Queen Elizabeth II is dead, Charles III ascends to the throne

The most famous monarch on the planet, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at her Scottish residence in Balmoral, ushering in a new era for the British Crown to which she had dedicated her life. The death of the sovereign, whose health had deteriorated over the past year, has aroused immense emotion in the United Kingdom and around the world. His son and heir ascended to the throne at the age of 73 with the name Charles III. “The Queen passed away peacefully in Balmoral this afternoon. The King and Queen consort will remain in Balmoral tonight and return to London tomorrow,” Buckingham Palace said in a brief statement.

Macron greets Elizabeth II, “the queen who loved France”

Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Elizabeth II, hailing “a queen of heart” who was “a friend of France” whose president she had known 10 during her 70-year reign. “The queen of the sixteen kingdoms loved France, which pleased her,” the president reacted. “The French people are also in mourning,” he added, adding that he was sending to “His Majesty the King” Charles III, “to the royal family, His Majesty's government and to the British people the testimony of his age-old friendship and sadness.”

Ukraine announces military breakthrough, Blinken in Kiev with new help

Ukraine has announced that it has breached Russian defences and, in particular, retaken a city of 27,000 inhabitants in the east, at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kiev with new military aid of 2.8 billion dollars. In his daily speech on the Internet, President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that his forces had taken over the city of Balaklia, in the eastern region of Kharkiv, from the Russian army. “Things are as they should be. The Ukrainian flag flies over a liberated Ukrainian city, under the Ukrainian sky,” Zelensky published, with a video showing Ukrainian soldiers marching in this city of 27,000 inhabitants, conquered by the Russian army in early March.

US Open: Caroline Garcia swept in the semifinals

Caroline Garcia, world No. 17, seemed petrified by the stakes, on Thursday in the US Open semifinals where she was swept by Tunisia's Ons Jabeur (5th) 6-1, 6-3 in 1:06. Garcia, who was playing his first Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 28, has never been able to free himself from the pressure or implement his aggressive game. For his part, Jabeur (28) will play his second major final in a row after Wimbledon. It will be against Poland's Iga Swiatek (world No. 1) or Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka (6th).

IN SHORT

North Korea has passed a law authorizing it to conduct a preemptive atomic strike and declaring the country's nuclear power status “irreversible”, state media reported on Friday.

European energy ministers will try on Friday to agree on a series of emergency measures to stem the surge in gas and electricity prices caused by the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Joe Biden and the leaders of several nations and institutions allied to the United States discussed “the need to coordinate further to ensure a sustainable and accessible energy supply to Europe,” the White House said.

Eleven injured, one of them seriously: the toll was heavy from the violent clashes between fans at the Allianz Arena in Nice before the European Cup match between OGC Nice and Germany's FC Cologne, which was finally postponed by an hour until calm returned.