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A multi-vehicle crash in southern Turkey’s Hatay province killed at least 12 people and injured 31 others, including three seriously, officials said.

A truck crossed into opposite lanes after the driver lost control late Saturday, colliding with nine cars and two minibuses, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Many of the vehicles were parked by the roadside near a gas station as friends and relatives said goodbye to men leaving to carry out mandatory military service.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that fires broke out on the Iskenderun-Antakya highway. The minister tweeted that 22 ambulances and three medical rescue teams were sent to the scene in Topbogazli.

“May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives, I express my condolences to their relatives,” he tweeted. “We will do our best to ensure that the injured regain their health as soon as possible.”

Hatay was one of the worst hit of the 11 Turkish provinces affected by a Feb. 6 earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria. At least 50,783 died in Turkey, according to the government.

The private Demiroren news agency said that the truck was carrying excavated earthquake rubble and hit another truck before crossing the highway at around 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Witness Ali Sarrac said that some of those killed had burned to death, Anadolu reported. Images showed burning vehicles as emergency teams tried to keep people away from the blaze.
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After the gilded spectacle of King Charles III’s crowning in an ancient religious ceremony, coronation festivities took a more down-to-earth turn Sunday with thousands of picnics and street parties held across the U.K. in his honor.

The community get-togethers, part of a British tradition known as the Big Lunch, were intended to bring neighbors together to celebrate the newly crowned king even as support for the monarchy wanes. Critics complained about the coronation’s cost at a time of exorbitant living expenses amid double-digit inflation.

Thousands of luncheons were organized as part of the celebrations Sunday, along with a nighttime concert at Windsor Castle featuring Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and 1990’s boy band Take That. Charles encouraged residents to engage in volunteer activities Monday, which was a holiday.

The king and Queen Camilla were not expected at any of the luncheons but planned to attend the concert that will include a speech by his son, Prince William, heir to the throne.

The king’s siblings, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Anne, the Princess Royal, and their spouses took on lunch duty for the royal family. Edward was in Cranleigh and his sister hit an event in Swindon. The king’s nieces, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew, were to join a lunch in Windsor.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted U.S. first lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter Finnegan Biden at the Big Lunch party held in front of his office. Other guests included Ukrainian refugees and community activists.

As in other neighborhoods with street parties, Downing Street was decked out in Union Jack bunting for the occasion.

The lower-key events followed regalia-laden pageantry that saw the king and queen crowned together in Westminster Abbey. They were presented with centuries-old swords, scepters and a jewel-encrusted golden orb symbolizing the monarch’s power in a medieval tradition celebrated with liturgy, song and hearty cheers of “God save the king.”

The couple then paraded through the streets in a gilded horse-drawn carriage led by the largest ceremonial military procession since the coronation of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years ago. Some 4,000 troops marched in formation through the streets, their scarlet sleeves and white gloves swinging in unison to the sound of drums and bugles from marching bands, including one group of musicians on horseback.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the route in the rain to see it in person. Nearly 19 million more watched on television in the U.K., according to ratings released by Barb, a research organization. That’s about 40% fewer viewers than had watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.

Charles and Camilla said Sunday in a statement that they were “deeply touched” by the celebration and “profoundly grateful both to all those who helped to make it such a glorious occasion — and to the very many who turned out to show their support.”

Not everyone was there to celebrate, though, and criticism continued Sunday over arrests of more than 50 protesters, including members of a republican group shouting “Not my king” and environmentalists aiming to end the use of fossil fuels.

Graham Smith, leader of Republic, a group advocating for abolishing the monarchy, said he was arrested as he planned peaceful protest and spent 16 hours in police custody.

“These arrests are a direct attack on our democracy and the fundamental rights of every person in the country,” Smith said. “Each and every police officer involved on the ground should hang their heads in shame.”

The Metropolitan Police acknowledged concerns over the arrests, but defended the force’s actions.

“The coronation is a once-in-a-generation event and that is a key consideration in our assessment,” Commander Karen Findlay said.

