Month: June 2022

The service of “celebration and thanksgiving” at Glasgow Cathedral was one of several across Scotland which reflected on the work of the monarch.

In the gardens beneath Edinburgh Castle, live music and a carnival parade entertained the crowds.

They had been invited to bring a picnic to the jubilee party.

And they were able to watch a live broadcast of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, live from London.

Perth also played host to a colourful parade, celebrating world music, dance and culture.

The service in Glasgow was the fourth jubilee celebration held for the Queen at the city’s cathedral during her 70-year reign, according to the order of service.

It says: “We have been privileged to receive Her Majesty on the occasions of her silver, golden and diamond Jubilee, and although we cannot welcome her in person on this equally momentous occasion, her Platinum Jubilee, we can feel confident she is with us in spirt.”

The order of service continues: “Jubilee is not an everyday occurrence but a special occasion which does not happen every year, or even every 10, and today we celebrate the extraordinary reign and devotion Her Majesty has had over us and to us.”

At the beginning of the service, the congregation – which included Health Secretary Humza Yousaf – joined three cheers for the monarch.

In his sermon, the Rev Dr Ian Greenshields, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, described the Queen’s life as “an example of humble, self-denying service to God and her country”.

“And it’s this that we offer thanksgiving for today and this life that we honour in this ancient place of worship,” he added.

In Edinburgh, West Princes Street Gardens hosted a jubilee picnic, and a special Edinburgh Festival Carnival parade.

The band of HM Royal Marines Scotland and the local Love Music Community Choir performed before the pageant near Buckingham Palace was shown on big screens.

Among those picnicking in the gardens was Johnny Bacigalupo and his family.

“We’re here to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee… it’s an excuse for a party, an excuse to enjoy yourself, and celebrate what makes us all feel British,” he said.

Vicky Appleyard said she was there with family from all over the world.

“I was not born here but I’m truly British, I’m proud British now, but I was born in Argentina and this is the best thing ever.

“We needed this – we definitely needed a party. We’ve been two years indoors. Look at us, we’re from everywhere. That’s what the Queen does – she brings us together.”

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge told BBC Scotland it was great to be having a party in the festival capital in the sunshine.

“It’s really important to celebrate a woman who has devoted 70 years of her life to faultless duty,” he added.

“She’s a fantastic role model for anyone involved in public life and we’re really proud to be able to host a party here today.”

It follows a series of events across the UK over the four-day holiday weekend, including the Platinum Party at the Palace on Saturday night.

Huge crowds watched the show outside Buckingham Palace, during which the Prince of Wales paid tribute to his “mummy”.

And they saw the Queen feature in a secretly pre-recorded comic sketch featuring Paddington Bear.

It follows a series of jubilee-themed events in Scotland on Saturday, including a re-enactment of the 1953 coronation by Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts in Kelso.

There was a flotilla of about 20 boats which took part in A Parade of Sail in Edinburgh.

And at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire there was a gathering of 70 corgis – the Queen’s favourite dog – on the lawn outside the castle.

Meanwhile a group of republicans, including SNP MP Tommy Sheppard, took part in rally on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill.

Ben Wallace said the M270 multiple-launch rocket system will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

The UK government has not confirmed how many weapons will be sent, but the BBC understands it will be three initially.

The decision was co-ordinated with the US, which announced last week it was also supplying a rocket system.

The move by the US has already angered Moscow and on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to expand the list of targets Russia will attack in Ukraine if Western countries send long-range weapons to Kyiv.

The UK government said the Ukrainian military will be trained in how to use the launchers in the UK in the coming weeks.

Announcing the move, Mr Wallace said the UK was taking a leading role in supplying Ukrainian troops with the “vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion”.

He said: “As Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine.

“These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities.”

Britain and America have led the way in supplying weapons to Ukraine, but giving it advanced long range rockets marks a significant shift, said the BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale.

It is also a recognition that Ukraine is struggling to compete against Russia’s vast artillery arsenal, he added.

The UK’s multiple launch rocket system can fire 12 surface-to-surface missiles within a minute and can strike targets within 50 miles (80km) with pinpoint accuracy – far further than the artillery Ukraine currently possesses.

It is similar to the system the US is sending, the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Last week Washington said it would supply four HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine – following receipt of guarantees they would be used for defensive purposes only and not to strike targets inside Russia.

In an interview on Russian state TV on Sunday, Mr Putin said: “In general, all this fuss about additional arms supplies, in my opinion, has only one goal – to drag out the armed conflict as long as possible.”

The Russian leader said what the US was supplying was “nothing new”.

But he warned against sending missiles with longer ranges: “If they are supplied, we will draw appropriate conclusions from this and use our weapons, of which we have enough, to strike at those targets that we are not striking yet.”

The warning came as explosions shook parts of Kyiv on Sunday in the first assault on the capital city for weeks, while fierce fighting for control of key towns and cities in the eastern Donbas region continues.

Russia refocused its military efforts on the Donbas at the end of March after pulling back from the Kyiv region.

Some of the fiercest fighting is currently in the eastern city of Severodonetsk. Capturing the city would deliver the Luhansk region to Russian forces and their local separatist allies, who also control much of neighbouring Donetsk. The two regions form the heavily industrial Donbas.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he had visited front-line troops in the eastern Donbas region to the city of Lysychansk and the town of Soledar.

