World News

By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (Reuters) – President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged on Friday that he may travel to Saudi Arabia soon, a trip that multiple sources say is expected and could include talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden told reporters that he does not yet have direct plans to make a trip to Saudi Arabia but if he does it would be to try to advance Middle East peace prospects.

Sources familiar with the process say Biden is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia in conjunction with a trip to Europe and Israel in late June.

As recently as Wednesday, the White House said Biden still felt bin Salman was a “pariah” for what U.S. intelligence says was his role in the killing and dismembering of a political opponent, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in Turkey in 2018.

Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul tainted the crown prince’s image as a reformist. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by him.

“Look, I’m not going to change my view on human rights but as president of the United States my job is to bring peace if I can and that’s what I’m going to try to do,” Biden said in explaining his reasoning for why he may make the trip.

The visit would be aimed at bolstering relations with Saudi Arabia at a time when Biden is trying to find ways to lower gasoline prices in the United States.

Biden would participate in a Riyadh summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional union whose members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, sources said.

“There is a possibility that I would be going to meet with both the Israelis and some Arab countries at the time including I expect would be Saudi Arabia would be included in that if I did go. But I have no direct plans at the moment,” he said.

Prospects for a Biden visit improved on Thursday when OPEC + agreed to increase oil output by 200,000 barrels in July and August and a ceasefire in the Yemen war was extended.

The White House took the rare step of recognizing the role played by bin Salman in extending the Yemen ceasefire. [L1N2XP2JC]

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-installed government announced Friday that it will execute a former lawmaker from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and a veteran pro-democracy activist convicted of violating the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law, local media reported Friday.

Two online news outlets, Voice of Myanmar and NP News, said two other men convicted of killing a woman they believed was an informer for the military will also be executed, in addition to former lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw and activist Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy.

Government spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun was cited as saying the decision to carry out the hangings was confirmed after legal appeals by the four were rejected.

He was cited as saying the executions will go ahead in accordance with prison procedures. According to the law, executions must be approved by the head of the government. He did not say when the executions would be carried out.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks arrests and state-conducted killings, says Myanmar courts have handed down death sentences to 114 political offenders, including two children, since the army seized power from Suu Kyi’s elected government in February last year.

Last year’s army takeover triggered nationwide popular protests, which turned into a low-level insurgency after nonviolent demonstrations were met with deadly force by the security forces. The Assistance Association estimates that 1,887 civilians have died at the hands of police and the military in crackdowns against opponents of military rule.

Some resistance groups have engaged in assassinations, drive-by shootings and bombings in urban areas. The mainstream opposition organizations generally disavow such activities, while supporting armed resistance in rural areas, which are more often subject to brutal military attacks.

The last judicial execution to be carried out in Myanmar is generally believed to have been of another political offender, student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo, in 1976 under a previous military government led by dictator Ne Win.

In 2014, the sentences of prisoners on death row were commuted to life imprisonment, but several dozen convicts received death sentences between then and last year’s takeover.

Phyo Zeya Thaw, the former lawmaker, also known as Maung Kyaw, and Kyaw Min Yu were given death sentences under the country’s Counterterrorism Law in January this year by a closed military court. They were found guilty of offenses involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism.

Phyo Zeya Thaw had been a hip-hop musician before becoming as a member of Generation Wave, a political movement formed in 2007.

He was arrested last November on a charge of possessing weapons and ammunition, according to a report in a state-run newspaper at the time. It said he was arrested on the basis of information from people detained a day earlier for shooting security personnel.

Other statements from the military accused him of being a key figure in a network of dozens of people who allegedly carried out what the military described as “terrorist” attacks in Yangon, the country’s biggest city.

He previously was jailed in 2008 under another military government after being accused of illegal association and possession of foreign currency.

Kyaw Min Yu is one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, veterans of a failed 1988 popular uprising against military rule.

