International

Death of Queen Elizabeth II: What happens next?

AFP | by Alice RITCHIE

As preparations build for next week’s state funeral and with a procession of the coffin along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on Monday: here is how the UK plans to say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II.

Monday, September 12

King Charles III and his wife Camilla, now Queen Consort, visit parliament, to receive condolences from the speakers of the lower and upper houses, before delivering a reply.

The royal couple fly to Edinburgh and at the Palace of Holyroodhouse the king will take part in the Ceremony of the Keys, where he will symbolically receive — and then return — the keys to the city.

In the afternoon, the king and other royals take part in a procession to convey the queen’s coffin along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral, before a religious service.

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After his first audience with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and a visit to the Scottish parliament, Charles III returns to St Giles’ to take part in a vigil over the coffin — known as the Vigil of the Princes — with other family members.

From 5:30 pm (1630 GMT) until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, members of the public can file past to pay their respects as the coffin lies at rest guarded by the Royal Company of Archers.

The king and his wife will be joined in Scotland — and on his tour of Northern Ireland and Wales — by Prime Minister Liz Truss, Downing Street said.

“It’s not a requirement,” Truss’s spokesman told reporters.

“But the prime minister believes it’s important to be present for what will be a significant moment of national mourning around the United Kingdom.”

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Tuesday, September 13

The queen’s coffin is flown by the Royal Air Force from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt near London, accompanied by the queen’s only daughter Anne, the Princess Royal, and driven to Buckingham Palace, to rest in the Bow Room.

Charles III and his wife fly to Belfast, where he will meet Northern Ireland’s party leaders and receive a message of condolence led by the speaker of the devolved assembly.

The king meets leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland before attending a prayer service at St Anne’s Cathedral and returns to London.

Wednesday, September 14

The king leads the procession behind the gun carriage carrying the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to parliament’s Westminster Hall.

It is then placed on a catafalque, a raised platform, and during the lying-in state another “Vigil of the Princes” involving the queen’s children and other senior royals, will take place.

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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will conduct a short service after the coffin arrives, attended by the king.

The late queen will lie in state until the funeral, with huge crowds expected as members of the public pay their respects.

Friday, September 16

Charles III and his wife visit Wales where a service is held at Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral and Charles receives a message of condolence at the Senedd, the Welsh national assembly building.

The visit to Wales completes trips to all four nations that make up the United Kingdom.

Monday, September 19

The queen’s coffin is taken in procession to Westminster Abbey for a state funeral at 11:00 am expected to be watched by millions around the world.

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Political leaders and heads of state including US President Joe Biden are expected to attend, sparking a major security operation.

After the funeral, the coffin is taken to Windsor, for a televised committal service at St George’s Chapel, with a private interment planned for later in the evening.

The queen will be interred at the King George VI memorial chapel, alongside her husband, Prince Philip, the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret, their mother, also called Elizabeth, and father, George VI.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.