Britain and the US have are among the leading nations giving arms to support Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.

The UK has also delivered more than 5,000 next generation light anti-tank weapons – known as Nlaw – which analysts believe have been critical to Ukraine driving back Russian ground assaults since the war began.

Other weapon systems delivered by the government include short-range Brimstone 1 missiles, Mastiff armoured vehicles and Starstreak missile air defence systems – with the overall military support to Ukraine costing £750m so far, the government said.

Several other countries have pledged to send advanced weapons to Ukraine. Germany has promised to send its most modern air defence system – the Iris-T – to enable Ukraine to shield an entire city from Russian air attacks.

Meanwhile, a specialist team of lawyers and police officers will be offered to assist the chief prosecutor investigating alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine, the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab announced on Monday.

The offer will include a Metropolitan Police officer stationed in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in the Netherlands – who will provide the ICC’s prosecutor Karim Khan with greater access to British police and military expertise.

On top of this, seven lawyers experienced in international criminal law will be offered to help uncover evidence of war crimes committed in Ukraine and prosecute those responsible.

The ICC has already begun an investigation that may target senior Russian officials thought to be responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

Atrocities and mass graves have been reported in towns and cities around Ukraine previously occupied by Russian forces – who withdrew from around the Kyiv and other areas they previously occupied to focus their offensive in the east.

Civilian massacres have been discovered in places like Bucha, a town near the Ukrainian capital, with people found dead in the street, having been allegedly bound, gagged and executed by retreating Russian soldiers.

Ukraine has so far reported 15,000 suspected war crimes, including Ukrainian women alleging being raped by Russian troops.

Some 600 suspects have been identified and 80 prosecutions have begun, with one tank commander already sentenced to life in prison in May, after being found guilty by a Kyiv court of shooting a 62-year-old civilian in the back.

Mr Macron said it was crucial President Vladimir Putin had a way out of what he called a “fundamental error”.

But Dmytro Kuleba said allies should “better focus on how to put Russia in its place” as it “humiliates itself”.

Mr Macron has repeatedly spoken to Mr Putin by phone in an effort to broker a ceasefire and negotiations.

The French attempts to maintain a dialogue with the Kremlin leader contrast with the US and UK positions.

Foreign minister Kuleba said in a tweet that “calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it”.

Kyiv says Russia must not get territorial concessions from Ukraine, as the Russian invasion has been condemned internationally as brutal aggression.

Earlier, Mr Macron told French regional media that Russia’s leader had “isolated himself”.

“I think, and I told him, that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself and for history,” he said.

“Isolating oneself is one thing, but being able to get out of it is a difficult path,” he added.

Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has aligned himself with Mr Macron, suggesting Europe wants “some credible negotiations”.

The eastern city of Severodonetsk remains the epicentre of fighting in Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces fiercely resisting Russian tanks, infantry and intense artillery barrages.

Capturing the city would deliver the Luhansk region to Russian forces and their local separatist allies, who also control much of neighbouring Donetsk region.

The region’s Ukrainian governor Serhiy Haidai said his forces had reclaimed about a fifth of Severodonetsk and could hold on.

“As soon as we have enough Western long-range weapons, we will push their artillery away from our positions. And then, believe me, the Russian infantry, they will just run,” he said.

The US plans to give Kyiv’s forces precision rocket systems, so that they can hit Russian positions from a longer range. The UK will also send them a number of large multiple-rocket batteries.

Facing Severodonetsk across the Siverskyi Donets river lies Lysychansk. Both cities are strategically important for Russia: Severodonetsk has the giant Azot chemical plant, which produces nitrogen-based fertilisers, and Lysychansk has Ukraine’s second biggest oil refinery.

The fighting has now left most of Severodonetsk in ruins, but thousands of civilians are still sheltering in basements there.

Governor Haidai said Russian forces were blowing up bridges on the river to prevent Ukraine bringing in military reinforcements and delivering aid to civilians.

The explosion happened after firefighters were called to put out a fire at a container storage facility in the town of Sitakunda.

Twenty of the injured are in critical condition with burns covering 60% to 90% of their bodies, a doctor at a hospital treating the injured told AFP.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Some of the containers at the depot are believed to have stored chemicals, local media report.

The blast reportedly shattered the windows of several buildings nearby and was felt from areas as far as 4km (2.4 miles) away, according to local news outlet Prothomalo.

The town is only 40km (25 miles) from the country’s second-largest city, Chittagong, and one of the city’s hospitals has been inundated with victims. The injured include depot workers as well as fire-fighters and police, according to local media.

Several hours after the blast, fire-fighters were still attempting to extinguish the fire on Sunday morning.

About 600 people worked at the depot, the facility’s director, Mujibur Rahman, told AFP.

Fires are common in Bangladesh. Last year, at least 39 people were killed after a ferry caught fire in the south of the country. And earlier that same year, at least 52 people died in a factory fire in Rupganj near the capital, Dhaka.

Three workers were also killed in 2020 after an oil tank exploded in another container storage depot in Patenga, not far from Chittagong.