Liz Truss’s first big diplomatic meeting with Biden postponed

Meeting rearranged for Wednesday in New York as Bidens travel to UK for Queen’s funeral

Liz Truss’s planned meeting with Joe Biden in Downing Street, which was to be her first major diplomatic event as prime minister, has been rescheduled for Wednesday at the UN.

Officials from both countries said that a meeting in the margins of the UN general assembly would allow “fuller” bilateral discussion and was not the result of friction. But, whenever the two leaders meet, they face disagreements over Northern Ireland.

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Australia live news update: Albanese meets King and UK PM ahead of Queen’s funeral; Grace Brown wins silver at Wollongong cycling worlds

Downing Street frames conversation between Australian PM and the British leader as chat rather than formal bilateral talks. This blog is now closed

China is watching world’s response to Ukraine crisis, Marles says

Marles is asked about what the situation in Ukraine and the relationship between China and Russia may mean for the situation regarding Taiwan. Specifically, Marles is asked what will happen if China moved to reunify Taiwan with the mainland using military force.

The way in which the world has reacted to Russia … has been very impressive, but so, too, has the incredible resistance of the Ukrainian people. People fight for the homeland. It has been remarkable and more than expected.

China will be watching this, as I guess we all are.

I think it says something about where the whole conflict is at. There is a degree of humiliation for Russia in relation to this.

I didn’t imagine when the invasion first occurred that Ukraine would be able to provide the resistance that it has.

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Anthony Albanese describes ‘very warm’ meeting with King Charles ahead of Queen’s funeral

Australian prime minister also held informal talks with UK prime minister Liz Truss

Anthony Albanese has described his one-on-one meeting with King Charles ahead of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth as a “great honour”.

“I extended my personal condolences to King Charles but also the condolences of the Australian people,” the prime minister said from London on Sunday morning Australian time.

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Camilla to pay tribute to Queen in TV broadcast

Queen Consort’s address on Sunday will praise mother-in-law for forging role as woman in male world

The Queen Consort is to pay a televised tribute to the Queen on Sunday, praising her for carving out her own role for many years while being in the “difficult position” of being a “solitary woman” in a male-dominated world.

In prerecorded words, she will also recall the late monarch’s “wonderful blue eyes” and say: “I will always remember her smile.”

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Joe and Jill Biden fly to London for funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

State funeral will be attended by almost 100 presidents and heads of government

Joe Biden and his wife Jill arrived in the UK on Saturday to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, who the US president has described as “more than a monarch” and a woman who “defined an era”.

The Queen’s state funeral on Monday is to be attended by almost 100 presidents and heads of government, and the Bidens were traveling without any former US presidents.

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Queen lying in state: William and Harry stand vigil over coffin as Biden arrives for funeral – as it happened

Queen’s grandchildren keep watch over coffin in Westminster Hall. This blog is now closed

In an update at 8am, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the end point of the queue for the Queen’s lying in state was once more accessible in Southwark Park.

The DCMS had earlier warned people not to travel to join the queue and to check back later on Saturday morning for updates on wait times.

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Victoria and George Cross recipients to take part in Queen’s funeral procession

Seventeen of those awarded the honours will be in attendance, including one from New Zealand and four from Australia

Recipients of the highest honours that can be awarded to military personnel and civilians for services to their country are to take part in the procession at the Queen’s funeral.

Seventeen of the 23 recipients of the Victoria Cross for military valour and the George Cross for civilian gallantry will be in attendance at the service on Monday, including one from New Zealand and four from Australia.

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Anthony Albanese lays floral tribute to Queen Elizabeth II before meeting with King Charles

Australian prime minister says his visit is about ‘commemorating a life well-lived’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his partner, Jodie Haydon, have laid a floral tribute to Queen Elizabeth II soon after touching down in London.

Albanese, who laid the small bouquet of white flowers at Green Park in Westminster, said his visit was about “commemorating a life well-lived”.

