Washington (AFP) – Interrupted during a White House briefing because of the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says, “our hearts and our thoughts go to the family members of the Queen, goes to the people of United Kingdom.”
Ramstein Air Base (Germany) (AFP) – The progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian troops is “steady”, says US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. The progress of this counteroffensive is “steady and it’s deliberate,” Milley tells reporters after a meeting of Ukraine’s allies at the US base in Ramstein, Germany, to coordinate military aid to Kyiv.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes a surprise trip to Kyiv as the United States unveiled nearly $2.8 billion in new military support to Ukraine and neighbours, to face Russia. Blinken travelled in secrecy on his second trip to Kyiv since the Russian invasion in February.
Bracknell (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, accompany their children Prince George, aged nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis to a settling-in afternoon for new pupils at Lambrook School, near Ascot in southern England, a change in schools after moving their main home to Windsor.
Paris (AFP) – Renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel calls himself a “vehicle of music” as he inaugurates his second season as music director of the Paris Opera.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – President Jair Bolsonaro attended celebrations marking 200 years of independence from Portugal. In Rio de Janeiro thousands turned out in green and yellow to support the far-right leader, just a few weeks before the October 2 election. Brazil is deeply divided heading into the election, with Bolsonaro trailing leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Nairobi (AFP) – Kenya’s senate holds its first session on Thursday after the country’s Supreme Court upheld William Ruto’s victory in the election in August.
Regina (Canada) (AFP) – Canadian police say the second and final suspect in a stabbing spree, which left 10 people dead and 18 wounded in a remote western Canadian Indigenous community, died after being arrested at the end of a long manhunt.
Saskatoon (Canada) (AFP) – Relatives of Canada’s stabbing spree victims speak out about their “nightmare” and lament a “terrible tragedy,” with a suspect still on the loose and no known motive for the attacks.
Tlajomulco de Zúñiga (Mexico) (AFP) – Wearing wide-brimmed hats, buttoned shirts and embroidered ties, children skillfully twirl a lasso at a Mexican school training younger generations in “charreria” — cattle-ranching techniques that are recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Siem Reap (Cambodia) (AFP) – Among the spinach crops at a rural Cambodian school garden, children test their maths skills while weighing produce — but as food prices rise, the vegetable patch has become a safety net for struggling families.
New York (AFP) – A jersey worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan during Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals, his last title victory, could fetch $5 million and become “the most expensive basketball jersey at auction” as it goes under the hammer this week at Sotheby’s. The online auction runs from September 6-14.
