World

(LONDON) — The anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has launched giant billboards across the U.K. with slogans questioning the British monarchy.

“Secretive. Divisive. Undemocratic. Abolish the monarchy,” read some, while others have pictures of Prince Andrew, captioned: “Wanted: a democratic alternative to the monarchy,” and “No one is above the law,” referring to the lawsuit filed against the prince in New York.

Virginia Giuffre is suing the prince for alleged sexual assault and Wednesday the U.K.’s High Court confirmed that it will assist Giuffre’s lawyers in serving the prince his papers.

Prince Andrew has long denied Giuffre’s allegations which first surfaced in 2014, telling the BBC in a 2019 interview “I’ve said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact.”

“The lawyers acting for Ms. Giuffre have now provided further information to the High Court, and the High Court has accepted the request for service under the Hague Service Convention,” a representative for the High Court told ABC News in a statement.

The scandal surrounding Prince Andrew’s court case and other recent unrest in royal circles have boosted the anti-monarchist group, according to ABC News royal contributor Robert Jobson.

“To put ads up like this isn’t a cheap exercise and it shows that Prince Andrew’s scandal, the disquiet caused by Meghan and Harry and the cash-for-honours controversy involving Prince Charles means that the anti-monarchist groups are gaining traction in this country as well as financial backing,” said Jobson.

The cash-for-honors controversy which Jobson refers to emerged this month after two British papers, The Sunday Times and The Mail uncovered evidence they claim shows a close aide of Prince Charles’ agreed to arrange an honor and faster access to British citizenship for a Saudi businessman after he donated generously to the prince’s charities.

Prince Charles denies any involvement in this matter. Clarence House released a statement saying: “The Prince of Wales has no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation now under way by The Prince’s Foundation.”

“I don’t think it’s a danger to the monarchy but this is a sign that this is damaging their public image. After all, the monarchy is an unelected institution that requires public support for its very existence,” Jobson added.

“These billboards are expensive so Republic’s backers have had to put their hands in their pocket,” Jobson said.

Republic has set up a crowdfunding page which has so far made £25,000 (approximately $34,000 USD) to pay for the billboards which are now posted throughout the U.K. including in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and other cities.

The group says its launching this campaign in advance of Charles’ accession to the throne. “With polls showing young people wanting an elected head of state, the succession of King Charles will be a major turning point in the monarchy’s history and in the growth of Britain’s republican movement,” Graham Smith, Republic’s chief executive, is quoted as saying on the group’s website.

“We have been campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy for a long time but now we are at a crossroads. As the Queen’s reign draws to an end, it is time to demand a say in who should be our head of state,” Smith added.

“The royals are on a collision course with British values. The 2020s should be the decade when we finally get to decide who we have as our elected head of state,” Smith’s statement also reads.

The monarchy remains popular in the U.K., however. A recent Ipsos poll taken after the March interview involving Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, showed 41% of British people polled said that Britain’s future would be worse with the monarchy abolished. Thirty-one percent said its abolishment would make no difference, and only 19% said ending the monarchy would be better for Britain’s future.

The poll also showed that Queen Elizabeth remains the most popular royal with 40% choosing the queen as one of their favorite members of the royal family. Prince Charles ranked at 11% favorability, and Prince Andrew, at 2%.

“The Queen regularly tops the polls as the most popular member of the family” Jobson said, “and at this moment of transition between her and Charles obviously the anti-monarchy groups are trying to exploit the Prince of Wales’ comparative unpopularity and the uncertainty that the end of her reign will bring.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry and Meghan have made this year’s TIME100 Most Influential People in the World list.

The TIME cover portrait featuring the Duke and Duchess of Sussex marks the first time the couple has formally posed together for a magazine cover shoot.

Photographed by Pari Dukovic, Prince Harry is seen wearing an all-black ensemble while Meghan rocks a white blouse and trousers.

The publication selected surprise pairings of its list members as well as guest contributors. Also, founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés was selected to write about the royal couple.

“Springing into action is not the easy choice for a young duke and duchess who have been blessed through birth and talent, and burned by fame,” wrote Andrés on Prince Harry and Meghan. “It would be much safer to enjoy their good fortune and stay silent. That’s not what Harry and Meghan do, or who they are… In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the duke and duchess have compassion for the people they don’t know. They don’t just opine. They run toward the struggle.”