He has been active politically since then, and spent more than a dozen years behind bars. He was arrested in Yangon last October.

The state-run media said Kyaw Min Yu has been accused of “conducting terrorism acts including mine attacks to undermine the state stability” and of heading a group called “Moon Light Operation” to carry out urban guerrilla attacks.

He had been put on a wanted list for social media postings that allegedly incited unrest.

The other two men sentenced to die, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, were convicted in April last year of allegedly torturing and killing a woman in Yangon. They targeted her as an alleged military informer and killed her in March 2021, according to an April 2021 statement from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services.

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s ruling Morena party looks poised to win at least four of the six races for state governorships Sunday on the back of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, its folksy, charismatic leader, and the absence of a credible opposition, analysts say.

Ironically, at its point of greatest power, Morena may also be about to enter its phase of greatest vulnerability: the young party must take control of an intractably cartel-dominated border state like Tamaulipas, and launch a divisive internal contest to see who will replace López Obrador when he leaves office in 2024.

With Morena’s dominance a seemingly foregone conclusion — the opposition will probably be left with only a half-dozen of Mexico’s 32 states — there has been a stampede by politicians of all stripes to join or ally themselves with the party for political survival, a rush that threatens to erode its already weak internal cohesion and ideology.

Analysts say Morena could be on track to become an omnipresent “government party,” like the old Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, that dominated Mexican politics for 70 years from 1929 to 2000 — but without the PRI’s former reputation for iron internal discipline.

Basically, Morena is now a broad tent made of anyone who López Obrador — a political pragmatist who sometimes woos opposition politicians with ambassadorships — allows in.

It marks a new stage in Mexican politics.

“The fight is not going to be with the opposition, it’s going to be within Morena,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an associate professor at George Mason University. “The movement is going to be muddied by people joining who have little to do with the (political) project.”

Those contradictions are on display in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, where most ex-governors in the last 20 years have gone to prison for corruption or associating with the drug cartels that dominate the state.

Morena’s candidate for governor in Tamaulipas is a mild-mannered cardiologist, Américo Villarreal, who is a former PRI member and the son of a well-liked former PRI governor who was also a friend of López Obrador. The younger Villarreal has offered little new in the way of policies to take on gangs like the Northeast Cartel, which has grown so bold it attacked the U.S. consulate in the border city of Nuevo Laredo earlier this year.

While López Obrador has disappointed the U.S. government by avoiding confrontation with drug cartels or trying to arrest their leaders, he has cooperated closely with the Americans by detaining migrants seeking to reach the U.S. border.

Correa-Cabrera expects Villarreal to continue those trends, in what she says could be seen as a “narco peace” policy. Still, she noted that drug violence tends to spike after local elections, in part because deals made with outgoing politicians end, and new terms must be negotiated.

“It is going to get a little out of control for him,” Correa-Cabrera said. “The violence is going to get worse, it’s going to be a difficult start for him, how difficult I don’t know.”

Ivonne Acuña Murillo, political science professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, says López Obrador’s policies — like doubling the minimum wage in border areas like Tamaulipas and constantly visiting provincial towns and cities — rather than the stature of local candidates, are key to understanding Morena’s potential gubernatorial sweep.

“His work of being constantly there, not ignoring any place, constantly visiting these places every weekend to be close to the people, that is what nourishes him and gives him power,” said Acuña Murillo.

“It is a movement built by him and that follows him, and what we know of as López Obrador doesn’t necessarily coincide with what Morena is, its support base and structure, and so that is a big challenge,” she noted. “I think that it is a party that without this big leader, could be somewhat fragile.”

Morena was founded by López Obrador in 2012 and when he retires the party is likely to become a free-for-all of political division. By law, López Obrador is limited to one term..

Several top figures in his administration have already begun a sharp-elbowed dispute to win Morena’s presidential nomination in the 2024 race.

