WASHINGTON, April 29 — Britain’s King Charles III urged the United States on Tuesday to stand firm with its Western allies, as strains over Iran and Ukraine risk undermining transatlantic ties facing their most serious test in years.

In a rare address to Congress, the monarch skirted around tensions between President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, insisting the partnership between the two countries was “born out of dispute, but no less strong for it.”

The speech was warmly received, even as he ranged over subjects from climate change and the need for restraints on presidential power to the importance of Nato and the defence of Ukraine – sensitive issues for those on the Republican side of the aisle.

“The challenges we face are too great for any one nation to bear alone,” Charles said, warning that global challenges require closer cooperation between the United States and its traditional partners.

Addressing lawmakers during celebrations marking 250 years since American independence, Charles stressed that “unyielding resolve” was needed to secure a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia since 2022.

Trump earlier hailed Britain as America’s closest ally as he welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House on a four-day state visit.

Speaking after a pomp-filled welcome on the South Lawn featuring a 21-gun salute, Trump struck a markedly warmer tone than in recent criticism of Starmer.

US President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III speak on the Blue Room balcony during an arrival ceremony at the White House in Washington on April 28, 2026. — AFP pic

‘No closer friends’

“In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British,” Trump said, hailing the “special relationship” and the two countries’ military partnership.

Cannons rang out while a military band played the British and US national anthems, before Charles shook hands with top Trump administration officials and inspected troops on the lawn with the president.

Afterward, four US jets roared over the White House in a noisy flypast as Trump, Charles, Camilla and First Lady Melania Trump watched.

The visit comes at a delicate moment, with Trump criticising Britain over its stance on Iran and other policies.

Despite the tensions, the US president struck a jovial tone, joking about his Scottish-born mother having “a crush on Charles” ahead talks in the Oval Office.

“He’s a fantastic person. They’re incredible people and it’s a real honour,” Trump told reporters after the meeting, which took place behind closed doors.

US Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson applaud after Britain’s King Charles III arrives to address a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington on April 28, 2026. — AFP pic

‘Checks and balances’

The king’s address to Congress – the first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 – was the centrepiece of the visit.

Charles pointed to shared democratic traditions, describing Congress as a “citadel of democracy” and stressing the common legal roots of the two nations.

He noted that Magna Carta had been cited in more than 160 US Supreme Court cases, highlighting – to rapt applause from the opposition Democrats – the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.

The monarch also emphasised deep defence and economic ties, saying cooperation in security, technology and trade remains central to the alliance.

“Our defence, intelligence and security ties are hardwired together,” he said.

Security has been tight during the visit following an alleged assassination attempt against Trump at a weekend Washington media gala.

“Such acts of violence will never succeed,” Charles said.

The royal couple will attend a state dinner later on Tuesday, capping a visit that has mixed ceremony with sensitive diplomacy. — AFP

FUKUOKA, April 26 — A symbolic flame kept alive since the aftermath of the 1945 US atomic bombing of Hiroshima will be installed at a memorial in Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, at a ceremony next month, a family member of an iconic atomic-bomb victim recently revealed, Kyodo News reported. 

The plan to split the “flame of peace” and bring it to a site related to the 1941 Pearl Harbour attack was proposed by the kin of Sadako Sasaki in a bid to foster lasting peace between Japan and the United States. Sasaki died at age 12 of radiation-induced leukaemia a decade after the atomic bombing of the western Japan city.

The flame will be transported in a special container on a Japan Airlines Co. aircraft, marking the first time in history that a member of the public has transported a flame in this way. The only other time the airline has transported a flame was for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The ceremony is scheduled to be held on May 24, with participants including descendants of former US President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Japan, and wartime Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.

The “flame of peace,” which has been kept alive in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, is said to have been taken by Tatsuo Yamamoto from the smouldering ruins of Hiroshima.

Yamamoto, who died in 2004 at the age of 88, had kept the flame burning in his home before it was moved to a peace tower in Yame in 1968.

Around five years ago, Sasaki’s nephew, Yuji Sasaki, learned about the “flame of peace” and put in motion the plan to take it to Pearl Harbour.

“This will be a significant opportunity to resolve issues between Japan and the United States,” said Masahiro Sasaki, the older brother of Sadako and himself an atomic bomb survivor.

The story of Sadako, who folded around 1,000 paper cranes in the hope of recovering from her illness — as a Japanese legend has it that a wish will be granted by folding that many cranes — inspired numerous movements and projects about peace. — Bernama-Kyodo

Every time the slightest possibility of a civilized relationship between the United States and Cuba emerges, those in Miami who make their living from the business of war go to extraordinary lengths—and spend whatever it takes—to thwart such paths to peace