Throughout the series of photos featured in Time Magazine, Prince Harry and Meghan are seen wearing forest green looks while posing in front of picturesque outdoor backdrops.

TIME editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal in his letter to readers, said the royal couple has “catalyzed essential conversations on topics from mental health to misinformation.”

In addition to the duke and duchess of Sussex cover, there are six others including Simone Biles, Billie Eilish, Kate Winslet, Cathy Park Hong, Jensen Huang and Ngozi Okonjo Oweala.

The list also includes features of rapper Lil Nas X, tennis star Naomi Osaka, Vice President Kamala Harris and a host of diverse notables.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A British court on Wednesday indicated that it intends to formally provide notice to Prince Andrew of a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him in New York, according to a court statement and documents obtained by ABC News.

The court’s decision came over the objections of the prince’s legal team, who have argued that lawyers for the prince’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, are not authorized to receive assistance from the U.K. courts to serve a summons on the prince.

Giuffre, 38, sued the prince in a U.S. federal court last month, accusing the prince of sexually assaulting her in 2001 at the Manhattan home of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and at other locations. The prince has denied her allegations.

In an email sent and obtained Wednesday by ABC News, Gary Bloxsome — lawyer for the prince — insisted that the request for service from Giuffre’s lawyers was “contrary” to British law. Bloxsome contended that granting the request amounted to “an infringement of UK sovereignty,” according to the email Bloxsome sent to special master Barbara Fontaine, a British judicial official.

In response, Fontaine told Bloxsome that if the prince’s team wished to contest her determination, they should do so by requesting a formal hearing.

“I do not consider that it is appropriate for me to determine this disputed issue by email,” Fontaine wrote in an email to Bloxsome.

The British court’s decision comes just two days after a lawyer for Prince Andrew appeared in a New York court to argue that the 61-year-old son of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II had not been legally served with notice of Giuffre’s lawsuit. The attorney, Andrew Brettler, assailed the case as “baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful.”

Brettler has not responded to an email request for comment from ABC News.

A lawyer for Giuffre said Wednesday that he regards the myriad objections of Prince Andrew’s legal team as an effort to delay or avoid the prince having to face the allegations in court.

“I think that their continued intransigence here is something that ultimately goes to their credibility; I think ultimately makes clear that they don’t have any confidence in their defense on the merits,” said David Boies, chairman of the New York-based law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, which represents Giuffre.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is overseeing Giuffre’s case against the prince, has set a hearing for next month to determine if the prince has been legally and lawfully served with notice of the lawsuit.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A new report from the World Bank highlights the growing risks of climate change across the world.

The new Groundswell report finds up to 216 million people across six regions from Sub-Sahara Africa to East Asia to Latin America could be forced to migrate within their countries by 2050, with the poorest and most climate-vulnerable affected.

In North Africa up to 9 percent of the population could be forced to move, Sub-Sarahan Africa up to 4 percent, and Latin America 2.6 percent.

“The Groundswell report is a stark reminder of the human toll of climate change, particularly on the world’s poorest—those who are contributing the least to its causes. It also clearly lays out a path for countries to address some of the key factors that are causing climate-driven migration,” said Juergen Voegele, Vice President of Sustainable Development, World Bank.

The first report was released in 2018 and covered sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

That report projected climate change could force up to 143 million people in those regions to migrate.

The updated report now includes East Asia and the Pacific, North Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

According to the report, countries in Sub-Sahara Africa are the most at risk to see climate impacts with its fragile drylands, exposed coastlines, and dependence on rain-fed agriculture. North African countries will see the greatest percentage of migrants because of severe water shortages and rising sea levels.

The first migrant hotspots could start emerging by 2030 and will continue to grow by 2050. Water availability, sea-level rise, and crop productivity are some of the reasons people will have to migrate. 

The report does find that early action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions could slow climate-based migration up to 80 percent.

Similar to the first Groundswell report, the updated version provides a series of policy recommendations, including cutting greenhouse gases immediately; planning for internal climate migration in developmental planning; investing in better understanding the drivers behind internal climate migration.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — Duchess Kate made her first public appearance in more than two months on Wednesday.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, visited RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, to meet with those involved in the United Kingdom’s evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan.

In the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country, the Royal Air Force undertook the largest humanitarian aid operation in more than 70 years as the UK ended its 20-year military campaign in Afghanistan.