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Which businesses will be open or shut on the day of the Queen’s funeral?

Many shops, cinemas, pubs and airports are choosing to limit their hours on Monday

Since it was confirmed last Saturday that Queen Elizabeth’s funeral would be held on Monday 19 September, a slew of businesses and services have said they will be reducing operations or closing for all or part of the day as a mark of respect.

With the day declared a bank holiday, many employers have given staff the entire day off and most shops will be closed. So what will be open on Monday and when?

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The Queen’s funeral: five other ways to spend the bank holiday

Want to avoid Monday’s proceedings? Maybe go for a long walk, or consider leaving the country altogether

While millions in Britain and around the world will mark the Queen’s funeral on Monday with solemnity – whether it be by watching Huw Edwards for nine hours from the comfort of their living room or joining a mass gathering at an official big screen event – many others will want to take advantage of a rare bank holiday and swerve the historic event altogether.

But will that actually be possible? With most sports centres and public buildings, plus many high street shops, supermarkets and museums closing, Monday may feel much like the bank holidays of yore, with pretty much everything shut and not even a James Bond movie for entertainment.

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Queen lying in state: mourners in London warned not to join queue to see coffin; King greets public in Wales – live updates

The King has now visited each of the UK’s four nations since his mother’s death; queue to see coffin is paused as wait reaches 14 hours

UK-based correspondents from European news outlets have written for the Guardian about how Britons will deal with political turmoil, Brexit, recession and the loss of the Queen.

Here’s an excerpt from Stefanie Bolzen, UK and Ireland correspondent for Die Welt, Germany:

The days we are living through mark a new beginning. Only time will tell what the post-Elizabethan era will bring. For the moment, what it does feel like is a juggernaut of one too many challenges coming at the same time, a surreal wave. The aftermath of the pandemic, which has left the UK with a lot of scars; Brexit finally being felt in real life, whether on the M2 towards Dover, in my local Sainsbury’s, or in the port of Larne; Russia’s war on Ukraine; a fourth prime minister in six years. And now the death of Elizabeth II, who seemed to many immortal.

Reporting on the UK as a foreigner often makes it easier to take a step back, to see “the big picture”. Since last Thursday, though, this has become a challenge. The 24/7 coverage of the Queen’s death is all-consuming with layers of events, history and traditions to process. It would not be fair to suggest that these layers are somehow serving to sugarcoat the crisis in this country. Elizabeth II was a historic figure, she symbolises a century that transcended Europe’s borders. What I do notice, however, is that the foreign media cover this long period of ceremonial mourning with less servility. Hardly any British media, for example, dared comment on King Charles III’s rude gesture of impatience during the acclamation.

The actress, known for her role in the BBC hit series Killing Eve, will participate in a procession of national honours as part of the service on Monday.

She joins the delegation as a member of the Order of Canada alongside musician Gregory Charles and Olympic gold medallist swimmer Mark Tewksbury.

Oh was granted the honour recently in June 2022.

Canada’s delegation to the funeral will be led by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and also include governor general Mary Simon as well as former prime ministers and governor-generals.

The group is due to depart for the UK on Friday, ahead of the service next week.

Details of the delegation were made public on Thursday during a special address given by Trudeau during a special session of Canada’s House of Commons.

It was previously announced the day of the Queen’s funeral will be marked in Canada with a national day of mourning.

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‘It’s special to be here’: David Beckham joins queue to pay tribute to Queen

Ex-England captain recalls receiving his OBE as he waits with thousands of mourners in central London

The former England football captain David Beckham joined the queue for the Queen’s lying-in-state on Friday, saying it was “special to be here”.

He joined other high-profile figures to have been seen waiting to pay tribute this week, including the former prime minister Theresa May, This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and the Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid.

