King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant
King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant/node/2591845/world
King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant
Britain’s King Charles III joked on Wednesday he was past his “sell-by date” as he and Queen Camilla helped pack food donation boxes for charity at Darjeeling Express, an Indian restaurant in Soho, ahead of Ramadan. (Screenshot/X/@RoyalFamily)
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Updated 20 March 2025
Arab News
King Charles, Queen Camilla join Ramadan charity effort at London restaurant
Visit highlights royal couple’s support for interfaith initiatives
Updated 20 March 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III joked on Wednesday he was past his “sell-by date” as he and Queen Camilla helped pack food donation boxes for charity at Darjeeling Express, an Indian restaurant in Soho, ahead of Ramadan.
The British monarch and his wife visited the female-run restaurant, founded by British restaurateur Asma Khan, to support its initiative of cooking for charitable causes during the Muslim holy month.
Camilla assisted staff in packing biryani meals for Doorstep, a charity aiding families in temporary housing.
As she ladled food into a takeaway box, she joked: “Is that enough, or some more? They might still be a bit hungry after my portion.”
Charles, who was initially occupied with meeting guests, joined in with meal preparation, asking: “Is it chicken and proper basmati rice?” He was delighted to learn that some curry would be sent to Buckingham Palace for him.
The king and queen later packed dates into bags for iftar meals to be served in hospitals.
When Charles noticed the speed of the process, he laughed: “We don’t waste time. Paid by results!” Khan was impressed by their teamwork, saying: “You are packing them faster than I can seal them. I never realized this was such a speedy couple.”
The visit highlighted the royal couple’s long-standing support for interfaith initiatives in Britain and abroad, continuing Charles’ tradition of engaging with different religious communities across the UK and the Commonwealth.
’Pickypockets!’ vigilante pairs with social media on London streets
Updated 4 sec ago
LONDON: On a recent weekday, Diego Galdino was on the hunt for pickpockets in central London, patrolling tourist hotspots for familiar suspects and telltale signs of those about to commit thefts. Galdino, however, is not a policeman. The Brazilian food app delivery rider has become a popular, social media-fueled vigilante targeting pickpocketing in the British capital. He started filming — and then trying to disrupt — thieves in action after witnessing several incidents. And his videos on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms under the handle “pickpocketlondon” have proved a hit. One posted late July on TikTok amassed nearly 27 million views — another on Instagram showing a suspect spitting at him garnered more than 12 million. “I didn’t know nothing about TikTok, I didn’t know nothing about uploading a video,” Galdino told AFP. “I catch them stealing, I catch a lot of situations and I upload daily and grow very quickly,” he said. Similar accounts have emerged in other European cities including Venice and Paris, as the era of mass tourism, social media and side hustles collides with crime and vigilantism. Galdino said he was “completely surprised” by the response. “My life’s changed a lot,” he added. Now, he said, he was inundated with media interview requests and got recognized by supporters and suspects alike.
Galdino, from a family of police officers in Brazil, said he has become expert at identifying likely thieves. They appear well organized, are often women and work in pairs. They mainly target tourists, dressing like them to blend in, he said. Standing outside Buckingham Palace, the 32-year-old said he could change his “perception” while patrolling to create a kind of tunnel vision. A network of around 20 other delivery riders helps out, sending tip-offs via WhatsApp when suspects are spotted. Once on the scene, Galdino swoops in filming with an attached camera, shouting a signature “pickypockets” warning to sound the alert. “Watch out, pickypockets!” he yells. His presence is not always welcomed though, and Galdino said he had faced violence. But focus, adrenalin and a sense of “injustice” at the thefts overrode any fear, he said. “I hate this kind of thing,” Galdino added. “These people get up in the morning ... (to) steal. They don’t pay tax, they don’t produce nothing to society.” On the streets, locals as well as visitors seemed to appreciate his efforts. “Keep doing what you’re doing!” said passerby Tom, 37, after recognizing Galdino. “Hopefully tourists (who) come to London who maybe don’t know about the phone-snatchers see your videos.” Sceptics however, have raised concerns about such vigilante content-creators, arguing they are ill-trained to intervene in potentially dangerous situations.