Operation PITTING saw the RAF fly out more than 15,000 people from Kabul between Aug. 14 to Aug. 28. More than 850 people arrived in the country via RAF Brize Norton.

During her visit, the duchess met with everyone from military personnel, including RAF aircrew and medics, to civilians and volunteers who helped evacuees in Operation PITTING through a repatriation center at the base. In addition to the RAF, the Royal Navy, the British Army and aid organizations assisted in the mission.

This is the first time Kate has been photographed in public since appearing at two major sporting events on July 11.

The duchess attended the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship with her husband, Prince William, and their oldest child, Prince George, and attended the 2021 Wimbledon Championship finals.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The missiles were launched from central North Korea and soared nearly 500 miles before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It’s the second time this week that the reclusive country has test-launched missiles.

“North Korea fired two unidentified ballistic missiles off its East Coast,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea told ABC News in a statement Wednesday. “South Korea and the U.S. intelligence are analyzing for details.”

The United States Indo-Pacific Command described the North Korean missile launch as “destabilizing” but said there was no “immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies.”

“We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” the command said in a statement Wednesday. “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program. The U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad.”

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the launch “simply outrageous,” condemning it as a “threat to the peace and security” of the region and a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic missile activities.

“We will work closely with the U.S., South Korea and other concerned nations to resolutely protect the lives of our citizens and their peaceful lives,” Suga told reporters Wednesday.

The missile launch came just two days after Pyongyang announced that it had fired a newly developed cruise missile twice over the weekend, marking the country’s first weapons test in six months. North Korean state media on Monday described the long-range missile as a “strategic weapon of great significance.”

Analysts in Seoul saw the consecutive ballistic tests as a provocation on the heels of a strongly-worded statement released last month by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She criticized South Korea for taking part in an annual joint military drill with the United States and warned that “a dear price will be paid.”

Nevertheless, Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded think tank in Seoul, said the recent missile tests posed “no real threat to the U.S. mainland.”

“North Korea is walking a tightrope of crossing the promise Kim Jong Un made with former [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump at the Singapore summit to refrain from firing long-range missiles or conducting nuclear experiments,” Koh told ABC News on Wednesday.

Cha Du Hyeogn, a visiting research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, an independent, non-profit think tank in Seoul, said the provocative launches were “not surprising.”

“We could see this as a low-intensity provocation in a short interval to call for the U.S. attention,” Cha told ABC News on Wednesday. “The communist state is trying to show the world that they are keen on developing a weapons system, but at the same time is being careful not to break the nuclear moratorium.”

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests since 2017, but the country’s leader said in 2020 that he will no longer be bound by such restrictions.

Pyongyang’s latest missile launch — the fifth this year — coincided with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Seoul, where he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and other senior officials to discuss the stalled nuclear talks with the North. When asked by reporters for comment on the ballistic test, Wang emphasized the importance of resuming dialogue and bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.

China is North Korea’s last major ally and biggest source of aid and trade.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SEOUL, South Korea) — K-pop group BTS was appointed as “special presidential envoy for future generations and culture” by South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday.

After the ceremony, Moon presented each member of the group with diplomatic passports and fountain pens.

Moon thanked BTS for its participation in the Permission to Dance challenge for the hearing impaired and congratulated the group on winning three awards at the MTV Music Awards.

As part of their first official duties as special envoys, BTS will be accompanying Moon in his visit to the United States from Sept. 19 to 23. Moon and BTS will attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York for the second meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Moment). The SDG Moment aims to reinforce the international community’s efforts to resolve global challenges, including poverty, hunger and climate issues.

The theme of the 76th General Assembly is “building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations.”

At the upcoming session, BTS will give a speech and a video clip of their performance will be played. BTS is also expected to deliver a message of consolation and hope to youth all over the world.

According to the Korean government, BTS’ attendance is expected to “serve as a meaningful opportunity to expand communication with future generations around the world and draw their sympathy on major international issues.”

BTS member RM said in a statement, “It is an honor to be able to do something with a title special presidential envoy for future generations and culture. We were always contemplating on ways to give back the love we received, and we are honored to have the opportunity given by the president to be special envoys.”

This is not the first time that Moon and BTS visited the United Nations together. In 2018, RM delivered a speech titled “Speak Yourself,” sharing a message about self-empowerment and love, while Moon discussed denuclearization efforts.