In addition to the lunch celebrations, hundreds of troops marched through the center of Glasgow on Sunday to celebrate the coronation.
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New developments: 

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Sunday that Russia has promised to provide his mercenaries with all the ammunition they need for their fight in Ukraine. Prigozhin had said he was withdrawing his fighters from the strategic location of Bakhmut, but now says his fighters will have “everything necessary” to defend Bakhmut.
Russian officials say they beat back a Ukrainian drone strike overnight over Russian-annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian officials issued air raid alerts on Saturday evening for areas covering roughly two-thirds of the country, from Kyiv and regions to the west through the east as well as south to Kherson region and Russian-annexed Crimea.
Ukraine’s air force intercepted and downed a hypersonic Russian missile with an American Patriot defense system.
Six Ukrainian demining workers were killed and two were injured as Russian shelling intensifies in Kherson Oblast.
A fired Russian general known as the "Butcher of Mariupol" has a new job. He's joining forces with the Wagner mercenary group.   

Russia is facing one of its worst labor shortages in decades and the war in Ukraine in partially to blame, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday in an intelligence update about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine posted on Twitter.

The Russian Central Bank conducted the survey over the last three years and found that the Russian population has decreased by 2 million people more than expected.  This was due, the report said, to the war in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that Ukraine and the West are responsible for a car bombing that injured a prominent nationalist Russian writer and killed his driver.

Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, known for his pro-war views, suffered serious leg injuries after his car exploded Saturday in the Nizhny Novgorod oblast, Russia’s state news agency, Tass, reported, citing emergency and law enforcement officials.

Prilepin was still conscious after his Audi Q7 exploded near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers east of Moscow, and he was taken to the nearest hospital, according to Russian news agency RBC.

Prilepin was in stable condition under a medically induced coma after his operation, Tass reported, and a suspect in the assassination attempt was arrested Saturday.  

“Responsibility for this and other terrorist acts lies not only with Ukrainian authorities, but also their Western patrons, the United States in the first instance,” the Russian ministry statement stated, without providing evidence.

The statement added that Washington’s failure to denounce this and other attacks was “self-revealing” for the U.S. administration.

Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. No comment was immediately available from Britain’s Foreign Office, the wire agency reported.

Ukraine’s security would neither confirm nor deny involvement in the car bombing that injured the Russian writer or other attacks.

“Officially, we cannot confirm or deny the SBU’s involvement in this or other explosions which occur with the occupiers or their henchmen,” Ukraine news agency Ukrinform quoted Ukraine security officials saying.

Prilepin was sanctioned in 2022 by Ukraine, the European Union, the U.K. and Canada for supporting the Russian invasion. He joined Russia’s National Guard to fight against Ukraine in January, according to several Russian media reports.

Hypersonic missile downed

Ukraine’s air force said Saturday it had intercepted and downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems.

This is the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles, The Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on the messaging app Telegram that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense system.

Flying at 10 times the speed of sound, the Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons, and it is difficult to intercept.

Using hypersonic speed and a powerful warhead, the Kinzhal is capable of demolishing robustly fortified targets such as underground bunkers and deep mountain tunnels.

In an interview on Ukraine TV, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said intercepting the Kinzhal was “a slap in the face for Russia.”

The first delivery of Patriot missiles arrived in Ukraine in late April. Ukraine has not specified how many of the systems it has received from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, or where they have been deployed.

Meanwhile, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Sunday that Russia has promised to provide his mercenaries with all the ammunition they need for their fight in Ukraine. Prigozhin had said he was withdrawing his fighters from the strategic location of Bakhmut, but now says his fighters will have “everything necessary” to defend Bakhmut.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Sunday he had asked the president to relieve him of his duties, after ministers’ resignations weakened his cabinet that is serving in a caretaker capacity before elections in September.

Heger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker prime minister, later on Sunday.

Heger has faced opposition calls to make way for a technocrat administration to lead the central European country until early elections to take place in September.

Polls find the public favors the biggest opposition party, which is led by former prime minister Robert Fico and has opposed increasing military aid to neighboring Ukraine.

The wrangling has paralyzed politics in the NATO and European Union member that has been a strong backer of Kyiv since Russia’s invasion. Its efforts to reduce the impact of high energy costs and inflation on its population have also driven political tensions. 

Heger said on Sunday he did not want the political crisis to drag on.

“I decided to ask the president to remove my authority and to leave the president space to try with a technocrat government to stably and peacefully lead Slovakia to democratic parliamentary elections,” he said in a televised news conference.

The ruling coalition, led by Heger, lost its majority in September last year when the libertarian SaS party quit and later accused the government of not doing enough to help people with energy costs that last year hit record levels in Europe.

Heger lost a no-confidence vote in December last year and in January he agreed to early elections as the best solution, leaving him in a caretaker role.