“We’ve got a kind of performative form of crime vigilantism for clicks,” criminologist Jennifer Fleetwood told AFP. “I’m sure the guy is very well-meaning, but honestly this is not an effective form of crime control,” she added. “He’s not going to be out there for the next 10 years, is he?” said Fleetwood, a university lecturer in criminology who wrote the book “What We Talk About When We Talk About Crime.” London’s leaders insist they are tackling pickpocketing. Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan boosted police numbers in the center to curb theft, robbery and antisocial behavior. “We’ll be targeting hotspot areas with both plain-clothed and uniformed patrols, building on the progress we’ve already made,” the Metropolitan Police said. Their statement did not comment directly on Galdino, but it did note a 15.6 percent reduction in “theft from the person” in the six weeks since their boost began April 6. However, force’s statistics show it recorded more than 32,000 “thefts from the person” in the year to July in central Westminster. That is up on the previous 12 months and a considerable increase on the year from July 2022. Fleetwood argued the social media fixation on pickpocketing risked exaggerating the problem. Statistics show such thefts are no more prevalent in the capital than other English cities and regions, she said. “I’ve seen so much stuff on social media about London being unfriendly or London being dangerous. “But ... is it the case that you’re more likely to be a victim of personal crime in London? Actually, no.”
Erin downgraded to formidable Category 4 hurricane/node/2612065/world
Erin downgraded to formidable Category 4 hurricane
The storm was about 636km east of Grand Turk Island packing maximum sustained winds of 225kp
Storm expected to dump heavy rainfall through Sunday across the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Updated 17 min 47 sec ago
Reuters
Hurricane Erin, the first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, is a formidable Category 4, the US National Hurricane Center said in an update late on Saturday downgrading the storm from Category 5 as the wind speed eased slightly.
The storm was about 636km east of Grand Turk Island packing maximum sustained winds of 225kph, the NHC said, down from 160 mph.
The NHC forecast Erin is moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 14 mph with a turn more northward expected to occur on Monday into Tuesday.
The NHC said the meteorological service of France has discontinued the tropical storm watch for St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, while the meteorological service of the Netherlands has discontinued the tropical storm watch for Sint Maarten.
The NHC had previously said it expected Erin to strengthen into next week.
The hurricane’s center was forecast to pass north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico through Sunday and move to the east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas on Sunday night and Monday.
The storm is expected to dump heavy rainfall through Sunday across the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the NHC said.
Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend, and the swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the East Coast of the United States early in the coming week, it said.
The Bahamas, which provides some meteorological services for the Turks and Caicos Islands, issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the British islands to its southeast.
Erin has also raised concerns about wildfire risks if human-caused sparks ignite parched vegetation and strong dry winds fan the flames. BMS Group Senior Meteorologist Andrew Siffert said these conditions could arise if Erin grows into a powerful offshore storm fueled by colliding warm and cold air rather than tropical seas.
Insurance-linked securities manager Twelve Securis said on Friday that Erin was forecast to remain far enough offshore to spare the US East Coast from significant impacts.
From drought to floods, water extremes drive displacement in Afghanistan
As if the displacement of Afghans by over 40 years of successive wars were not enough, climate change-fueled shocks now drive people from their homes and strain livelihoods
In early 2025, nearly five million people across the country were impacted and nearly 400,000 people were displaced, the UN migration office said in July
Updated 17 August 2025
AFP
KABUL, Afghanistan: Next to small bundles of belongings, Maruf waited for a car to take him and his family away from their village in northern Afghanistan, where drought-ridden land had yielded nothing for years.
“When you have children and are responsible for their needs, then tell me, what are you still doing in this ruin?” said the 50-year-old.
Many of the mud homes around him are already empty, he said, his neighbors having abandoned the village, fleeing “thirst, hunger and a life with no future.”
Successive wars displaced Afghans over 40 years, but peace has not brought total reprieve, as climate change-fueled shocks drive people from their homes and strain livelihoods.
Since the war ended between the now-ruling Taliban and US-led forces in 2021, floods, droughts and other climate change-driven environmental hazards have become the main cause of displacement in the country, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In early 2025, nearly five million people across the country were impacted and nearly 400,000 people were displaced, the IOM said in July, citing its Climate Vulnerability Assessment.
The majority of Afghans live in mud homes and depend heavily on agriculture and livestock, making them particularly exposed to environmental changes.