In 2020, BTS delivered a speech online for the 75th session of the UN General Assembly to encourage people amid the pandemic.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

MULINO FIRING RANGE, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin watched a huge display of firepower put on by his military Monday when he attended the finale of what is believed to be the largest Russian war games held in Europe since the Cold War.

The joint exercises with Belarus — called Zapad — take place every four years and their main phase began last week, involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, aircrafts and warships at sites across western Russia and in Belarus.

Zapad — which means “West” in Russian — is intended to test the country’s ability to fight a major war with NATO on its western border. The exercise has its origins in the Cold War, but in recent years as relations have worsened with the West, Putin has increased their scale, using them to illustrate restored Russian power.

Russia has claimed this year’s exercises involve 200,000 troops, but most military analysts believe that is a significant exaggeration, and the real figure is likely something closer to 50,000 to 100,000.

Putin on Monday attended what amounted to a heavily scripted, grand finale to the drills which took place at a firing range near Nizhny Novgorod, a city about 300 miles from Moscow.

From a grandstand overlooking the Mulino range, Putin watched the event through a pair of binoculars, while heavily armed snipers kept guard.

For 45 minutes, Russian troops unleashed a colossal barrage, involving howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, while warplanes and helicopters flew in waves overhead.

In the exercise, the Russian-led force was defending against a military belonging to a notional enemy, named “the westerners.” Besides Russian and Belarusian troops, small contingents from India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Armenia also participated.

The display watched by Putin appeared notably larger than that put on in 2017, at the last Zapad exercises — and those drills rattled nerves in eastern Europe, amid overheated speculation that they might be used to cover an imminent Russian invasion.

This year’s exercises attracted much less media attention, despite a more tense political atmosphere in Belarus following the mass protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko’s crushing of the peaceful protests, with Russia’s support, has placed him and Moscow in confrontation with European countries and the United States.

Since Lukashenko sought rescue from the Kremlin, there have been concerns that Putin will use that leverage to demand he fulfill a long-time Russian goal of integrating Belarus with Russia. Last week, as the exercises began, Putin and Lukashenko announced plans for significantly deeper economic integration, under the slogan “Two countries, one economy.”

With Lukashenko now dependent on Russian support to remain in power, both sides are using the drills to emphasize Moscow’s strong backing of the Belarusian leader.

“It is in Minsk’s interest to invite a much larger Russian footprint as a show of support for the regime,” Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses, wrote in an article for the website War on the Rocks last week.

“Judging from early deployments and training range selection, a more sizable Russian contingent will be in Belarus and Russian troops will be much closer to the borders with Poland than they were during previous Zapad exercises,” said Kofman.

The exercise’s imagined scenario simulated Russia helping Belarus to defend against an attack by three fictional states, “Nyaris,” “Pomoria” and the “Polar Republic” — thinly disguised versions of Lithuania, Poland and a Scandinavian country.

Lukashenko has claimed the protests against him are part of a planned invasion of Belarus by NATO countries, repeatedly making wild claims last year that western forces were massed on the border.

This year’s Zapad drills appeared partly to incorporate that scenario, including scripts where western-backed “terrorists” provoked instability, as a pretext for invasion.

Belarus’ neighbors Poland and Lithuania have expressed unease about the exercises again this year. Both countries are already struggling with a migration crisis engineered by Lukashenko in relation to their support for pro-democracy opposition. In recent months, European officials have accused Lukashenko of flying in thousands of migrants, mostly from Iraq, and pushing them across the border.

The exercises, though important for training, are also in many ways also a campaign tool for Putin. Stephen Ganyard, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and ABC News contributor said the shows of force are “mostly for domestic consumption.”

The dramatic show on Monday came just four days before Russia’s parliamentary elections.

Military experts have cautioned against accepting Russia’s claims about the size of the exercises, which they warn are partly intended to give an exaggerated impression of Russian military power.

“Russian military leaders likely hope Western media will report exaggerated figures, which help validate the scale and success of the exercise,” Kofman wrote.

NATO has also accused Russia of failing to formally declare the real number of troops involved. A 1990 agreement, the Vienna Document, obliges Russia to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for exercises involving more than 13,000 troops. But despite its public statements that 200,000 are taking part, Russia has circumvented the rule by claiming fewer than 13,000 troops are participating in each individual drill.