Several ministers have left government, citing a variety of reasons. Most recently, the farm minister stepped down this week following a scandal over a subsidy for a firm he owns. He denied any wrongdoing.

On Friday, the foreign minister offered his resignation.

It was not certain whether Caputova would name a new prime minister on Sunday.
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The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a warning about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine and the surrounding community.

Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement Saturday that the general situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has become “increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous.”

Grossi said “the nearby town of Enerhodar,” where most of the plant staff live, is being evacuated. The operating staff, however, remains on-site at the plant.

However, the IAEA experts, based at the plant, have not been able to visit Enerhodar recently. Grossi said the experts “are continuing to hear shelling on a regular basis.”

The plant is located in southern Ukraine which, according to the statement, “has seen a recent increase in military presence and activity.”

“I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant,” Grossi said. “We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment. This major nuclear facility must be protected.”
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New developments:

Ukrainian officials issued air raid alerts on Saturday evening for areas covering roughly two-thirds of the country, from Kyiv and regions to the west through the east as well as south to Kherson region and Russian-annexed Crimea.
Ukraine's air force intercepted and downed a hypersonic Russian missile with an American Patriot defense system.
Six Ukrainian demining workers were killed and two were injured as Russian shelling intensifies in Kherson Oblast.
A fired Russian general known as the "Butcher of Mariupol" has a new job. He's joining forces with the Wagner mercenary group.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that Ukraine and the West are responsible for a car bombing that injured a prominent nationalist Russian writer and killed his driver.

Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, known for his pro-war views, suffered serious leg injuries after his car exploded Saturday in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency and law enforcement officials.

Prilepin was still conscious after his Audi Q7 car exploded near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers east of Moscow, and he was taken to the nearest hospital, according to Russian news agency RBC.

Prilepin was in stable condition under a medically induced coma after his operation, Russian state news agency TASS reported, and a suspect in the assassination attempt was arrested Saturday.

“Responsibility for this and other terrorist acts lies not only with Ukrainian authorities, but also their Western patrons, the United States in the first instance,” the Russian ministry statement stated, without providing evidence.

The statement added that Washington’s failure to denounce this and other attacks was “self-revealing” for the U.S. administration.

Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. No comment was immediately available from Britain’s Foreign Office, the wire agency reported.

Ukraine’s security would neither confirm nor deny involvement in the car bombing that injured the Russian writer or other attacks.

“Officially, we cannot confirm or deny the SBU’s involvement in this or other explosions which occur with the occupiers or their henchmen,” Ukraine news agency Ukrinform quoted Ukraine security officials saying.

Prilepin was sanctioned in 2022 by Ukraine, the European Union, the U.K. and Canada for supporting the Russian invasion. He joined Russia’s National Guard to fight against Ukraine in January, according to several Russian media reports.

Hypersonic missile downed

Ukraine’s air force said Saturday it had intercepted and downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems.

This is the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles, The Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on the messaging app Telegram that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense system.

Flying at 10 times the speed of sound, the Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons, and it is difficult to intercept.

Using hypersonic speed and a powerful warhead, the Kinzhal is capable of demolishing robustly fortified targets such as underground bunkers and deep mountain tunnels.

In an interview on Ukraine TV, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said intercepting the Kinzhal was “a slap in the face for Russia.”

The first delivery of Patriot missiles arrived in Ukraine in late April. Ukraine has not specified how many of the systems it has received from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, or where they have been deployed.

Meanwhile, Russia wants a victory in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 9, but the chief of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary force that is fighting there, has threatened to retreat from the city by May 10 if he does not receive critically needed ammunition and other supplies from Moscow.

Wagner Group

In a video posted on his Telegram channel Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin unleashed a tirade directed at Russia’s military officials, accusing them of negligence and incompetence. Pointing toward a field covered with dead soldiers, he screamed at the camera, “These are … someone’s fathers and someone’s sons” he said. “We have a 70% shortage of ammunition!”

“If you give [us] the normal amount of ammunition, there will be five times fewer [dead soldiers],” he said.

Fired Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, known as the “Butcher of Mariupol,” has joined the Wagner Group as a deputy commander, according to Russian social media channels.

In two videos posted by war correspondent Alexander Simonov on Telegram, Mizintsev — dressed in Wagner-branded combat gear — was shown visiting a training camp and touring Russian positions in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The footage coincided with the release of Prigozhin’s videotaped tirade, in which the Wagner chief accused Moscow of depriving his forces of ammunition because of jealousy over their success, Reuters reported.