This photograph taken on July 10, 2025 shows a hand pump near dilapidated dome-shaped traditional Afghan houses on a deserted street as chronic water scarcity stalks the drought-ridden village of Bolak in the Chahar Bolak district at Balkh province. (AFP)
The water cycle has been sharply impacted, with Afghanistan again in the grip of drought for the fourth time in five years and flash floods devastating land, homes and livelihoods.
“Crop failure, dry pastures and vanishing water sources are pushing rural communities to the edge,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in July.
“It’s getting harder for families to grow food, earn income or stay where they are.”
Experts and Taliban officials have repeatedly warned of escalating climate risks as temperatures rise, extreme weather events intensify and precipitation patterns shift.
The country’s limited infrastructure, endemic poverty and international isolation leave Afghans with few resources to adapt and recover — while already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises worsened by severe aid cuts.
‘Everything comes down to water’
Abdul Jalil Rasooli’s village in the drought-hit north has watched their way of life wither with their crops.
Drought already drove many from his village to Pakistan and Iran a decade ago.
Now they’ve returned, forced back over the border along with more than four million others from the two neighboring countries since late 2023 — but to work odd jobs, not the land.
“Everything comes down to water,” said the 64-year-old, retreating from the day’s heat in the only home in the village still shaded by leafy trees.
“Water scarcity ruins everything, it destroys farming, the trees are drying up, and there’s no planting anymore,” he told AFP.
Rasooli holds out hope that the nearby Qosh Tepa canal will bring irrigation from the Amu Darya river. Diggers are carving out the last section of the waterway, but its completion is more than a year away, officials told AFP.
Damaged mattress and pillows are pictured in a flash flood affected area in Nirkh district, Maidan Wardak province, AFghanistan, on July 2, 2025. (AFP)
It’s one of the water infrastructure projects the Taliban authorities have undertaken since ousting the foreign-backed government four years ago.
But the theocratic government, largely isolated on the global stage over its restrictions on women, has limited resources to address a crisis long exacerbated by poor environmental, infrastructure and resource management during 40 years of conflict.
“The measures we have taken so far are not enough,” Energy and Water Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor told journalists in July, rattling off a list of dam and canal projects in the pipeline.
“There are a lot of droughts... this is Allah’s will, first we must turn to Allah.”
Hamayoun Amiri left for Iran when he was a young man and drought struck his father’s small plot of land in western Herat province.
Forced to return in a June deportation campaign, he found himself back where he started 14 years ago — with nothing to farm and his father’s well water “getting lower and lower every day.”
The Harirud river was a dry bed in July as it neared the border with downstream Iran, following a road lined with empty mud buildings pummelled back to dust by the province’s summer gales.
Praying for rain
Taliban authorities often hold prayers for rain, but while the lack of water has parched the land in some parts of the country, changes in precipitation patterns mean rains can be more of a threat than a blessing.
This year, rains have come earlier and heavier amid above-average temperatures, increasing flood risks, the UN said.
A warmer atmosphere holds more water, so rain often comes in massive, destructive quantities.
“The weather has changed,” said Mohammad Qasim, a community leader of several villages in central Maidan Wardak battered by flash floods in June.
“I’m around 54 years old, and we have never experienced problems like this before,” he told AFP in the riverbed full of boulders and cracked mud.
Eighteen-year-old Wahidullah’s family was displaced after their home was damaged beyond repair and all their livestock were drowned.
The family of 11 slept in or near a rudimentary tent on high ground, with no plans or means to rebuild.
“We’re worried that if another flood comes, then there will be nothing left and nowhere to go.”
Three Republican-led states to send hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington
West Virginia said it was deploying 300 to 400 Guard troops, while South Carolina pledged 200 and Ohio says it will send 150 in the coming days
By adding outside troops to the existing D.C. Guard deployment and federal law enforcement presence, Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city
Updated 17 August 2025
AP
WASHINGTON: Three Republican-led states said Saturday that they were deploying hundreds of National Guard members to the nation’s capital to bolster the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul policing in Washington through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.
West Virginia said it was deploying 300 to 400 Guard troops, while South Carolina pledged 200 and Ohio says it will send 150 in the coming days, marking a significant escalation of the federal intervention.
The moves came as protesters pushed back on federal law enforcement and National Guard troops fanning out in the heavily Democratic city following President Donald Trump’s executive order federalizing local police forces and activating about 800 District of Columbia National Guard members.
