Headline

Charles III Arrives Germany In First Foreign Trip As king

Published

1 year ago

March 29, 2023

Britain’s Charles III arrived in Germany on Wednesday for his first state visit as king, with the trip billed as “an important European gesture” to maintain strong ties after Brexit.

The royals’ plane, with “United Kingdom” marked on the sides, landed at Berlin-Brandenburg airport shortly before 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).

“Ahead of our first State Visit to Germany, we are very much looking forward to meeting all of those who make this country so special. It is a great joy to be able to continue the deepening of the longstanding friendship between our two nations,” said Charles and Queen Consort Camilla on Twitter via the Royal Family’s account.

Standing at the top of the plane’s steps, the royal couple were greeted with a 21-gun salute as two military jets made a flypast.

The British Union Jack was flapping alongside the German and European Union flags along Berlin’s central Unter den Linden avenue, which leads to the Brandenburg Gate, where Charles will receive a formal welcome.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German first lady Elke Buedenbender will greet the royal couple with military honours at the landmark, the first time it has provided a backdrop for receiving a state guest.

During his three-day visit, Charles will become the first monarch to address the German parliament, with a speech on Thursday, before travelling to the port city of Hamburg on Friday.

The decision to call on the EU heavyweight first is widely seen as an attempt to build post-Brexit bridges, with Steinmeier calling it “an important European gesture”.

The choice of Germany for Charles’s first visit, after a planned trip to Paris was postponed, showed Berlin was a “key partner” for Britain as it seeks to reset relations with the EU, daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote.

Well-wishers arrived at the Brandenburg Gate hours before the royal couple touched down in hope of getting a glimpse of them.

Anja Wieting, 50, who works at a clothing store, took days off to drive five hours to Berlin with her daughter Lili, 18, for the spectacle.

“It’s the visit of the king in Germany. We want to celebrate it, regardless of how long the queue is,” she told AFP, adding that she finds “big ceremonies and state visits by royals great”.

Teacher Sylke Freundentahl, 56, had been waiting in the queue since 9:15 am before being let into the secured zone.

“I am a royal fan,” she said, adding that she will try to travel on Friday to Hamburg as well.

– Public interest –

“The British royal family garners a lot of interest” in Germany, said Michael Hartmann, a sociology professor at Darmstadt Technical University, noting the bestseller status of the tell-all memoir by Charles’s son Prince Harry.

The fascination with the House of Windsor has not dimmed since the death last year of Elizabeth II, Hartmann told AFP.

The late queen first visited Berlin in 1965 when the city was divided between a capitalist West and communist East, a trip that was seen as a key step in post-war reconciliation.

Charles himself has been a regular visitor to Germany, with the British embassy in Berlin saying that he has been to the country 40 times.

“We will always be friends, partners and associates,” the then-Prince of Wales told the Bundestag in 2020 switching between English and German.

Charles’s command of German may be a nod to the British royal family’s roots in Germany notably through Charles’s great-great-great-grandfather Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, queen Victoria’s husband.

– Organic farm –
Following Wednesday’s welcome ceremony, Charles and his wife will travel to Steinmeier’s Bellevue Palace for a state banquet where vegetarian options like spinach tarts will be served along other dishes like free-range chicken.

On Thursday, Charles will speak to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and meet refugees recently arrived from Ukraine.

Steinmeier and the royal couple will then visit a British-German military unit and an organic farm in the surrounding state of Brandenburg.

In Hamburg on Friday, the king, who has for decades pushed an environmental agenda, is due to tour a renewable energy project.

And in what Bild daily has described as a gesture of deep significance, Charles will in Hamburg commemorate victims of 1943 air raids over the city.

The bombings, codenamed Operation Gomorrah, were carried out by night by the British air force, and by day by US forces.

Charles was initially supposed to travel to France before heading to Germany, but his trip was postponed in the wake of violent pension reform protests.

The visit was intended to highlight warming Franco-British relations but will now have to wait for another date.

Headline

Grammy Winner Found Dead In Her Apartment

Published

4 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

Grammy-winning singer Mandisa, who rose to fame on season five of “American Idol,” has died.

She died on Thursday, April 18 at the age of 47, her representative said Friday.

“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased,” her representative said in a statement. “At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details.”

“We ask for your prayers for her family and close knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement concluded.

A post on the artist’s Facebook page said early Friday: “Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world. She wrote this song for a dear friend who had passed in 2017.”

“Her own words say it best. I’m already home / You’ve got to lay it down / ‘cause Jesus holds me now— / And I am not alone.”

Born and raised in Citrus Heights, California, Mandisa studied music in college before auditioning for Idol in 2005.

Mandisa’s shot to stardom after placing ninth on “American Idol,” alongside favorites like Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennett, Elliott Yamin and eventual winner Taylor Hicks.

After her Idol elimination, Mandisa went on to release her debut album, True Beauty, in 2007. The LP debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, a historic feat that made Mandisa the first new female artist ever to debut on the top of the chart’s 27-year history.

True Beauty was the first six albums Mandisa would release throughout her career, including an acclaimed 2008 holiday record, It’s Christmas, and her most recent offering, 2017’s Out of the Dark.

She went on to win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2014 for her album “Overcomer.”

Headline

Man Sets Self On Fire Outside Trump Trial Venue

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A man set himself on fire Friday outside the court where Donald Trump is standing trial in Manhattan, with officers rushing to extinguish the flames.

Burning clothes were strewn in the park, which was locked down by authorities, while ambulances lined up nearby on standby, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw, describing a strong smell of burning chemicals.

The scene unfolded moments after the full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected for the trial of the former president in a hush money cover-up case.

“A male did light himself on fire outside of the Supreme Courthouse. We’re still gathering details from the field,” said a New York Police Department spokesman.

The fire department did not respond to a request for comment, but media reported the man had been taken away for medical treatment.

The incident happened in a park opposite the 100 Centre Street courthouse, which has been used by authorities to corral protesters, both pro-Trump and anti-Trump, as well as by some members of the media.

The park, which is close to several courthouses and other buildings, is a popular local lunch spot.

Trump’s criminal trial, the first of a former president, is being conducted amid tight security in a 15th-floor courtroom swarming with Secret Service officers as well as court police.

New York’s police department had promised a major deployment to ensure the trial passes off safely, with the force’s head of intelligence John Hart calling it a “major challenge.”

AFP

Headline

Police Storm Iranian Embassy In Paris After Man ‘In Suicide Vest’ Threatened To Blow Himself Up

Published

11 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A man has surrendered to police after he reportedly threatened to blow himself up at the Iranian consulate in Paris with a suicide vest.

According to Mail Online, the man gave himself after 2pm, walking out of the consulate with his hands in the air and giving himself over to police at the scene.

‘He had no explosives or weapons on him,’ said a security source. ‘He was placed under arrest immediately and taken away to a secure police station for questioning.’

Specialist BRI officers continued to swarm around the area, together with sniffer dogs, just in case explosives had been hidden in the area.

‘The security perimeter will be maintained for a while yet,’ said the source.

The individual was for a time holed up inside the building in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement in a room with the ambassador, one report said.

He was said to be wearing an explosive belt and equipped with an object that resembled a grenade, Europe 1 and other sources reported earlier.

The area was cordoned off and evacuated, with a police source saying that an ‘intervention was imminent’.

This suggested officers had been preparing to storm the building.

‘A witness saw a man enter carrying a grenade or an explosive belt,’ a source told France’s AFP news agency, adding that an elite police unit had been mobilised after the consulate requested an intervention.

‘The man presented him at the consulate, and then removed his coat, to show off an alleged explosives vest,’ another security source said at the scene.

‘He said he was carrying a grenade, and then placed a national flag on the floor. He said he wanted to avenge his brother.’

Police ordered the city’s Metro Line 6 to be interrupted as a safety measure.

Europe 1 reported that the embassy contacted the police requesting assistance, reporting that the man was inside the building. It said he was holed up in a room inside the consulate ‘in the presence of the ambassador’.

There were no reports of an explosion.

The incident came amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran, with the Jewish state today launching strikes against the Islamic Republic.

This was in response to Iran launching over 300 missiles toward Israel on Saturday, 99 percent of which were intercepted by Israel and its allies.