Lavrov said last year the OSCE was “essentially being turned into an appendage of NATO and the European Union.”
It is Lavrov’s first trip to the European Union since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The OSCE is the successor to a body set up during the Cold War for the east and west to engage with each other. In recent years, however, and especially since it invaded Ukraine, Russia has used what is effectively a veto each country has to block many key decisions, often crippling the organization.
This year, however, the countries blocking agreement on the OSCE budget are Armenia and Azerbaijan rather than Russia, diplomats say, over issues related to their conflict in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Diplomats say a deal was reached this week to fill four senior OSCE positions including that of secretary general, which will be taken up by Turkiye’s Feridun Sinirlioglu, who was foreign minister in a caretaker government in 2015.
The most important annual decision at the OSCE — which country will next hold its annually rotating chairmanship — has long been settled, since Finland will hold it for the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act that lay the foundation for the current OSCE.

Topics: Russia US

Taiwan official says China trying to set a ‘red line’ for incoming Trump government

Taiwan official says China trying to set a ‘red line’ for incoming Trump government
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters
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Taiwan official says China trying to set a ‘red line’ for incoming Trump government

Taiwan official says China trying to set a ‘red line’ for incoming Trump government
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters

TAIPEI: China is trying to set a “red line” for the incoming Trump administration and US allies by stepping up military activities in the region, a senior Taiwan security official said, including likely war games this weekend around the island.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory over Taipei’s rejection, has held two rounds of war games around the island so far this year, and its forces operate nearby on a daily basis.
The official confirmed concerns expressed by other security officials in the region who have previously told Reuters that China could launch new drills to coincide with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s trip to the Pacific this week which included visits to Hawaii and the US territory of Guam.
“They want to clearly establish that the First Island Chain is China’s red line and its sphere of control before the new US government takes office on Jan. 20,” the official told a briefing in Taipei, offering the government’s assessment of China’s activities.
The First Island Chain is an area that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas.
Neither China’s Taiwan Affairs Office nor its defense ministry responded to a request for comment.
The Taiwan official, briefing on condition of anonymity to be able to speak more freely, said China could launch new war games shortly before or after Lai’s return to Taipei from the Pacific on Friday.
“They want to tell the new US government that this area is controlled by China and that you must discuss with China everything that happens here,” the official said, pointing to recent Chinese military activities around Taiwan including joint maneuvers with Russia near the island’s east coast earlier this week.
“They want other countries — the United States or Europe — to know that this is their sphere of influence and that they should be taken seriously.”
China has deployed close to 40 vessels in the region this week, including a Chinese aircraft carrier group led by Liaoning in the East China Sea as well as other naval and coast guard boats in the South China Sea.
Reuters first reported that a north bound Russian naval fleet on Monday approached close to Taiwan’s contiguous zone 24 nautical miles (45 km) off its southeastern coasts and conducted joint simulated attacks on “foreign vessels and aircraft” with a Chinese destroyer nearby.
China urged the United States last week to exercise the “utmost caution” on relations with Taiwan, ahead of Lai’s Pacific tour. Beijing opposes any foreign interactions or visits by Taiwan leaders.
Lai and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

Topics: Taiwan China US

Film studio proposal in the spotlight as UK PM Starmer plots planning overhaul

Film studio proposal in the spotlight as UK PM Starmer plots planning overhaul
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters
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Film studio proposal in the spotlight as UK PM Starmer plots planning overhaul

Film studio proposal in the spotlight as UK PM Starmer plots planning overhaul
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters

MARLOW: A dispute over proposals for a film studio on a plot of grassland west of London could become a test case for Britain’s Labour government and its plans to get the country building again to drive economic growth.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to “bulldoze through restrictive planning laws” that investors blame for making it difficult and costly to build in Britain.
His government has also identified British film and TV production — which rivals Hollywood in capacity and has made blockbusters like “Barbie,” the Harry Potter series and “Deadpool & Wolverine” — as a sector that deserves support.
He is expected to reference it in a speech outlining his priorities for government on Thursday.
But any government intervention in local planning decisions to get things built, such as the proposed studio 30 miles from London, risks angering voters who might feel the biggest impact from such projects.
“Undoubtedly the current planning system is not fit for purpose,” said Anna Crabtree, a parish councillor for the picturesque village of Little Marlow.
“But I think the national government ignores local policies, local plans and local people at their peril.”
Marlow Film Studios, which lists directors James Cameron, Sam Mendes and Paul Greengrass among supporters, wants to build 470,000 square feet of soundstages across 56 acres on a disused landfill site next to a busy road.
But the project — which backers say would directly create around 2,000 jobs once operational — has run into opposition because of the plot’s location between the pretty market town of Marlow, on the banks of the River Thames, and Little Marlow.
The local council rejected the proposal earlier this year, in part because the area is formally classed as “green belt” land, a designation intended to limit development and prevent urban sprawl. Locals had envisaged it as a country park instead.
But the government elected in July has intervened in the appeal process that will give a final say, with culture minister Lisa Nandy saying much-needed economic growth would be “front of mind” when weighing the proposal.
The appeal will proceed to a planning inquiry before the government makes a final determination, expected next year.
GREEN OR GREY BELT
Labour, in trying to ease national planning restrictions, has proposed the notion of “grey belt” land. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who has responsibility for planning, said in April that “much of the green belt isn’t green rolling hills, but poor-quality scrub land” which should not be off-limits to developers.
More details of those proposals are expected by the end of the year.
In its appeal filings, Marlow Film Studios said that, based on the current drafting of government policy, the site should now be considered grey belt land suitable for development. Opponents reject that, saying the fields are green belt as they prevent urban sprawl and support wildlife.
If successful, the studio would join an area to London’s north-west that is home to many film studios, including Warner Brothers in Leavesden, where much of 2023 blockbuster “Barbie” was shot, and Pinewood Studios, where James Bond, Marvel and Star Wars films have been made.
Robert Laycock, chief executive of Marlow Film Studios, said the film industry was one of few “where the UK has the ability to really shine and out-compete.”
“If we don’t seize the ability to tell our stories on a global stage, other people will,” he said.
Britain provides tax credits for independent film and visual effects and the culture department said it believed there was “potential for further growth across the UK as we look to rival Hollywood as the best place in the world to make film.”
Creative industries are among priority sectors for next year’s new industrial strategy.
Some 4.2 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) was spent on film and high-end TV production in the UK in 2023, the British Film Institute said, 78 percent of which was inward investment or co-productions with international partners.
The British Film Commission (BFC) launched a program in 2020 to support expansion of UK soundstage space. Since then, capacity has doubled to around 6 million square feet, a figure which rivals Los Angeles.
In a further possible sign of its interest in the sector, the government has also intervened in the decision whether to approve a proposed studio at nearby Holyport, while Sky Studios are seeking to expand facilities in Elstree.
A Sky spokesperson said plans “to expand the site reflect the strength of our future project pipeline” and would help it attract an additional 2 billion pounds in investment there.
Campaign group Save Marlow’s Greenbelt has questioned whether Britain needs so much production space, however, arguing the jobs at Marlow might just come from nearby studios, and that Britain could end up with overcapacity given the recent US writers’ strike and a subsequent slowdown in the industry.
BFC Chief Executive Adrian Wootton said it had backed Marlow Film Studios as “a viable project with access to crew and infrastructure.”
“The demand to base productions and use our facilities and talent in the UK remains very strong,” he said, adding that the sector was “key to driving economic growth.”

Topics: UK Starmer

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Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis

Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis
Updated 05 December 2024
AFP
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Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis

Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis
Updated 05 December 2024
AFP

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday will seek ways out of France’s political crisis, after Michel Barnier became the first prime minister to be ousted by parliament in over six decades.
Lawmakers voted on Wednesday to oust Barnier’s government after just three months in office, approving a no-confidence motion proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far right headed by Marine Le Pen.
Barnier’s record-quick ejection comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far right holding the key to the government’s survival.
Macron now has the unenviable task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left, with some — though not all — opponents calling on him to resign.
Barnier is due to present Macron his government’s resignation on Thursday morning.
The president will then address the nation at 1900 GMT, the Elysee said.
The no-confidence motion, brought by the hard left in the National Assembly, came amid a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.
With the support of the far right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government.
It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
“We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve the deepening political crisis.
But taking care not to crow over the government’s fall, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party — once a new premier is appointed — “would let them work” and help create a “budget that is acceptable for everyone.”
Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far right and hard left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that will “plunge the country into instability.”
Candidates for the post of premier are few, but loyalist Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.
On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.
Barnier was the fifth prime minister to serve under Macron since he came to power in 2017, with every premier serving a successively shorter period.
Given the turbulence, the new nominee now risks serving an even shorter term than Barnier, whose tenure was the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.
Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP.
A source close to Macron said the president, who has taken time with appointments in the past, has “no choice” but to name the new premier within 24 hours.
Macron has rejected calls to resign.
With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.
The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air-traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures.
Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event Saturday, with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president.
“His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.
In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.
“In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalization she had consistently pursued,” the daily said.

Topics: France French President Emmanuel Macron

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Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters
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Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions
Updated 05 December 2024
Reuters

WASHINGTON: The top US military officer, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, spoke by phone with Russia’s Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov last week, the US military said on Wednesday, the first time Brown spoke with his Russian counterpart.
“The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement.
The rare call took place on Nov. 27, but “at the request of Gen. Gerasimov, Gen. Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call.” The request for the call was made by the Russian ministry of defense, the spokesperson said.
Brown became the top US general last year, and Gerasimov last spoke with Brown’s predecessor, Mark Milley.
Tensions have spiked in recent weeks. Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia despite Moscow’s warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new medium-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” (the hazel) and warned that more could follow.
US officials had said Russia notified Washington shortly before its strike.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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