Morena also appears to be on track to win elections in Quintana Roo, home to resorts like Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen. While the state’s mainstay tourism industry has recovered relatively quickly from the coronavirus pandemic, it faces huge challenges from drug violence and the arrival of foul-smelling sargassum seaweed on its beaches.

López Obrador has spent heavily in Quintana Roo to build his Maya Train tourism project, which will link colonial cities, beach resorts and Mayan archaeological sites, though it has raised hackles among environmentalists as workers cut a swath through the jungle with no environmental impact statement.

“I think Morena will certainly win, and I hope that means we will have more federal government support for tourism as a national priority and resolve the problems we face,” said Sergio Leon, the former head of the state employers’ federation.

Rafael Barajas, a civic activist in Tulum, countered that “obviously Morena is going to win, because the political group of (Tulum Mayor) Marciano Dzul has made an agreement to allow the federal government to do what it wants, so the Maya Train can go ahead without protests.”

Opposition parties still exist, but they have been forced into uncomfortable anti-López Obrador alliances.

In the two states where Morena is trailing — Aguascalientes and Durango — the candidates are running jointly for the PRI and the conservative National Action Party.

Morena is also likely to take the states of Oaxaca and Hidalgo, whose current PRI governors have been oddly close to López Obrador. Again, the challenge to Morena comes less from without, than within.

“In some states like Hidalgo, there are governors who, though they are PRI members, they are more on Morena’s side,” said Acuña Murillo. “It seems that this political culture of a strong president is alive, and the PRI logic is to be on the side that’s winning,”

“If Morena falls, it is going to be for internal reasons,” she said, “because there is no opposition that can compete with it.”

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LONDON (Reuters) – Horse-loving Queen Elizabeth was thanked for being “in the saddle” for 70 years as head of state at a service on Friday to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, an event she missed due to her “mobility issues”.

Other senior members of the royal family joined a congregation of politicians, charity figures and groups the queen has supported for the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London to pay tribute to the sovereign’s record-breaking reign.

Four days of celebrations began on Thursday when a beaming Elizabeth waved to crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a military parade and Royal Air Force flypast. She later led the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon at her Windsor Castle home near London.

The 96-year-old, who has been forced to cancel a series of engagements recently due to an “episodic mobility problem”, reluctantly pulled out of Friday’s service after experiencing “some discomfort” the previous day, the palace said.

Elizabeth, who is a devout Christian and also the titular head of the Church of England, watched the service on television at Windsor Castle.

Her son and heir Prince Charles, 73, represented her, while much attention was focused on her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who were making their first public appearance together in Britain since stepping down from royal duties two years ago.

The couple moved to the United States to lead a more independent life, and have since delivered some stinging attacks on Buckingham Palace and the royal family. They were greeted by cheers and a few boos by fans outside, while members of the congregation strained to catch a glimpse as they walked through the cathedral.

ENDURANCE

Noting the queen’s well-known love of horse-racing, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said in his sermon that her reign reflected the distance of the Grand National, the famous, gruelling steeplechase, rather than the Epsom Derby sprint.

“But with endurance through times of change and challenge, joy and sorrow, you continue to offer yourself in the service of our country and the Commonwealth,” he said.

“Your Majesty, we are sorry that you’re not here with us this morning, but we are so glad that you are still in the saddle. And we are glad that there is still more to come. So thank you for staying the course.”

Buckingham Palace later confirmed the queen would also miss Saturday’s 243rd Epsom Derby, which she normally attends and which together with a pop concert outside Buckingham Palace will be the focal point of the third day of Jubilee celebrations.

As with the service, she will watch the Derby on television.

Also absent from Friday’s service was her second son, Prince Andrew, 62, who has tested positive for COVID-19.

That spared the royals some awkwardness, with Andrew’s reputation shattered after he settled a U.S. lawsuit in February in which he had been accused of sexually abusing a woman when she was underage, claims he denied.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who delivered a reading, was also met by a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd outside the cathedral, reflecting recent public anger over his conduct in office.