In other developments, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said Friday Moscow is sending reinforcements to Bakhmut. She said the Kremlin is pulling Wagner mercenary fighters from other parts of the front line to redeploy them there.

Prigozhin said Friday his mercenary army had planned to capture Bakhmut by May 9, or Victory Day, the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, for which Moscow is organizing a large parade.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the parade preparations in a meeting Friday with his Security Council, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Putin will preside over the annual military parade at Red Square despite the Kremlin’s assertions that Ukraine tried to kill him in a drone attack Wednesday. Kyiv has denied any involvement in the incident.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London on Saturday to witness the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III in a ceremony filled with tradition and colorful pageantry and watched by millions around the world online and on television. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London on Saturday to witness the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III in a ceremony of pageantry and tradition watched by millions around the world on television and online.

Ninety heads of state, including kings and queens from around the world, attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Some 203 countries were represented in the congregation, according to Buckingham Palace.

Charles, now 74 years old, became heir to the British throne in 1952 at the age of just three, when his mother Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne and was the longest-serving British heir-apparent. Charles officially became king upon her death on September 8 last year.

Charles’ coronation marks a new chapter for an ancient institution.

Historic procession

King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were taken by horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning.

Despite occasionally heavy rain, hundreds of thousands of people lined the route of the procession along The Mall and through Whitehall, past the Houses of Parliament, just as they had done eight months ago for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

A small number of protesters briefly drowned out the cheers. Police made several arrests, including members of the anti-monarchy group Republic, and the environmental protest group Just Stop Oil. There was no disruption to the procession.

Inside Westminster Abbey, the congregation of 2,200 people included members of the royal family, foreign kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, alongside members of the public invited by the king for their charity work. It was a fraction of the 8,000-strong congregation that witnessed Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953, reflecting Charles’ desire for what the palace terms a “slimmed-down” monarchy.

Prince Harry, Charles’ youngest son, attended the ceremony alone amid continued strained relations following allegations of racism against his wife Meghan Markle and their son, Prince Archie, which the royal family denies.

Vivid pageantry

However, this was a day not for family drama — but for uniquely British pomp and pageantry deeply imbued with Christian faith. Some of the coronation rituals remain unchanged for more than 1,000 years. The first British monarch to be crowned at Westminster Abbey was William the Conqueror in 1066.

Placing his hand on the Bible, Charles proclaimed his allegiance to God: “In His name, and after His example, I come not to be served, but to serve,” he said.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, led the service. He asked of King Charles: “The coronation oath has stood for centuries and is enshrined in law. Are you willing to take the oath?”

“I am willing,” the king replied.

Multi-faith assembly

For the first time, female bishops took part in the service, alongside leaders of other faiths.

In a touching moment, Charles’ son Prince William pledged his allegiance to the king, with the words: “I, William, Prince of Wales, pledge my loyalty to you and faith and truth I will bear unto you as your liege man of life and limb. So help me God.” He then kissed his father on the cheek.

Archbishop Welby then invited all those watching the service, within the abbey and on television, to pledge their allegiance to the king.

Crowning moment

As the crown was placed upon Charles’ head, trumpets sounded throughout the abbey. Across Britain, gun salutes marked the moment — a profound moment in the history of the nation.

The archbishop then placed a crown on the head of Charles’ wife, Queen Consort Camilla.

For those watching on giant screens in the streets and parks of central London, it was an experience to cherish.

“A moment once in the life, you know. It’s magical, it’s such an incredible event,” said Aurelien, a visitor from France, who did not give his surname.

Peggy Jane Lavery, a retired teacher from the United States, recalled the last coronation in 1953.

“I’m excited that I can be a part of a coronation. When I was a young girl, I was able to watch Queen Elizabeth [II] on television in Hartford, Connecticut, at a friend’s house because we had no TV. So, I’m thrilled to be here to see the coronation in person,” she told Reuters.

Buckingham Palace

At the end of the two-hour service, King Charles and Queen Camilla returned to Buckingham Palace in the gold state coach, which was built in 1762 and has been used in every coronation since 1831.

A huge entourage of military personnel followed, escorting another horse-drawn coach carrying William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children.

Above a sea of British flags, the royal family gathered on the balcony of the palace to greet an adoring crowd. A flypast including helicopters from the Royal Air Force and the Red Arrows.

