Royal Baby Debut! Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Bring Baby Ines to Her First Official Event

Royal Baby Debut! Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Bring Baby Ines to Her First Official Event

Backgrid Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden officially introduced their baby daughter Princess Ines to the public on Sweden's National Day The royal couple welcomed their fourth child and first daughter on Feb. 7 Baby Princess Ines made her balcony debut for her grandfather King Carl XVI Gustaf's birthday in April, but National Day marked her first official event Prince Carl PhilipandPrincess Sofiaof Sweden introduced their baby daughterPrincess Inesto the world on a meaningful day. On June 6, Sweden's National Day, the royal couple brought their infant daughter along to open the Royal Palace in Stockholm for special visiting hours. Prince Carl Philip, 46, and Princess Sofia, 40,welcomed their fourth child (and first daughter!)on Feb. 7, and named her Ines Marie Lillian Silvia. The infant princessmade her public debut on the Royal Palace balcony for King Carl XVI Gustaf's April 30 birthdayand attended her first event with her parents on National Day. Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia were all smiles as they stepped out at the Royal Palace with their baby daughter, who turns 4 months old tomorrow. There, the mom and daughter matched in the traditional Sverigedräkten (national dress) in blue and yellow hues, reflecting the national flag, as Sofia and Carl Philip welcomed people to the palace. Backgrid The couple opened the palace's southern gates at 10 a.m., local time, to welcome the public to the inner courtyard, where Prince Carl Philip gave a brief speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, a warm welcome to the Royal Palace. How nice that so many of you have come here today!" he said in part. "Being able to gather here on Sweden's National Day means a lot to my family and me. The royal palaces are an important part of our cultural heritage. Therefore, it is a pleasure to welcome you into these unique environments filled with history, art and stories." Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia also gave a fun peek behind the scenes in a video shared toInstagram. The clip opened with a selfie-style shot of the couple smiling inside the palace, and rolled to show them meeting paramedics and greeting the public with Princess Ines in tow. Carl Philip is the second child and only son ofKing Carl XVI GustafandQueen Silviaof Sweden, and will celebrate ten years of marriage with his wife, Sofia, next week on June 13. The couple tied the knot almost a decade ago and went on to welcome sonsPrince Alexander, 9,Prince Gabriel, 7 andPrince Julian, 4. At the start of the year, their family expanded when Princess Ines was born, and the couple gave her middle names to honor her grandmothers. Sofia's mother is named Marie, while Carl Philip's mom is Queen Silvia. Backgrid Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! National Day is a major occasion for the Swedish royal family and several senior working royals hit the road to commemorate the occasion. King Carl XVI Philip and Queen Silvia visited Nybro in Kalmar County, whileCrown Princess Victoriaand her husbandPrince Danielattended celebrations in Hagaparken. The royal family has another special event on the calendar to look forward to next week — the christening of Princess Ines at Drottningholm Palace on June 13, her parents' wedding anniversary. Read the original article onPeople

byAlpha World

in

June 06, 2025

Royal Baby Debut! Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Bring Baby Ines to Her First Official Event

Royal Baby Debut! Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia Bring Baby Ines to Her First Official Event Backgrid Prince Carl Philip and Princess...

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A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison

A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison

LONDON (AP) — An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon'smilitant Hezbollah group. At a previous hearing,Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the U.K. and U.S. as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the U.K. or U.S. from trading with Ahmad or his businesses. Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC's Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London's Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey. In addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license — a period of time after a prison sentence ends when an offender must stay out of trouble or risk going back to prison. She told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship "for prestige and profit" and that until his involvement with Ahmad, he was "someone to be admired." "You knew about Ahmad's suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him," she said. "This is the nadir — there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again." The Met's investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the U.S., which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies. "This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups," said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command. Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the U.S. Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence. Two years ago, the U.K. Treasury froze Ahmad's assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group. Following Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the U.K. The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.

byAlpha World

in

June 06, 2025

A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison

A British TV art expert who sold works to a suspected Hezbollah financier is sentenced to prison LONDON (AP) — An art expert who appeared on...

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Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls ‘complete madness’

Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls 'complete madness'

