Edward Kennedy’s body lay in state at his beloved hometown of Boston for the second day yesterday, as thousands of people kept pouring in to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to bid a final farewell to the legendary senator.
Within an hour of the line opening to the public on the first of two days of wake on Thursday, 12,000 people had come to pay their respects to the liberal “lion of the Senate,” a number that nearly doubled in the late-night hours, Kennedy’s office said.
Young, old, black, white and the handicapped made up the diverse throng, all of them waiting patiently. As night fell, Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, was among family members who stood by the flag-drapped coffin and shook the hands of the public.
PHOTO: EPA
“We just wanted to pay our respects and say thanks for all he has done,” said Trisha McLaughlin, 40, said as she pushed her 80-year-old mother forward in a wheelchair.
The body of Kennedy began its final journey on Thursday in the Cape Cod resort of Hyannis Port. The coffin departed the town in a hearse escorted by a convoy of police, black limousines and a bus carrying 85 Kennedy family members.
When the motorcade arrived in Boston, cheers and clapping from well wishers broke out. At City Hall, a huge US flag was unfurled and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino rang a bell 47 times, marking each of the years that the 77-year old Kennedy served in the Senate.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television. Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis. "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS