SANDRINGHAM: Queen Elizabeth II and her close family celebrated Christmas with a morning service at St. Mary Magdalene Church near her rural retreat at Sandringham in eastern England.
It was a festive event Wednesday as the queen was joined for the first time by Prince George, 6, and Princess Charlotte, 4, the two eldest children of Prince William and his wife, Kate. They left 1-year-old Prince Louis at home.
George and Charlotte walked to church hand in hand with their parents. Prince Charles, their grandfather, walked next to them.
The queen arrived in a Bentley with Charles’ wife, Camilla. Her elderly husband, Prince Philip, stayed at home. He was discharged from a hospital Tuesday after treatment for an undisclosed ailment. Philip, 98, has retired from public duties.
Prince Andrew, who has stepped down from royal duties because of his association with a convicted sex offender, attended an earlier church service with his brother Charles at his side.
Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their 7-month-old son, Archie, did not attend. They are spending the holiday in Canada with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
The royals were greeted by several hundred well-wishers who had gathered outside the church grounds.
The queen’s traditional pre-recorded Christmas message will be broadcast throughout Britain and the Commonwealth nations Wednesday afternoon. Excerpts released ahead of time reveal that the queen plans to acknowledge it has been a challenging year.
Talking about the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, Elizabeth says: “The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference.”
She is thought to be referring both to Britain’s laborious exit from the European Union, which is now almost certainly going to happen on Jan. 31 after voters gave the pro-Brexit Conservative Party a comfortable majority in Parliament, and to the royal family’s difficulties.
The problems this year included Andrew’s retreat from public duties following a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and failed to show empathy for Epstein’s young female victims.
The family has also endured what many close observers think is a rift between William and Harry. Both Harry and Meghan have complained about constant scrutiny by the media as they settle into family life with Archie.
Queen Elizabeth II, close family celebrate Christmas
https://arab.news/b3zae
Queen Elizabeth II, close family celebrate Christmas
- Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their 7-month-old son, Archie, are spending the holiday in Canada with Meghan’s mother
- The royals were greeted by several hundred well-wishers who had gathered outside the church grounds
US intercepts fifth sanctioned tanker as it exerts control over Venezuelan oil distribution
WASHINGTON: US forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the US military said, as the Trump administration targets sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The predawn raid was carried out by Marines and Navy sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, part of the extensive force the US has built up in the Caribbean in recent months, according to US Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the tanker called the Olina. The Coast Guard then took control of the vessel, officials said.
Southern Command and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both posted unclassified footage on social media Friday morning of a US helicopter landing on the vessel and US personnel conducting a search of the deck and tossing what appeared to be an explosive device in front of a door leading to inside the ship.
In her post, Noem said the ship was “another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and it had departed Venezuela “attempting to evade US forces.”
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by US forces as part of the effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the third since the US ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
In a post on his social media network later in the day, Trump said the seizure was conducted “in coordination with the Interim Authorities of Venezuela” but offered no elaboration.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for more details.
Venezuela’s government acknowledged in a statement that it was working with US authorities to return the tanker, “which set sail without payment or authorization from the Venezuelan authorities,” to the South American nation.
“Thanks to this first successful joint operation, the ship is sailing back to Venezuelan waters for its protection and relevant actions,” according to the statement.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine US forces have set up to block sanctioned ships from conducting trade. The Olina was among that flotilla.
US government records show that the Olina was sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M, and flagged in Panama.
While records show the Olina is now flying the flag of Timor-Leste, it is listed in the international shipping registry as having a false flag, meaning the registration it is claiming is not valid. In July, the owner and manager of the ship on its registration was changed to a company in Hong Kong.
According to ship tracking databases, the Olina last transmitted its location in November in the Caribbean, north of the Venezuelan coast. Since then, however, the ship has been running dark with its location beacon turned off.
While Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law, other officials in the Trump administration have made clear they see it as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
In an early morning social media post, Trump said the US and Venezuela “are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”
The administration said it expects to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil, with the proceeds to go to both the US and Venezuelan people. But the president expects the arrangement to continue indefinitely. He met Friday with executives from oil companies to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution.
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News this week that the US can “control” Venezuela’s “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold.
Madani estimated that the Olina is loaded with 707,000 barrels of oil, which at the current market price of about $60 a barrel would be worth more than $42 million.
