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Joe Biden Missing As Wife, World Leaders Attend King Charles III’s Coronation

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First lady Dr. Jill Biden is set to bear witness to the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla today (Saturday).

But, the American First Lady is attending the King’s coronation events without President Joe Biden.

Jill led the US delegation to this weekend’s highly anticipated and epoch-making events.

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It’s an honor to represent the United States for this historic moment and celebrate the special relationship between our countries,” she said in a tweet Thursday as she departed Washington, DC.

Biden travelled for the King’s coronation with her granddaughter Finnegan Biden on Friday.

READ ALSO: Anti-monarchy Protest Rocks King Charles III Coronation [VIDEO]

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They touched down in England late Thursday evening and took a packed schedule of events on the three-day trip. She met with Mrs. Akshata Murty, wife of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, at 10 Downing Street.

Biden and Murty visited veterans and their families, participating in a health and wellness program before visiting with children at a local primary school hosting a coronation fair.

According to the office of the first lady, Biden will also greet US embassy staff and their families in London.

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Why President Biden is not attending Coronation

While President Joe Biden will not be attending the coronation – US officials have noted that no previous US president has attended a British monarch’s coronation – he told MSNBC in an interview that aired Friday that he had spoken to King Charles ahead of the ceremony

The president said he told King Charles that he may visit the United Kingdom in July while he is in Europe for a NATO summit and hopes to discuss environmental issues – a cause the monarch is passionate about.

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READ ALSO: Tiwa Savage To Perform At King Charles III Coronation

Last month, King Charles extended an invitation to the president to come to the United Kingdom for an official state visit, and he accepted, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time.

The coronation events

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The main coronation event today (Saturday) at Westminster Abbey, will be a “solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry,” conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, according to Buckingham Palace.

Biden is expected to attend a reception in the evening hosted by US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Jane Hartley.

She will conclude her visit Sunday alongside other heads of state and dignitaries in town for the occasion at a “Coronation Big Lunch” hosted by Sunak and Murty at 10 Downing Street.

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Recall that the first lady last traveled to the UK with the president in September to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

READ ALSO: UK Releases New Banknotes Featuring Portrait of King Charles III [see security features]

Speaking to CNN in a phone interview during that trip, the first lady said that she had spoken with King Charles about his mother during a private reception with the royal family and other visiting dignitaries on the eve of the funeral service.

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“We really talked about the woman, and who she was, and what she meant really to the whole world,” Biden said, adding that she noted to King Charles the human toll of grief.

“He is the king, but, you know, no one should forget he lost his mother, and Prince William lost a grandmother, and sometimes we tend to forget the really human piece there, and the sorrow they have to bear – and how they have to grieve in public. But … they seem to be doing OK,” the first lady said.

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Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

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US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

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The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

READ ALSO:Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

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“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

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READ ALSO:Israel Strikes Hamas Leadership, Explosions Reported In Qatar’s Capital

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

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Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

READ ALSO:Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

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Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

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Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

READ ALSO:Israel Begins Ground Offensive In Gaza Despite International Criticism

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

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The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

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Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call

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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Saturday that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City despite US President Donald Trump’s appeal to end bombardments after Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal.

It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump’s call to halt the bombing,” civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.

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READ ALSO:Brazil Slams Israel’s Gaza Aid Interception, Demands Detainees’ Safety

“The situation is very serious in Gaza City,” Bassal said, adding that his teams were not able to reach all the casualties due to the “presence of tanks and the ongoing bombardment”.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “checking” reports of overnight bombardments on Gaza City.

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Gaza City’s Baptist Hospital said in a statement that it received casualties from a strike on a home in Tuffah neighbourhood, including four dead and “several wounded”.

READ ALSO:Brazil Slams Israel’s Gaza Aid Interception, Demands Detainees’ Safety

Nasser Hospital in south Gaza’s Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people were wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.

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The peace plan for Gaza, presented by Trump this week and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to release hostages held in Gaza under the Trump plan, but wanted negotiations on the details and a say in the future of the Palestinian territory.

AFP

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Prosecutors Seek 11-year Sentence For Diddy, Citing ‘Lack Of Remorse’

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Prosecutors urged a federal judge Friday to sentence Sean “Diddy” Combs to more than a decade behind bars for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, saying the music mogul had shown a lack of remorse.

This is not a person who has accepted responsibility,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the New York court at Diddy’s sentencing hearing.

“His remorse was qualified. It’s as though he thinks the law doesn’t apply to him,” Slavik said in arguing for an 11-year prison sentence for the 55-year-old hip-hop innovator. ” “His respect for the law is just lip service.”

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Combs’s lawyers have asked the judge for a 14-month sentence, which would effectively be time served.

Slavik said Combs had booked speaking engagements in Miami next week in anticipation of a light sentence, which she called “the height of hubris.”

READ ALSO:Jury Selection Begins In Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sex Crimes Trial

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Judge Arun Subramanian for his part said federal sentencing guidelines suggested a prison term of between six and seven years although he has the latitude to impose more or less.

The judge also noted an apparent lack of remorse, saying Combs has “challenged his factual guilt full-throatedly.”

Combs was expected to address the court at the sentencing hearing after submitting a letter to the judge on Thursday pleading for mercy and saying he had “lost my way.”

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Following two months of often searing testimony, jurors in July rejected the most serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering against Combs, sparing him the prospect of life in prison.

Combs’s mother and six of his children were in court on Friday and have submitted letters to the judge in his support.

READ ALSO:Woman Who Accused Jay-Z, Diddy Of Rape Drops Lawsuit

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In his plea to the judge, Combs apologised for his conduct, saying he was “scared to death” to be away from his family and vowing he “will never commit a crime again.”

“I lost my way,” he wrote. “I got lost in my journey. Lost in the drugs and the excess.”

Combs’s former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, asked the judge in a letter of her own to consider “the many lives that Sean Combs has upended with his abuse and control.”

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– ‘Humbled and broken’ –

Ventura, the 39-year-old singer known as Cassie, testified for days while heavily pregnant.

She described in wrenching detail physical, emotional and sexual abuse she suffered while in a more than decade-long relationship with Combs.

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READ ALSO:Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Reacts After Kanye West Calls For His Release From Prison

Ventura and another woman, identified as Jane, said they were coerced into performing so-called “freak-offs”: sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.

“The entire courtroom watched actual footage of Combs kicking and beating me as I tried to run away from a freak off in 2016,” Ventura wrote.

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People watched this footage dozens of times, seeing my body thrown to the ground, my hands over my head, curled into a fetal position to shield me from the worst blows,” she said, noting she has nightmares and flashbacks “on a regular, everyday basis.”

Ventura said she and her family had left the New York area for fear of “retribution” from Combs if he is released.

READ ALSO:Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Reacts After Kanye West Calls For His Release From Prison

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The defense didn’t deny Combs’s sexual activity but insisted it was consensual.

They also didn’t deny Combs’s years of violence against both romantic partners as well as employees — but they said it didn’t meet the legal threshold for the grave charges he faced.

Jurors took their side.

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The conviction on lesser if still serious counts stemmed from a federal statute that makes it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution.

Combs has been incarcerated in Brooklyn for more than a year.

He said his time in prison has left him “reborn.”

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I have been humbled and broken to my core,” Combs wrote.
AFP

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