International
Camilla wins praise for first week in Queen Consort role
AFP | by Juliette MONTESSE
Camilla has taken on the role of Queen Consort to her husband King Charles III with a minimum of fuss after gradually overcoming public opposition.
King Charles III, in his first speech to the nation on September 9, thanked his “darling wife” Camilla for her support.
The couple finally married in 2005 after a long-running love affair that was at times adulterous.
“I know she (Camilla) will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much,” Charles said in a televised tribute the day after his mother’s death.
Camilla, 75, was at Charles’s side on September 8 when he rushed to the queen’s Scottish residence of Balmoral, where she died that day.
Since then, she has been travelling around the UK with the new king, showing herself to be a rock of stability in the royal family: taking part in a brief walkabout outside Buckingham Palace, the proclamation of the new king and trips to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
While Camilla is not topping polls on the most popular royals, her approval rating has hugely improved.
Last year, fewer than half of people in Britain wanted her to become queen.
A poll published by YouGov on Tuesday found 53 percent now think Camilla will do a good job as consort, while 18 percent thought she would not.
On Friday, those queueing in London to see the queen’s coffin told AFP that they respected Camilla’s support for Charles and had come to appreciate her role.
“I’ve changed my mind (about Camilla) in the last five or 10 years,” said one man, Peter Finlayson, who works in risk management.
“If you look back in history, Camilla has always been there for Charles; she is a great support to him and she has earned the right to be there.
“They are providing the continuity that we all thought we had lost with the queen.”
For Deborah Toulson, a 57-year-old maths tutor, “this week particularly, she (Camilla) has been amazing”. She said she had noticed Camilla subtly guiding Charles on what to do at recent public appearances.
Camilla has nevertheless faced long-standing dislike from many British people, who see her as morally culpable for being Charles’s mistress during his failed marriage to Diana.
She has slowly earned her stripes and won round the queen, who personally recommended that she become known as Queen Consort to Charles.
Broken toe
When Charles came to Westminster Hall last week to receive condolences from parliament, Camilla came with him in a black dress and pearls and they sat on matching gold thrones.
When the new king and his two brothers and sister held a silent vigil in Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral, standing around the queen’s coffin, Camilla sat nearby.
Tabloids welcomed the tact of the new queen, who chose to wear a diamond brooch in the shape of a thistle, Scotland’s national emblem, which had been a gift from Queen Elizabeth.
Camilla has carried out duties while recovering from a broken toe, an injury thought to have happened before the queen’s death, The Daily Telegraph reported.
“She is in quite a lot of pain but she is just getting on with it. It is unfortunate timing to say the least but she’s been an absolute trouper,” a source told the paper.
At a signing ceremony in Northern Ireland, when Charles was caught on camera losing his cool over a leaking fountain pen, Camilla stood there stoically and took the offending pen while Charles stormed out.
Camilla “has shown through time that she is an immense support for Charles and she has again proved it this week by being very calm,” said another woman waiting in the queue, Anne-Marie Whatts, a Londoner in her early 40s who works in information technology.
Camilla’s biographer Angela Levin, wrote in The Telegraph that Camilla has a better understanding than Charles of what the public is thinking because “she had a relatively normal life until her 50s”.
What remains to see is whether Camilla is allowed to express herself: over the last week, we have barely heard her speak.
International
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with skin cancer while serving a historic sentence for attempting a coup d’état. His medical team confirmed that the lesions have been removed and that, for now, he does not require further procedures, though he will need regular monitoring.
On Wednesday, September 17, Bolsonaro’s doctors confirmed the diagnosis. The announcement comes shortly after the former leader was convicted of orchestrating an attempted coup.
According to his physician, Claudio Birolini, Bolsonaro has “squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the most benign nor the most aggressive form — it is intermediate.” Birolini warned, however, that this type of skin cancer “can carry more serious consequences.”
International
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Argentine President Javier Milei praised Paraguay’s economic growth over the past two decades during a speech before the Paraguayan Congress on Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), crediting it to incentives that favored capitalism. At the same time, he contrasted that progress with what he described as Argentina’s deepening “decline” during the same period.
“If we compare the last 20 years of Paraguay with those of the Argentine Republic, we will find almost diametrically opposite results,” Milei told lawmakers during a special session of Parliament on the second and final day of his official visit to Asunción.
“While you have not stopped growing, we have deepened our decline. If we understand incentives as the engine of capitalism, Paraguay focused on preserving and strengthening them, while Argentina dedicated itself to chaining, directing, and suffocating them,” the right-wing leader stated.
International
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a large-scale immigration operation in the Chicago area with the arrival of additional Border Patrol agents on Tuesday and the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a raid.
Noem posted a video on her X account showing the immigration operation, in which DHS reportedly removed “violent criminals” from the streets. The footage shows Noem observing the arrest of a man taken into custody at his home early Tuesday morning at an undisclosed location.
“I was in Chicago today to make it clear that we will not back down,” the secretary wrote. “Our work is just beginning,” she added.
The warning from Noem was echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino, who posted a video on X Tuesday showing multiple Border Patrol vehicles arriving in the city with the caption: “Chicago, we are here!”
Bovino, who led the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles implemented since last June, said the team will remain in Chicago to continue the mission they started in California.
Operation “Midway Blitz” is currently focused on the Chicago metropolitan area and its suburbs. Activists and residents have reported sightings of masked agents and unmarked vehicles in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
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