International news brief: Charles to be proclaimed King, Biden to attend Queen’s funeral and more

Washington, Sep 10: Charles III will be formally proclaimed King of the United Kingdom at a historic ceremony at St James's Palace on Saturday. The proclamation is a public announcement of the accession of the new monarch.

Charles,73, Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son, automatically became King after his mother's death, and traditionally an Accession Council is convened within 24 hours of a sovereign's death. But the late announcement of the Queen's death meant there was insufficient time to organise it for Friday.

There will be a multi-stage process publicly announcing his new title of King Charles III. Flags lowered in mourning for the late Queen will fly full-mast after the Accession Council, which will be televised for the first time.

A wave of further proclamations will take place across the UK until Sunday when flags will return to half-mast.

King Charles III signals his reign will offer change of tone

As the United Kingdom mourns a beloved queen, the nation is already wondering how King Charles III will reign and whether his monarchy will depart from the traditions of his mother. If his first full day on the throne is any indication, Charles seemed ready to chart at least a slightly different course.

When Charles traveled to Buckingham Palace for the first time as the new king Friday, his limousine snaked through a sea of spectators then stopped short of the palace gates before he got out and shook hands with well-wishers. Charles looked more like a US president on the campaign trail than the latest steward of a 1,000-year-old hereditary monarchy. It's not that Queen Elizabeth II didn't meet her subjects. She did, often. But this felt different - a bit less formal, a bit more relaxed and personal. Charles spent almost 10 minutes greeting people pressed up against the crowd-control barriers, smiling, waving, accepting condolences and the occasional bouquet of flowers as the audience broke out in a chorus of "God Save the King." After inspecting the tributes to his mother lined up outside the palace, he waved once more and walked through the gates with Camilla, the Queen Consort.

California: Drought, record heat, fires and now maybe floods
Californians tried to weather the extremes of a changing climate on Friday, as a punishing heat wave that has helped fuel deadly wild fires had the state teetering on the edge of blackouts for a 10th consecutive day while a tropical storm barrelled ashore with the promise of cooler temperatures but also possible flooding.

The abrupt swing in conditions even whipsawed weather junkies.

"This is perhaps the singularly most unusual and extreme weather week in quite some time in California - and that is saying something. Whew," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote on his western weather blog.

Biden to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral

US President Joe Biden has said that he would attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years. She was 96.

The date of her funeral has not been confirmed, but it is expected to take place on September 19 in Westminster Abbey, the same church where the Queen was crowned in 1953.

"Yes. I do not know what the details are yet, but I will be going," Biden told reporters at the Columbus International Airport in Ohio on Friday. He was responding to a question of whether he will be going to the Queen's funeral. In response to another question, the president said he has not spoken to King Charles III yet. "I know him. I have not spoken to him yet," he added.