Yvonne Thomas, who had travelled from east London, said she loved the queen but felt Harry and Meghan had been disrespectful towards the monarch with their criticism of the institution. “I think they should be more supportive towards her,” she said.

Others in the crowd were delighted to see the couple return, along with the rest of the family. “While I am disappointed the queen is not here today, she deserves a day off,” said Akachi Okoro, 45, who had travelled from Scotland.

After the service, the Lord Mayor of the City of London hosted a reception at the medieval Guildhall that was attended by most of the senior royals, Johnson and his ministers.

Thursday marked not only the start of the Jubilee, but also the 69th anniversary of the coronation of Elizabeth, who became queen on the death of her father George VI in February 1952 and is head of state of 14 other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

She has now been on the throne for longer than any of her predecessors in 1,000 years, and is the third-longest reigning monarch ever of a sovereign state. Opinion polls show she remains hugely popular and respected among British people.

Tributes have poured in from across the globe, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un adding his own congratulations to those from the likes of U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

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MADRID (Reuters) – Spain plans to relax work permit rules for foreigners, its social security and migration minister said on Friday, to address labour shortages in industries such as tourism and construction that threaten its economic recovery.

The government intends to grant more temporary visas for sectors that need workers, Jose Luis Escriva told reporters.

“We are evaluating different aspects of the migration law and where there is room to improve it … in order to address bottlenecks in Spain’s labour market,” he said.

Labour shortages have been reported in the tourism, agriculture, construction and technology industries.

The government plans to allow around 50,000 non-EU students to combine studies with work.

It will also facilitate access to work permits by allowing those who can show a previous connection to Spain through family, residence or at least two years work, even if it was informal.

A draft of the reforms listed the most pressing job vacancies as being for telemarketers, sales representatives, delivery vehicle drivers and software developers.

Spain’s tourism industry has seen a strong rebound but companies are struggling to find workers willing to wait tables and clean hotel rooms, something the government has characterised as a Europe-wide problem.

Friday’s S&P monthly purchasing managers survey showed that, despite stronger demand in May, businesses were unable to grow as fast as expected because of problems finding workers. The report highlighted potential wage inflation as a result.

There are fears staff shortages could also hamper Spain’s ability to realise pandemic recovery projects funded by the European Union.

Spain’s economy was the hardest hit in the euro zone by the pandemic, shrinking 11% in 2020.

Though unemployment is still high by European standards, at 13.65%, the pandemic encouraged more workers into the formal economy as official contracts were needed to collect furlough payments.

As a result, formal employment has reached a record high.

Spain already has migration programmes with countries such as Morocco, Ecuador and Colombia and is open to extending temporary work visas to other Central America countries. A new pilot programme with Honduras started earlier this year, sources told Reuters.

(Reporting by Belén Carreño; Writing by Christina Thykjaer; Editing by Aislinn Laing, Mark Potter and Christina Fincher)

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II once asked why the New Zealand men’s cricket team had picked a 17-year-old for the starting lineup.

“Is this a case of absolute confidence or sheer desperation?” the British monarch wondered, Don McKinnon recalled Friday.

McKinnon, who was secretary-general of the Commonwealth countries at the time, said it showed the queen’s broad interests, whether it be in horses, sports or the stories of the thousands of people she met.

McKinnon made the comments during the keynote speech at a New Zealand church service to mark Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne. The queen’s Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated over several days in Britain and more than 50 other Commonwealth countries.

McKinnon also recalled the time he tumbled off one of the queen’s horses and limped into a meeting with her soon after. He said he was very pleased with her response, which he would have expected from any New Zealand farmer: “How’s the horse?”

McKinnon recalled Elizabeth’s warm personality, the way she smiled vividly with her eyes, and her serenity considering the havoc going on around her.

