Month: September 2022

Thousands of people spent London’s coldest night in months huddled in line to view the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, and authorities warned Saturday that arriving mourners face a 16-hour wait. Police arrested a man after what the force described as a “disturbance” Friday night in Parliament’s Westminster Hall, where the queen’s coffin is lying in state, draped in her Royal Standard and capped with a diamond-studded crown. Parliamentary authorities said someone got out of the queue and tried to approach the coffin on its platform. The Metropolitan Police force said a man was detained for a suspected public-order offense. …

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Royal fans have poured into the heart of London to experience the flag-lined roads, pomp-filled processions and, above all, brave a miles-long line for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to bid adieu to Queen Elizabeth II, who died after an unprecedented seven decades on the throne. And while they’re here, they’re packing hotels, restaurants and shops. Visitors crowding into central London from as far away as the U.S. and India for the historic moment are giving a boost to businesses at a time when the British economy is facing a cost-of-living crisis fueled by the highest inflation in four decades and predictions …

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Hanging out with Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia at a White House supper-dance. Swapping stories with Ronald Reagan about horseback riding. Bending the ears of Donald Trump and Joe Biden about climate change.  King Charles III, who became head of state following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has made the acquaintance of 10 of the 14 U.S. presidents who have held office since he was born in 1948.  He was just 10 when he checked off his first president in 1959. That was when Dwight Eisenhower visited the queen and her family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Friday to press his attack on Ukraine despite Ukraine’s latest counteroffensive and warned that Moscow could ramp up its strikes on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia. Speaking to reporters Friday after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan, Putin said the “liberation” of Ukraine’s entire eastern Donbas region remained Russia’s main military goal and that he sees no need to revise it. “We aren’t in a rush,” the Russian leader said, adding that Moscow has only deployed volunteer soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Some hardline politicians …

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Russia’s setbacks and stretched resources in Ukraine show its forces are incapable of achieving President Vladimir Putin’s initial aims in invading the country as things stand now, the Pentagon’s intelligence chief said Friday. “We’re coming to a point right now where I think Putin is going to have to revise what his objectives are for this operation,” Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told an intelligence and national security conference outside Washington. Because “it’s pretty clear right now that he’s … not going to be able to do what he initially intended to do.” Putin sent …

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A new Gallup Poll released Friday confirms overwhelming support among Finns and Swedes for their nations’ expected accession to NATO, while their views toward Russian leadership have turned “profoundly negative” as the war in Ukraine rages on. The survey found that 81% of Finns and 74% of Swedes approve of the alliance’s leadership, while their approval of Russian leadership dipped to a miserly 6% in Finland and 2% in Sweden. In releasing the survey, Gallup noted that both countries had been cautioned by Russia against pursuing membership in the alliance. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there would be serious …

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King Charles and his siblings stood vigil by the coffin of their late mother Queen Elizabeth II on Friday as tens of thousands of mourners queuing to pay their final respects as she lies in state were told they faced a wait of up to 24 hours.   Charles, Princess Anne, Princes Andrew and Edward, attired in military uniforms, stood in silence with their heads bowed for the 15-minute vigil at the historic Westminster Hall where the coffin of the late monarch has been lying since Wednesday.  Most of the other members of the British royal family, including some of the …

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