Future challenges

The new king and queen face undoubted challenges as they try to build on the deep legacy of Elizabeth II. They must try to keep the monarchy relevant to modern British society with an increasingly skeptical younger generation.

Charles has spoken of the need to investigate the monarchy’s role in Britain’s often brutal colonial past, and its link to the transatlantic slave trade. He must try to modernize an institution that is being strained by very public family feuds.

The king has voiced determination to take on those challenges: to lead an evolving monarchy that remains steeped in colorful tradition.
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The car of a prominent pro-Kremlin novelist exploded Saturday in Russia, injuring him and killing his driver, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency and law enforcement officials.

The incident involving the car of Zakhar Prilepin, a well-known nationalist writer and an ardent supporter of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, took place in the region of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.

It is the third explosion involving prominent pro-Kremlin figures since the start of the war in Ukraine.

In August 2022, a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of an influential Russian political theorist often referred to as “Putin’s brain.” The authorities alleged that Ukraine was behind the blast.

Last month, an explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg killed a popular military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky. Officials once again blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies.

The regional governor of Niznhy Novgorod, Gleb Nikitin, said Prilepin suffered minor bone fractures and was receiving medical help.

Russian news outlet RBC reported, citing unnamed sources, that Prilepin was traveling back to Moscow Saturday from Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions and stopped in the Nizhny Novogorod region for a meal.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk said a suspect had been detained. Russian news reports identified him as a native of Ukraine who earlier had been convicted of robbery.

Prilepin became a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014, after Putin illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula. He was involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of Russian-backed separatists. Last year, he was sanctioned by the European Union for his support of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In 2020, he founded a political party, For the Truth, which Russian media reported was backed by the Kremlin. A year later, Prilepin’s party merged with the nationalist A Just Russia party that has seats in the parliament.

A co-chair of the newly formed party, Prilepin won a seat in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, in the 2021 election, but gave it up.

Party leader Sergei Mironov called the incident Saturday “a terrorist act” and blamed Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova echoed Mironov’s sentiment in a post on the messaging app Telegram, adding that responsibility also lay with the U.S. and NATO.

“Washington and NATO have nursed yet another international terrorist cell — the Kyiv regime,” Zakharova wrote. “Direct responsibility of the U.S. and Britain. We’re praying for Zakhar.”

The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev put the blame on “Nazi extremists” in a telegram he sent to Prilepin.

Ukrainian officials haven’t commented directly on the allegations. However, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, in a tweet Saturday, appeared to point the finger at the Kremlin, saying that “to prolong the agony of Putin’s clan and maintain the illusionary ‘total control,’ the Russian repression machine picks up the pace and catches up with everyone,” including supporters of the Ukraine war.
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Iran said Saturday that it had executed a Swedish-Iranian dissident.

Habib Farajollah Chaab was convicted of the charge of “being corrupt on Earth” for his activities with Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, an Arab separatist group in Iran.

State television said the group launched an attack on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25.

Chaab was detained in Turkey in 2020 by Iranian security forces. The details of his arrest in Turkey by Iranian forces were not immediately clear.

Sweden had expressed concerns about Chaab’s Iranian arrest and conviction.

However, relations between Iran and Sweden were already tense, because Sweden handed down a life prison sentence to a former Iranian official for his part in the mass executions of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
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King Charles III’s coronation is a chance to unite people with the history and pageantry of the monarchy, but those traditions are also full of potential controversies as he tries to show that the monarchy still has a role to play in modern Britain.

The new king has already recognized these challenges by adjusting the coronation festivities to the realities of today.

This coronation will be shorter and more inclusive than his mother’s in 1953. Faith leaders from outside the Church of England will take an active role in the ceremony for the first time. And people from all four nations of the United Kingdom, as well as the Commonwealth, will take part.

Here are five artifacts that will play a central role in Saturday’s events.

The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone

King Charles III will sit atop more than 1,500 years of Irish, Scottish and English history when he is crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey.

The crown will be placed on Charles’ head as he sits in the Coronation Chair suspended over the Stone of Scone (pronounced “scoon”) — the sacred slab of sandstone on which Scottish kings were crowned. The chair has been part of every coronation since 1308.

The 2.05-meter-tall chair is made of oak and was originally covered in gold leaf and colored glass. The gold has long since worn away and the chair is now pocked with graffiti, including one message that reads “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800.”