Elizabeth has visited New Zealand 10 times during her reign. On her first trip in 1953-54 she laid the foundation stone for the Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul, where Friday’s service took place.

“For us, on this side of the world so far away, we will always know her as someone who enjoyed coming to New Zealand, who enjoyed meeting New Zealanders,” McKinnon said. “Seventy years of grit, grace and glory.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also spoke briefly at the service, saying that people were marking the jubilee milestone with a sense of “awe, reverence and gratitude.”

New Zealand also celebrated by lighting a beacon and having the army fire a 21-gun salute. The British monarch remains New Zealand’s official head of state, although the role is now considered primarily ceremonial.

For the record, the young cricketer, Daniel Vettori, turned 18 just before playing his first test match for New Zealand vs. England in 1997, breaking the record for the youngest player to make the squad. He would go on to become one of the nation’s most successful all-round players.

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(Reuters) – Russia’s Pacific Fleet launched a week-long series of exercises with more than 40 ships and up to 20 aircraft taking part, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.

The ministry statement said the exercises, taking place from June 3-10, would involve, among other matters, “groups of ships together with naval aviation taking part in search operations for (enemy) submarines”.

The exercises were taking place amid Russia’s three-month-old incursion into Ukraine, described by Moscow as a “special military operation”. Ukraine lies thousands of kilometres to the west of where the exercises are occurring in the Pacific.

(Reporting by Ronald Popeski; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces tightened their grip on an industrial Ukrainian city as part of their drive to control the eastern Donbas region and targeted rail links used to ferry in weapons from Kyiv’s Western allies as the war approaches its 100th day on Friday.

Russia has accused the United States of adding “fuel to the fire” after President Joe Biden announced a $700 million weapons package for Ukraine that will include advanced rocket systems with a range of up to 80 km (50 miles).

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a forum in Slovakia on Thursday that Kyiv was grateful for the military aid it has received but added: “Weapons supplies should be stepped up … (to) ensure an inflection point in this confrontation.”

The Biden administration said Ukraine had promised it would not use the rocket systems to hit targets inside Russia. Biden hopes extending Ukraine’s artillery reach will help push Russia to negotiate an end to a war in which thousands of people have been killed, cities and towns flattened and more than six million people forced to flee the country.

“Ukraine needs weapons to liberate Ukrainian territory that Russia has temporarily occupied. We are not fighting on Russian territory, we are interested in our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, shrugging off Moscow’s criticism of the U.S. decision.

Moscow has said it regards Ukrainian infrastructure used to bring in Western arms as a legitimate target in what it calls its “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of ultra-nationalists the Kremlin says threaten Russian security.

“Pumping (Western) weapons into Ukraine does not change all the parameters of the special operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

“Its goals will be achieved, but this will bring more suffering to Ukraine,” said Peskov, responding to a question about whether U.S. plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use could change the parameters of the conflict.

Four Russian missiles hit railway infrastructure targets in two places in the western Lviv region bordering Poland late on Wednesday, governor Maksym Kozytskyi said, injuring five people and causing significant damage.

DONBAS CITY IN FOCUS

Zelenskiy told Luxembourg’s parliament via videolink on Thursday that Russian forces currently occupy about 20% of all Ukrainian territory and that battle frontlines now stretch more than 1,000 km (620 miles).

Russian forces, backed by heavy artillery, control most of Sievierodonetsk – now largely in ruins – after days of fierce fighting in which they have taken losses, Britain’s defence ministry said in its daily intelligence report.

“The enemy is conducting assault operations in the settlement of Sievierodonetsk,” Ukraine’s armed forces general staff said, adding that Russian forces were also attacking other parts of the east and northeast.

At least four civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the east and northeast, other officials said.

Russia denies targeting civilians.

If Russia fully captures Sievierodonetsk and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, it would hold all of Luhansk, one of two provinces – with Donetsk – in the Donbas claimed by Moscow on behalf of separatists.