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‘We wouldn’t put Charles on a bus’: Gulf royals balk at Queen’s funeral protocol

The monarchies are hopeful of stronger UK ties under King Charles, but plans for the ceremony have not gone down well

From Oman in the east to Morocco in the west, Middle East and north African royalty have been closely monitoring plans for the Queen’s funeral, but with days to go until the biggest event in modern royal history, they are unlikely to travel to London in numbers.

Monarchies have sought to divine meaning from protocol arrangements, and are largely underwhelmed by what they have seen.

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Police to deploy 10,000 officers for Queen’s funeral in biggest ever operation

Officers drafted in from across country as hundreds of thousands of people expected in London and Windsor

Police chiefs say their operation for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be the biggest ever, with more than 10,000 officers on duty determined to thwart any attempt to disrupt or exploit the event.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the funeral route through central London, and then in Windsor, Berkshire, where the late Queen will be buried, and the route in between.

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‘Stain on Queen’s memory’: Saudi crown prince’s planned visit condemned

Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and other campaigners condemn plan

Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to touch down in London on Sunday to pay his respects to the Queen has been condemned by Hatice Cengiz and other human rights defenders as a “stain” on the monarch’s memory and an attempt by the Saudi crown prince to use mourning to “seek legitimacy and normalisation”.

Cengiz, who was engaged to Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the Istanbul consulate in 2018, said she wished that Prince Mohammed would be arrested for murder when he lands in London, but said she feared that UK authorities would turn a blind eye to serious and credible allegations against the future king.

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‘Moment of reckoning’: Queen’s death fuels Jamaica’s republican movement

Ascension of King Charles III has prompted renewed questioning of a British monarch as head of state

In a crisp black suit, white shirt and black tie, Daniel Pryce reached the end of a mile-long driveway flanked by palm trees and clipped lawns. He had come to King’s House to perform his duty, as he put it, by signing a book of condolence for the Queen, whom he served as equerry on her final visit to Jamaica in 2002.

“The very last moment of that visit, as she was about to alight the aircraft, she turned around and she shook my hand and she said ‘Thank you, Daniel’,” the 58-year-old recalled on Tuesday as flags flew at half mast in serene sunshine. “It was the first time she referred to me by my first name and that was special for me.”

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Labor MP claims rate decisions based on ‘outdated and outmoded data’ – as it happened

NSW roads impacted by rainfall

Man falls to his death while hiking near Gold Coast waterfall

Emergency services were initially called to Tanninaba Falls around 12.15pm following reports a man falling several metres down a cliff face.

Crews located the man at the bottom of the cliff and was declared deceased a short time later.

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Mohammed bin Salman ‘will travel to London to deliver condolences’

Crown prince will reportedly head Saudi delegation but attendance at Queen’s funeral unconfirmed

Mohammed bin Salman will deliver his country’s condolences to the royal family after the death of the Queen, a source has told the Guardian, but there has been no confirmation about whether he will attend the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.

It will be the Saudi crown prince’s first visit to the UK since the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 and the subsequent British imposition of sanctions. These included travel bans on a group of courtiers close to the crown prince due to their alleged involvement in the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

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Julia Gillard says Australia will ultimately become republic after death of Queen Elizabeth II

Former PM endorses Anthony Albanese’s view to wait on debate, saying ‘no rush’ on moving away from British head of state

Julia Gillard says Australia will ultimately become a republic but has endorsed the prime minister, Anthony Albanese’s view it is too soon for the debate.

The former Australian prime minister told the ABC, in her first interview since the Queen’s death, that Albanese was right to delay consideration of a republic to a future term of government.

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Queen’s state funeral to be followed by Windsor service and burial next to Philip

Westminster Abbey ceremony to be attended by 2,000 guests and end with two-minute silence

Queen Elizabeth II will be buried next to the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor in a private ceremony attended by her family on Monday after her state funeral at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace has said.

The Queen will be laid to rest in the King George VI Memorial Chapel during a service at 7.30pm.

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