Edward I had the chair built specifically to enclose the Stone of Scone, known by Scots as the Stone of Destiny, after he forcibly took the artifact from Scotland and moved it to the abbey in the late 13th century. The stone’s history goes back much further, however. Fergus Mor MacEirc, the founder of Scotland’s royal line, reputedly brought the stone with him when he moved his seat from Ireland to Scotland around 498, Westminster Abbey said. Before that time, it was used as the coronation stone for Irish kings.

In 1996, Prime Minister John Major returned the stone to Scotland, with the understanding that it would come back to England for use in future coronations. In recent days, the stone was temporarily removed from its current home at Edinburgh Castle in a ceremony overseen by Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, then transported to the abbey, where a special service was held to mark its return.

Coronation spoon

The gold-plated silver coronation spoon is the only piece of the coronation regalia that survived the English Civil War. After King Charles I was executed in 1649, the rest of the collection was either melted down or sold off as Parliament sought to abolish the monarchy forever.

The spoon is central to the most sacred part of the coronation ceremony, when the Archbishop of Canterbury will pour holy oil from an eagle-shaped ampulla, or flask, into the spoon and then rub it on the king’s hands, breast and head.

The ceremony has roots in the biblical story of the anointing of King Solomon and was originally designed to confirm that the sovereign was appointed directly by God. While the monarch is no longer considered divine, the ceremony confirms his status as supreme governor of the Church of England.

The 26.7-centimeter spoon is believed to have been made during the 12th century for either King Henry II or King Richard I and may have originally been used for mixing water and wine, according to the Royal Collection Trust.

The Cullinan Diamond

Two stones cut from the Cullinan Diamond — the largest rough diamond ever found — will feature prominently in the coronation, fueling controversy the royal family would rather avoid.

For many in South Africa, where the original stone was found in 1905, the gems are a symbol of colonial oppression under British rule and they should be returned.

Cullinan I, a huge drop-shaped stone weighing 530.2 carats, is mounted in the Sovereign’s Scepter with Cross. On Saturday, the scepter will be handed to Charles as a symbol of his temporal power.

Cullinan II, a cushion-shaped gem of 317.4 carats, is mounted on the front of the Imperial State Crown that Charles will wear as he leaves Westminster Abbey.

Charles sidestepped a similar controversy when Buckingham Palace announced that his wife, Camilla, wouldn’t wear the crown of Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, on coronation day.

That crown contains the famous Koh-i-noor diamond that India, Pakistan and Iran all claim. The gem became part of the Crown Jewels after 11-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh was forced to surrender it after the conquest of the Punjab in 1849.

St. Edward’s Crown

The crowning moment of the coronation ceremony will occur, literally, when the Archbishop of Canterbury places St. Edward’s Crown on Charles’ head.

Because of its significance as the centerpiece of the coronation, this will be the only time during his reign that the monarch will wear the solid gold crown, which features a purple velvet cap, ermine band and criss-crossed arches topped by a cross.

After the ceremony, Charles will swap the 2.08-kilogram crown for the Imperial State Crown, which weighs about half as much, for the procession back to Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth II once said that even the lighter crown was tricky because it would fall off if she didn’t keep her head upright while reading the annual speech at the state opening of Parliament.

“There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things,” the late queen told Sky News in 2018, flashing a smile.

The current St. Edward’s Crown was made for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661 and has been used in every coronation since then. It is a replica of the original crown, which was created in the 11th century and melted down after the execution of Charles I in 1649.

The crown glitters with stones including tourmalines, white and yellow topazes, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, peridot, zircons, spinel and aquamarines.

Until the early 20th century, the crown was decorated with rented stones that were returned after the coronation, according to the Royal Collection Trust. It was permanently set with semi-precious stones ahead of the coronation of George V in 1911.

The Gold State Coach

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will travel back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach, a 261-year-old relic that is renowned as much for its uncomfortable ride as its lavish decoration.

The coach was built in 1762 under the reign of King George III and it has been used in every coronation since 1831.

It is made of wood and plated with gold leaf, from the cherubs on the roof to the Greek sea gods over each wheel. About the only things that aren’t gilded are the side panels painted with Roman gods and goddesses and, of course, the interior, which is upholstered in satin and velvet.

But the coach is heavy — 4 tons — and old, meaning it only ever travels at walking speed.

And while it may look luxurious, the coach features a notoriously bumpy ride because it is slung from leather straps rather than modern metal springs.

The late queen wasn’t a fan.

“Horrible! It’s not meant for traveling in at all,” she said in 2018 in an interview with Sky News. “Not very comfortable.”