Israel is arming local militias inGazain an effort to counter Hamas in the besieged enclave, officials say, as opposition politicians warned that the move endangers national security. Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahudefended the covert enterprise on Thursday, calling it "a good thing." In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu said Israel had "activated clans in Gaza which oppose Hamas," and that it was done "under the advice of security elements." Former defense minister and Netanyahu rival Avigdor Liberman divulged the move on Israel's Ch. 12 News on Wednesday, saying that Israel was distributing rifles to extremist groups in Gaza and describing the operation as "complete madness." "We're talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza," Liberman said one day later on Israel's Army Radio, adding that Israel is providing weapons to "crime families in Gaza on Netanyahu's orders." "No one can guarantee that these weapons will not be directed towards Israel," he said, a warning echoed by one of the officials who spoke with CNN. After Liberman's revelation, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying, "Israel is acting to defeat Hamas in various ways upon the recommendation of the heads of the security establishment." The ongoing operation was authorized by Netanyahu without security cabinet approval, two officials told CNN, which is the normal forum for making major policy decisions. Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners would likely have vetoed such a move. Meanwhile, Hamas said the plan revealed "a grave and undeniable truth." In a statement, the militant group said: "The Israeli occupation army is arming criminal gangs in the Gaza Strip with the aim of creating a state of insecurity and social chaos." One group that has received weapons from Israel is the militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, officials said. Abu Shabab heads an armed group that controls some territory in eastern Rafah and he has posted photos of himself holding an AK-47 rifle with UN vehicles behind him. Though Abu Shabab has denied receiving weapons from Israel, Hamas has accused him of being a "traitor." "We pledge before God to continue confronting the dens of that criminal and his gang, no matter the cost of the sacrifices we make," Hamas said on Thursday. Opposition politicians ripped Netanyahu for the plan to arm militias and the secrecy around it, lambasting it as a continuation of the Israeli leader's decision to allowmillions of dollars in cashto travel from Qatar to Gaza beginning in late 2018. They accused him of strengthening Hamas in the past as an alternative to the rival Palestinian Fatah faction, and now arming gangs as an alternative to Hamas. "After Netanyahu finished handing over millions of dollars to Hamas, he moved on to supplying weapons to groups in Gaza affiliated with ISIS – all improvised, with no strategic planning, and all leading to more disasters," opposition leader Yair Lapid said on social media. Netanyahu has not laid out a plan for who will govern Gaza in the future and has hardly made clear any of his post-war intentions for the coastal enclave. Part of Israel's war goals include the complete disarmament of Hamas and the end of its ability to govern in the territory. The arming of militias in Gaza appears to be the closest that Netanyahu has come to empowering any form of alternate rule. Despite nearly 20 months of war, Israel has not been able to dislodge Hamas completely from large swaths of Gaza, and the militant group – classified as a terrorist organization in Israel, the United States, and the European Union – has clung to power. Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, said in a post on social media: "Instead of bringing about a deal, making arrangements with the moderate Sunni axis, and returning the hostages and security to Israeli citizens, he is creating a new ticking bomb in Gaza." For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byAlpha World

in

June 06, 2025

Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls ‘complete madness’

Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls 'complete madness' Israel is arming local militias inGazain ...

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Russia launches one of war’s largest air attacks days after Ukraine’s bomber raid

Russia launches one of war's largest air attacks days after Ukraine's bomber raid

Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles across broad swaths of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others, days after Kyiv launched a daring raid on Moscow's fleet of strategic bombers. For residents of Kyiv, the night's soundtrack was familiar: the shrieking whir of drones, air raid sirens and large explosions overhead – whether from air defenses successfully downing missiles, or projectiles puncturing the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had used more than 400 drones and 40 missiles in the overnight attack, making it among the war's largest. He said Moscow's attack killed four people, injured another 80, and targeted "almost all" of Ukraine, listing nine regions, from Lviv in the west to Sumy in the northeast. Although Russia has pummeled Ukraine almost daily over three years of full-scale war, Ukrainians had been bracing for retaliation since Sunday, when Kyiv launched an audacious operation that struck more than a third of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers. In a call with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would have to respond to Kyiv's assault. Russia's Ministry of Defense said its strikes were in response to what it called Kyiv's "terrorist acts." It was not immediately clear if the attack was the extent of Russia's pledged retaliation, or if Putin intends to escalate further. After the embarrassment of Kyiv's operation, there was a chorus of bellicose calls from pro-Kremlin pundits for a severe – potentially nuclear – response. Although Ukrainians had been buoyed last weekend by the news of Kyiv's successful operation, many were wary of how Russia might strike back. But after Friday's strikes, Kyiv residents told CNN they supported Ukraine's strikes against the aircraft Moscow has used to bomb Ukraine for more than three years. "It didn't break us at all. The morale is as high as it was. We strongly believe in our armed forces," said Olha, a 39-year-old from the capital who did not wish to give her last name. She said the apparent "retaliation" from Russia was not so different to countless other nights of the war. "Maybe (this was the retaliation), but maybe the retaliation is yet to come. Either way, it doesn't change our attitude towards the enemy or towards our country." Meanwhile, Ukraine's general staff on Friday said it launched overnight strikes on two Russian airfields, where it said Moscow had concentrated many of the aircraft that had not been damaged in Kyiv's "Spiderweb" operation last weekend. Ukraine stressed that the operation, which blindsided the Kremlin, had targeted the planes that Russia uses to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and kill civilians. After Russia's large-scale attack Friday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had "responded" to its destroyed aircraft by once again "attacking civilians in Ukraine." As daylight broke, images from Kyiv showed flames rising over apartment buildings and firefighting crews at work, with residents picking through the debris of damaged apartments. Several cars parked in the streets below were covered with shards of glass and slabs of masonry torn from the walls of residential buildings. Ukraine's air force said Russia's barrage comprised 407 drones, six ballistic missiles, 38 cruise missiles and an anti-radar missile. Of those 452 projectiles, the air force said it had downed 406, including 32 of the cruise missiles and four of the ballistic missiles. The other two ballistic missiles did not reach their targets, it added. Although Zelensky said that four people had been killed in the attacks in Kyiv and Lutsk, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that four people had been killed in the capital alone. It was not immediately clear what accounted for the discrepancy between the two tolls. The strikes also hit Chernihiv, near the border with Belarus, which was rocked by 14 explosions from drones and ballistic missiles, including cruise missiles and Iskander-M missiles, local officials said. Five others were wounded in strikes in the northwestern city of Lutsk, near the border with Poland. Footage geolocated by CNN showed at least four missiles slamming into the city, kicking up fiery explosions on impact. The Russian Ministry of Defense said it had also intercepted and destroyed 174 Ukrainian drones from Thursday evening to early Friday morning, and had destroyed three Ukrainian Neptune-MD guided missiles over the Black Sea. All week, Ukrainians have been bracing for Russia's retaliation to last weekend's drone attack, which struck 34% of Moscow's nuclear-capable bombers stationed at airfields as far away as Siberia. On Tuesday, Ukraine also launched an attack on theKerch Bridge, the only direct connection point between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, with 1,100 kilograms of explosives that had been planted underwater. After Trump's call with Putin on Wednesday, the US president said that his Russian counterpart had told him that Moscow would have to respond to Ukraine's assaults. Trump's account of the call gave no indication that he had urged Putin to temper his response, to the dismay of many in Ukraine. "When Putin mentioned he is going to avenge or deliver a new strike against Ukraine, we know what it means. It's about civilians," Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko told CNN earlier this week. "And President Trump didn't say, 'Vladimir, stop.'" Despite Trump's support for recent peace talks in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia, on Thursday he signaled that he may be adopting a more hands-off approach, likening the war to a brawl between children. "Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy," Trump said in the Oval Office, while German ChancellorFriedrich Merzlooking on silently. "They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don't want to be pulled. Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart." For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