Russia has insisted the exercises are entirely defensive and at firing ranges last week Russian commanders were careful to repeat the drills were not intended to be threatening.

“We didn’t want to worry anyone,” said Col. Alexander Zavasky, the commander of an airborne unit drilling in Kaliningrad, told ABC News on Saturday. “It’s a pre-planned exercise, and so, don’t worry.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SEOUL, South Korea) — Fourteen content providers in China including Tencent and Weibo are promising a “healthy” cyberspace environment as Chinese authorities expand control over the entertainment industry.

The China Association of Performing Arts, an organization affiliated with the Chinese government, summoned representatives from content providers last Friday to discuss ways to promote contents with positive values in order to “clear” the cyberspace.

“The platforms would strengthen their management of accounts and restrict those that spread baseless star gossip or stir up conflicts between fan groups,” the association said on its WeChat statement Saturday, just a week after China’s major microblogging platform, Sina Weibo, restricted the use of 21 fan club accounts.

Weibo’s crackdown on fan accounts took place shortly after an extravagant birthday celebration event for a K-pop star went viral on Twitter on Sept. 5. Fans following the Weibo account “JiMIN JMC,” a fan community for BTS member Jimin, raised money to plaster an airplane with his photo. Weibo blocked the fan page from writing new posts for 60 days, explaining that the procedure for collecting money was not legitimate.

“Irrational star-chasing behavior, when found, should be dealt with seriously,” Weibo said on its official website, referring to the fundraising activities of fandoms. “The company promptly banned 21 accounts for 30 days, and erased related inappropriate posts.”

The statement also said that stricter oversight of the fan groups would “purify” the online atmosphere and fulfill the platform’s responsibilities to society.

“Since China is a one-party state under a strict communist ideology, other social media companies will follow suit without any resistance once the authorities take control of one large company,” Kim Hern-sik, a commentator who studies and analyzes K-pop, told ABC News. “[For] Weibo, being the most influential social media in China, there will be setbacks in selling K-pop goods and keeping up online fan communities within the country.”

The Chinese government has been clear that it intends to have pop culture under control this year. Last month, the Cyberspace Administration of China posted a guideline to take care of “disorderly fandom management.” The guidelines include restricting minors from spending money on fan club activities and giving entertainment agencies the responsibility of managing fan clubs. There is strong solidarity among fan-made communities on Weibo and Twitter that raise funds for birthday events and gifts for celebrities, but the Chinese government depicted the particular fan culture as “chaotic.”

“Do not induce fans to consume. One should not organize contests to encourage or stimulate consumption,” the Cyberspace Administration of China clearly states in its guidelines published on Aug. 27. China’s National Radio and Television Administration went on to ban broadcasters and internet platforms from organizing “marketing activities to stimulate fan consumption” in a notice on Sept. 2.

Following the announcements, QQ Music and Tencent’s music streaming service in China decided to restrict customers from purchasing more than one copy of an album online.

Album sales are considered an index of popularity for pop stars. According to the South Korean music chart Hanteo, China had the third largest share of K-pop album sales verified on the Hanteo website in the first half of 2021 among 96 countries, following the U.S. and Malaysia.

The largest Twitter fan community of BLACK PINK member Lisa informed followers it would not be able to order as many copies of Lisa’s new album as planned.

“As we are writing this, we are sorry to inform you that we may not be able to order as many copies as we had expected. We have run into unexpected obstacles with tightened restrictions on fan clubs,” the account said in a tweet Aug. 31.

Last Thursday, China’s National Radio and Television Administration announced that Chinese media should stop effeminate male celebrities as well as celebrities who are not politically vocal from appearing on television.

“Tackling down people’s fan community participation cannot be finished at one stroke, but it seems the Chinese authorities will continue expanding its influence step by step,” Kweon Sang Hee, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, told ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — North Korean officials announced they test-fired long-range missiles this weekend.

The “long-range cruise missiles” were launched on Saturday and Sunday and allegedly hit a target 1,500 kilometers away, officials said on North Korea’s state-run media.

The missiles flew for over two hours, according to the report.

The officials claimed the test was successful, and said the missile is “a strategic weapon of great significance,” to North Korea’s defense plans.

Although the report said several top North Korean leaders and scientists were in attendance for the launches, there was no mention of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un being present.

South Korean officials have not yet commented on the test launch.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.