That’s one reason Charles and Camilla will ride to the coronation in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which is equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers, as well as heat and air conditioning. 
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Saturday is coronation day for Britain’s King Charles III and his second wife, Queen Consort Camilla. It is the first British coronation spectacular in 70 years. Queen Elizabeth II was the last British monarch to be crowned. Charles, 74, became king the moment his mother died in September.
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Saturday is coronation day for Britain’s King Charles III and his second wife, Queen Consort Camilla. It is the first British coronation spectacular in 70 years. Queen Elizabeth II was the last British monarch to be crowned. Charles, 74, became king the moment his mother died in September.
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The Polish ban on Ukrainian agricultural products last month sent a shock wave across Ukraine, which lost $143 million in a month, Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Kachka told an audience at the Brussels Economic Forum on Friday.

Shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s early April visit to Poland, Polish officials, under pressure from local producers, suspended the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania followed suit because of concerns about a flood of Ukrainian grain that, before the war, would have been shipped farther afield through Black Sea ports.

The Ukrainian minister of agriculture, who is traveling for negotiations through neighboring states, told VOA that the decision of the Polish government was unexpected. Ukrainians were informed about it a day before, and the restriction hit almost all Ukrainian agricultural production.

“We learned about the decision on Friday night, and it was imposed on Saturday morning,” said Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi of Poland’s April 15 ban. The EU had earlier liberalized all imports from Ukraine to help the country maintain its economy in the face of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian agricultural businesses were shocked, said Oleksyi Mushak, a former Ukrainian MP and co-founder of ReGenerative Agro, an agriculture company.

“It’s like a missile hit you, but in this situation, it was a Polish ban — unexpected,” Mushak told VOA. “This brings us long-term problems. Now no one will have confidence, and no one will work on the long-term, only short-term contracts, making it difficult for Ukraine to access the money.”

After lengthy negotiations with the European Union, Poland agreed to cancel the unilateral restrictions. The European Commission agreed to allocate 100 million euros ($110.1 million USD) as compensation to farmers adversely affected by the glut of Ukrainian grain.

According to the agreement, Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed can be sold to any country in the EU except to the five countries that had complained that the cheaper Ukrainian agricultural product was making their domestic production unprofitable.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, welcomed the agreement as “a deal that preserves both Ukraine’s exports capacity, so it continues feeding the world and our farmers’ livelihoods.”

“We hope to continue to talk to our Polish partners. We hope that the transit routes will start working again and the relationship between Polish and Ukrainian businesses will continue, including the products that are not restricted,” Solskyi told VOA.

The European Commission has had to negotiate hard with the five so-called frontline states neighboring Ukraine to ensure grain can be exported from Ukraine. Brussels realized that new ways of exporting Ukrainian agricultural products must be found.

In the last 10 years, Ukraine has become an agricultural powerhouse. According to the European Commission, as reported by Deutsche Welle, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn and 13% of the barley market. Ukraine is also a significant player in the sunflower oil market. The war on Ukrainian soil reduced the ability to produce and export. However, even in the current situation, Ukraine is creating market competition.

“We have been present in the European market for a long time. We have competed with different countries and local producers for 10 to 15 years,” said Solskyi. “The key is the war that created this situation. Ukrainian farmers and traders looked at the western borders because the sea routes were blocked, and the amount of product that went to the European direction rose. That is why solidarity lanes were created. So, it is good there is competition; healthy competition is a key for development.”

However, the latest crisis is a sign of possible future obstacles to Ukraine’s EU membership. Poland will assume the EU presidency in the first half of 2025. Ukrainian membership in the EU will be a priority for Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said this week. But experts and officials are pointing out that the agricultural talks, particularly, can become very difficult because of Ukraine’s huge agricultural potential.

“It is in the general interest of Poland that Ukraine will be a member of the EU. We have a common security issue,” said Mushak of ReGenerative Agro. “However, we have to separate security and economic issues. Unfortunately, now we mix these two things.”

But Solskyi offered a reassuring message.

“Even before this current situation, we understood — and Europeans understood, our partners understood, we all understood — that the negotiations could be the most difficult regarding agriculture,” the Ukrainian minister told VOA.

“But Ukraine is not unique. Most countries that joined the European Union had the most prolonged and difficult negotiations. However, I am confident there are solutions and ways that we can take that will work for Ukraine and be comfortable for EU countries.”
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