byAlpha World

in

June 06, 2025

Russia launches one of war’s largest air attacks days after Ukraine’s bomber raid

Russia launches one of war's largest air attacks days after Ukraine's bomber raid Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic ...

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Theresa Nist slams 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner's claim cancer contributed to split

Theresa Nist slams 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner's claim cancer contributed to split

Theresa Nistis hitting back at claims her "Golden Bachelor" marriage tarnished because ofGerry Turner's cancer diagnosis. Nist, who appeared in 2023's inaugural season of the "Bachelor" franchisehighlighting elder contestants in their golden years, addressed her ex's claims that the couple split onceTurner found out he had cancer. Turner, the first "Golden Bachelor," proposed to and married Nist in alive televised weddingon ABC in January 2024 – but theirrelationship was over by April 2024, and thecouple at the time said a decision of where to settle downcontributed to their divorce, which wasfinalized that June. Turner, 73, in December revealed his terminal cancer diagnosis of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, a bone marrow cancer and type of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and suggested their split was connected to his health bombshell. Nist, 71, at the time denied "a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me," in aninterview with People, and she's doubling down on her shock at Turner's claims. 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turnersays cancer diagnosis factored into Theresa Nist divorce "I was just so surprised that he even said that I knew about the cancer a long time ago," she said on the June 5 episode of the "Almost Famous Podcast" with Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti. "The way Gerry presented it to me was that, 'The doctor said that I'm going to die of old age before this cancer gets to me.' He bluffed it off, like it really wasn't that important, and he had no symptoms, and he still doesn't." 'Golden Bachelor' breakup bombshell:Look back at Gerry Turner, Theresa Nist's romance She added, "I would have never left my husband over an illness." While Turner previously told People magazine that his health announcement "probably will clear up a lot of mystery around what happened back in February, March and April" during the couple's choice to split, Nist denied that their relationship was affected in that way because of Turner's cancer. "We never had a conversation that said, 'Oh my gosh, you're sick. I can't stay with you now. I have to leave.' That never happened," she said on the podcast. Nist also suggested Turner wanted "empathy" from "Bachelor" fans. "Did he want empathy from the public?" she questioned. "I was angry that he would say something like that, but then I am such an understanding person, and I can put myself easily in someone else's shoes. So I tried to see it from his perspective, and I thought, 'OK, if that's in his mind, then I guess that's how he sees it.' Everyone has their own perception of what happened." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner's ex slams cancer split claims

byAlpha World

in

June 06, 2025

Theresa Nist slams 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner's claim cancer contributed to split

Theresa Nist slams 'Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner's claim cancer contributed to split Theresa Nistis hitting back at claims her ...

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