Capturing Luhansk would fulfil one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated aims and solidify a shift in battlefield momentum after his forces were pushed back from the capital Kyiv and from northern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s General Oleksiy Gromov told a briefing that Russian forces were trying to assault the village of Berestove that lies on a main road linking Lysychansk – also under heavy Russian shelling – to the rest of the country.

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian forces were attempting to advance south towards the key Ukraine-held cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, both in Donetsk province.

GLOBAL IMPACT

The war is having a massive impact on the world economy. Russia has captured some of Ukraine’s biggest seaports and its navy controls major transport routes in the Black Sea, blocking Ukrainian shipments and deepening a global food crisis.

Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key fertilizer exporter and Ukraine a major supplier of corn and sunflower oil.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko, said Kyiv was working with international partners to create a U.N.-backed mission to restore Black Sea shipping routes and allow the export of Ukrainian farm produce.

In further evidence of the economic strain on Ukraine, its central bank hoisted the main interest rate to a seven-year-high of 25% from 10% on Thursday to tackle soaring inflation and shield the hryvnia currency. Bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko also said it was time to start talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new economic support programme.

Moscow criticised as “self-destructive” a decision by the European Union this week to cut 90% of oil imports from Russia by the end of 2022, saying the move could destabilise global energy markets.

The conflict has also jolted Europe’s security arrangements, prompting Finland and Sweden to seek NATO membership, though NATO member Turkey has blocked that move, accusing Stockholm and Helsinki of harbouring people linked to Kurdish militants.

The issue will be on the agenda when Biden hosts NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Thursday. Stoltenberg told reporters he would soon convene a meeting in Brussels with Swedish, Finnish and Turkish officials to discuss the matter.

In a rare moment of joy for Ukraine, its soccer team advanced towards securing a place in this year’s World Cup finals with a 3-1 win over Scotland on Wednesday evening.

“Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words! Just pride … They went out, fought, persevered and won. Because they are Ukrainians!” said Zelenskiy in a message posted on the Telegram app alongside a picture of the players celebrating.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Robert Birsel and Gareth Jones; Editing by Stephen Coates, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Nick Macfie and Catherine Evans)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday issued a raft of new sanctions aimed a punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, with targets including several yachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a yacht brokerage and a cellist it says acts as a middleman for the Russian leader.

The United States and other Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia’s economy since the Feb. 24 invasion, including the country’s central bank and major financial institutions.

In his State of the Union address in March, Biden said the United States would work to seize the yachts, luxury apartments and private jets of wealthy Russians with ties to Putin.

The U.S. Treasury Department identified two vessels, the Russian-flagged Graceful and the Cayman islands-flagged Olympia as property in which Putin has an interest. The Russian president, who was blacklisted the day after his Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, has taken numerous trips on the yachts, including one in the Black Sea with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko last year, the Treasury said.

It also identified two other yachts it said were used by Putin and owned by a sanctioned Russian company.

The Treasury also targeted Imperial Yachts, a brokerage based in Monaco that allows superyacht owners, including Russian oligarchs, to charter their boats when they are not using them, as well as an aviation company it said was involved in a scheme to transfer aircraft to an offshore company to avoid sanctions.

The Biden administration also added Sergei Roldugin, a cellist and conductor already under European Union sanctions for his links to Putin, to its list of sanctioned individuals. The order froze his U.S. assets and barred U.S. people from dealing with them.

The State Department also imposed sanctions on five Russian oligarchs and members of the country’s elite, including the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.

Putin sent his troops over the border on what he calls a special military operation on Feb. 24 to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and its allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of aggression.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Doina Chiacu; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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By Michael Holden and Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) – A beaming Queen Elizabeth waved to cheering crowds massed outside Buckingham Palace on Thursday as Britain kicked off four days of pomp, parties and parades to celebrate her record-breaking 70 years on the British throne.

