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Izyum (Ukraine) (AFP) – In the Ukrainian city of Izyum, the country’s blue and yellow flag has just been raised again over the charred city hall, months after Russian tanks barrelled in. Gleeful residents rush to a hill near a cell phone tower, the only place in town with a signal, to call relatives to share their good news: the Russians are out. Ukrainian soldiers liberated the eastern city at the weekend as the army reclaimed swathes of territory, part of its rapid counter-offensive to beat back Russian soldiers who invaded February 24.

Belfast (AFP) – Britain’s King Charles III and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, leave St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following a prayer service in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. The new king is currently touring the country as it goes through a period of national mourning, after his mother, the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, died at the age of 96 last Thursday. IMAGES

Edinburgh (AFP) – Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin leaves St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh for a flight back to London where it will be displayed to the public for several days ahead of her funeral next week. The monarch’s only daughter Princess Anne is accompanying the casket which will be flown from Edinburgh to an air base west of London before the coffin procession makes its way to Buckingham Palace. IMAGES

Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – Pope Francis arrives at the Nur-Sultan airport in Kazakhstan, where he is greeted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Pope Francis, warned by doctors not to travel to Ukraine, is in Kazakhstan in Central Asia for a three-day visit to promote dialogue and peace in the ex-Soviet region.

Pskov (Russia) (AFP) – Anastasia and Elizaveta Grigoryeva hold up a photo of their father faintly smiling, smartly dressed from head to toe in military uniform. It’s an image no longer recognisable to the 18-year-old twin sisters — not since their father left to fight in Ukraine some six months ago and returned “mentally hurt”. “He was there for the most intense fighting, under shelling, everything,” Elizaveta says from Pskov, near Russia’s border with Estonia. The psychological scars her father has brought home from the battlefield have built pressure on a family already at odds over whether the conflict is justified. And their story points to a broader issue, one uncomfortable for the Kremlin — that fighting in Ukraine is tearing apart some families.

Belfast (AFP) – Britain’s King Charles III and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, leave St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following a prayer service in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. The new king is currently touring the country as it goes through a period of national mourning, after his mother, the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, died at the age of 96 last Thursday. IMAGES

Belfast (AFP) – King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla arrive at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast to attend a prayer service in memory of Elizabeth II. IMAGES

London (AFP) – Preparations are underway in London’s Westminster, with media risers being built and barriers being put up, ahead of the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on September 19. The Queen will first be driven to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, then transferred to Westminster Hall on Wednesday, where she will lie in state for four days ahead of the service, allowing mourners to pay their last respects. IMAGES

Hillsborough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Images of Hillsborough castle in Northern Ireland ahead of the visit of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. In a show of national togetherness as he embarks on his kingship — a role for which he has spent a lifetime preparing — Charles has pledged to visit all four nations of the United Kingdom. IMAGES

Bangkok (AFP) – There’s no crunch or crackle, but crickets are on the menu at one Bangkok pop-up serving fusion bug burgers, demonstrating the latest way to incorporate the protein-rich meat into food — direct from Thailand’s farms.

Hong Kong (AFP) – Crowds of Hong Kongers queued in sweltering heat on Monday to pay tribute to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, some expressing nostalgia for the city’s colonial past at a time when China is seeking to purge dissent.

Fiumicino (Italy) (AFP) – Pope Francis, warned by doctors not to travel to Ukraine in the immediate future, embarks on a three-day trip to Kazakhstan instead to bear a message of peace. Images of the Argentine pope in a wheelchair as he boards the plane at Fiumicino, Italy.