By adding outside troops to the existing D.C. Guard deployment and federal law enforcement presence, Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It’s a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though city officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.
National Guard members have played a limited role in the federal intervention so far, and it’s unclear why additional troops are needed. They have been patrolling at landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station and assisting law enforcement with tasks including crowd control.
National Guard members are coming from West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio
The Republican governors of the three states said they were sending hundreds of troops at the request of the Trump administration.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he directed 300 to 400 Guard troops to head to Washington, adding that the state “is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital.”
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said he authorized the deployment of 200 of his state’s National Guardsmen to help law enforcement in Washington at the Pentagon’s request. He noted that if a hurricane or other natural disaster strikes, they would be recalled.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he would send 150 military police from the Guard to “carry out presence patrols and serve as added security” and that they were expected to arrive in the coming days. His statement said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll requested the troops.
The activations suggest the Trump administration sees the need for additional manpower after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers.
Protest pushes back on federal crackdown in Washington
A protest against Trump’s intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said, “No fascist takeover of D.C.,” and some in the crowd held signs saying, “No military occupation.”
Morgan Taylor, one of the protest organizers, said they were hoping to spark enough backlash to Trump’s actions that the administration would be forced to pull back on its crime and immigration agenda.
“It’s hot, but I’m glad to be here. It’s good to see all these people out here,” she said. “I can’t believe that this is happening in this country at this time.”
Fueling the protests were concerns about Trump overreaching and that he had used crime as a pretext to impose his will on Washington.
John Finnigan, 55, was taking a bike ride when he ran into the protest in downtown Washington. The real estate construction manager who has lived in the capital for 27 years said Trump’s moves were “ridiculous” because crime is down.
“Hopefully, some of the mayors and some of the residents will get out in front of it and try and make it harder for it to happen in other cities,” Finnigan said.
Jamie Dickstein, a 24-year-old teacher, said she was “very uncomfortable and worried” for the safety or her students given the “unmarked officers of all types” now roaming Washington and detaining people.
Dickstein said she turned out to the protest with friends and relatives to “prevent a continuous domino effect going forward with other cities.”
Surge of federal law enforcement in Washington draws mixed reactions
Federal agents have appeared in some of the city’s most highly trafficked neighborhoods, garnering a mix of praise, pushback and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country.
City leaders, who are obliged to cooperate with Trump’s order under the federal laws that direct the district’s local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president’s takeover.
On Friday, the administration reversed course on an order that aimed to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as an “emergency police commissioner” after the district’s top lawyer sued.
After a court hearing, Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued a memo directing the Metropolitan Police Department to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.
City officials say they are evaluating how to best comply.
In his order Monday, Trump declared an emergency due to the “city government’s failure to maintain public order.” He said that impeded the “federal government’s ability to operate efficiently to address the nation’s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.”
In a letter to city residents, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now.”
She added that if Washington residents stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don’t have full access to it.”
Trump drops Ukraine ceasefire demand after Putin summit
Trump expressed support for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions
In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine
Updated 26 min 9 sec ago
AFP
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.
Prior to the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump — who had threatened “severe consequences” on Russia — and European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who will now visit Washington on Monday.
The shift away from ceasefire would seem to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal — a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticized as a way to buy time and press Russia’s battlefield advances.
Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back to Washington, saying afterward that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war.”
Ceasefire agreements “often times do not hold up,” Trump added on his Truth Social platform.
Complicated
This new development “complicates the situation,” Zelensky said Saturday.
If Moscow lacks “the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater — peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades,” he said on social media.In the call, Trump expressed support for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.
Putin “de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas,” an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.
In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.
Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its troops still do not fully control any of them.
“The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas,” the source said.
Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as “significant progress.”
But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to “drag out negotiations” with no commitment to end the bloodshed.
“The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,” Kallas said.
Onus now on Zelensky
The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky’s talks at the White House on Monday.
An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend.
The Ukrainian president’s last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid.
Zelensky said Saturday after a “substantive” conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing “all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”
In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work toward an eventual trilateral summit with Putin.
“It’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump said.
‘Coalition of the willing’
The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call Sunday for their so-called “coalition of the willing” to discuss the way forward.
In an earlier statement, they welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night.
Back in Moscow, Putin said his summit talks with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful.”
In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any “behind-the-scenes intrigues” that could disrupt what he called “this emerging progress.”