Tens of thousands of royal supporters waving flags lined the streets of London for a military parade at the start of the four-day Platinum Jubilee. Millions of people across Britain and the world were expected to watch the festivities, join street parties and light beacons in honour of the 96-year-old queen.

Elizabeth, holding a walking stick and wearing a dusky dove blue outfit that she also wore for an official Jubilee photograph, was joined by her son and heir Prince Charles, 73, and other senior royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

While the family waved to the crowds and enjoyed a Royal Air force fly-past, Louis – Prince William’s 4-year-old son – covered his ears and howled as the planes roared overhead. He later jumped up and down as Red Arrow jets released red, white and blue smoke trails.

Elizabeth has been on the throne for longer than any of her predecessors, and is the third-longest reigning monarch ever of a sovereign state. Opinion polls show she remains hugely popular and respected among British people.

World leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Pope Francis and former British prime ministers were among those sending messages of goodwill.

“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in convening communities, families, neighbours and friends to mark my Platinum Jubilee, in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth,” the queen said in a statement as the festivities got under way.

“I continue to be inspired by the goodwill shown to me.”

The celebrations began with the Trooping the Colour, a military parade held annually to mark the queen’s official birthday, where 1,500 soldiers marched to military music in ceremonial uniforms of scarlet tunics and bearskin hats.

Later the crowds moved to the Mall, the grand boulevard running up to Buckingham Palace, where in brilliant sunshine they cheered and waved Union flags while a display of modern and historic planes took place overhead.

Fifteen Typhoon jets spelled out the number 70.

MILITARY PARADE

Thursday marks not only the start of the Jubilee, but also the 69th anniversary of the coronation of Elizabeth, who became queen on the death of her father George VI in February 1952.

Her involvement in this year’s celebrations will be somewhat limited compared with previous major events. In recent months the queen has cut back public appearances due to what Buckingham Palace calls “episodic mobility issues”. In May, she missed the opening of parliament for the first time in almost six decades.

Senior royals, including Charles, and his eldest son William, 39, are carrying out some ceremonial duties on the queen’s behalf.

Some royal family members were absent on Thursday, including the queen’s second son Prince Andrew, 62, who settled a U.S. lawsuit in February in which he was accused of sexually abusing a woman when she was underage. Andrew denied the accusation.

The palace announced later that Andrew had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not attend a service of Thanksgiving on Friday.

The queen’s grandson Prince Harry, now living in Los Angeles with his American wife Meghan after stepping down from royal duties, watched the parade but was absent from the palace balcony, with only “working” members of the family present.

There were artillery gun salutes in London, across the United Kingdom and from Royal Navy ships at sea.

“It was lovely, everything we hoped it would be. We’re a bit older now, so we were here for the 25th and then the 50th (jubilee). But this was the best one,” said nurse Ian Higgins, 62, who was watching the events in central London.

“You feel very proud when everybody comes together like this,” said yoga teacher Amanda Mackenzie, 51. “It’s really special.”

In the evening beacons will be lit across the country and the Commonwealth, with the queen set to lead with the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon at her Windsor Castle home.

The government announced two public holidays to mark the celebration, which is the first major public gathering since the pandemic and a welcome distraction for many at a time of growing economic hardship.

Among the tributes pouring in from around the world was a video message from former U.S. president Barack Obama that was broadcast on the BBC.

“Your life has been a gift, not just for the United Kingdom, but for the world. And it is with gratitude for your leadership and the kindness that you’ve shown me and my family that I say, may the light of your crown continue to reign supreme,” he said.

Not everyone will be joining in the festivities though, including the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic which has put up the message “Make Elizabeth the last” on billboards across Britain.

A number of people caused a brief disturbance by running out in front of marching soldiers on the Mall boulevard before they were dragged away by police. Several were arrested.

(Reporting by Michael Holden, Kate Holton, Natalie Thomas, Lucy Marks and Paul Hardy; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Frances Kerry)

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