🌏 King Charles And Queen Camilla Officially Crowned, Japan Finally Approved the Abortion Pill and More
All the world news you need to know this week.
Hello and welcome to the Almost newsletter, a weekly email to help you stay updated and make sense of important stories happening around the world including:
- 🌏 This Week’s Top Stories
- đź‘© Women To Know
- 🙌 Good News For Your Week
King Charles and Queen Camilla have been officially crowned in a deeply grand and religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.
The two-hour coronation on Saturday May 6 was the UK’s first in 70 years.
Charles assumed the throne in September 2022 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96.
Prince Harry attended the ceremony, but not his wife Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex was seated two rows back from his brother, Prince William, and promptly flew back to the US after the ceremony.
The event was attended by 90 heads of states, according to the UK’s Foreign Office. They included French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the leaders of Commonwealth countries.
Other notable guests included US First Lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter and the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
Celebrity guests included actress Emma Thompson and American singer Katy Perry.
Following the coronation service, the King and Queen appeared from the Buckingham Palace balcony alongside members of the royal family and waved to the crowds.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in London to celebrate the once-in-a-generation event.
However, dozens of anti-monarchy protesters who had gathered in a “Not My King” demonstration were arrested by police.
Reuters reported that police had said that “their duty to prevent disruption outweighed the right to protest,” which has drawn criticism from rights groups.
Also Happening Around The World
🇬🇧 A cloaked figure was spotted at King Charles’ coronation and people think it’s the grim reaper.
🇷🇼 Heavy rain in Rwanda has caused landslides and floods that have claimed the lives of more than 130 people.
🇮🇹 Italy's government led by far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni has started restricting the parental rights of same-sex couples.
🇧🇾 Belarus has sentenced the prominent opposition journalist it arrested through “hijacking” his flight to eight years in prison.
Japan has finally approved the abortion pill after women's rights activists pushed for it.
Surgical abortions up to 22 weeks of a pregnancy are legal in Japan but have always required partner consent, unless certain circumstances were met, such as unidentifiable partner, death of partner, rape or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Despite meeting requirements, local media have reported doctors denying the procedure to women.
If women underwent abortion procedures without a partner’s consent or faked their signature, they could face up to one year in prison.
Now, the government has approved a pill that can help terminate pregnancies up to nine weeks.
Women’s rights activists are now pushing for better access to the morning after pill, which cannot be bought in Japan without a doctor’s approval.
Around 145,000 abortions were carried out in Japan in 2020.
More Women You Should Know About
🇿🇦 A group of grannies in South Africa have remained active by playing soccer and are now hosting their own World Cup.
In more coronation news, Prince Louis stole the show at the ceremony by doing what any child – and to be fair any common folk – would do at a drawn-out ceremony: yawned.
The youngest child of Prince William and Kate was spotted yawning repeatedly during the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Saturday May 6.
The five-year-old was no match for the nearly two-hour-long event, and he ended up having to yawn a few times here and there.
Louis was allowed to leave the service for a bit and retire, according to ITV news.
After the ceremony, the royal family stepped outside on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and did a traditional royal wave.
While the rest of his family stood regally on the balcony, Prince Louis took it upon him to entertain the crowd a bit more.
Video of the royal wave showed Louis waving enthusiastically with both hands to the crowd below in a moment that won many hearts.
More Good News For Your Week
🇺🇸 From Blackpink singer Jennie Kim's stunning Met Gala debut to Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huay Quan, here are some of the best looks from Asian stars at the 2023 Met Gala.
Thanks so much for opening this email. If you think a friend would like this, you can forward it to them! You can also follow Almost on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. We also have a Chinese version.
Let us know your thoughts about this week’s news in the comments or by replying directly to this email ✨