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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Attends Chelsea Flower Show

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a tour of the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London on May 23, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a tour of the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London on May 23, 2022. (AFP)
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth Attends Chelsea Flower Show

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a tour of the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London on May 23, 2022. (AFP)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a tour of the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London on May 23, 2022. (AFP)

Britain's Queen Elizabeth attended the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, the latest of several appearances that have helped to ease public concerns about her health ahead of a national celebration of her seven decades on the throne.

The 96-year-old monarch was driven around the Royal Horticultural Society's annual festival of garden design in West London in a buggy, saving her from having to walk around the show's attractions.

Early next month Britain will honor the queen's Platinum Jubilee with four days of pageantry and celebration. Buckingham Palace has previously said she intends to attend a number of different events.

Last week she made a surprise appearance at the opening ceremony for a new rail line in London and the week before attended a horse show in the grounds of her Windsor Castle.

Earlier in May she missed her annual address to parliament, with the palace citing episodic mobility issues. Until recently, she had not been seen often in public following a night in hospital last October for an unspecified illness.

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Drought Has Dried Major Amazon River Tributary to Lowest Level in over 122 Years

A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
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Drought Has Dried Major Amazon River Tributary to Lowest Level in over 122 Years

A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)
A part of the Negro River is dry at the port in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, amid severe drought. (AP)

One of the Amazon River's main tributaries has dropped to its lowest level ever recorded, Brazil's geological service said Friday, reflecting a severe drought that has devastated the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the country.

The level of the Negro River at the port of Manaus was at 12.66 meters on Friday, as compared with a normal level of about 21 meters. It is the lowest since measurements started 122 years ago.

The previous record low level was recorded last year, but toward the end of October.

The Negro River's water level might drop even more in coming weeks based on forecasts for low rainfall in upstream regions, according to the geological service's predictions.

Andre Martinelli, the agency's hydrology manager in Manaus, was quoted as saying the river was expected to continue receding until the end of the month.

Water levels in Brazil's Amazon always rise and fall with its rainy and dry seasons, but the dry portion of this year has been much worse than usual.

All of the major rivers in the Amazon basin are at critical levels, including the Madeira River, the Amazon River's longest tributary.

The Negro River drains about 10% of the Amazon basin and is the world's sixth-largest by water volume. Manaus, the biggest city in the rainforest, is where the Negro joins the Amazon River.

For locals, the drought has made basic daily activities impossible. Gracita Barbosa, 28, works as a cashier on a floating shop on the Negro River.

She's out of work because boats that once stopped there can no longer navigate the river due to the low water levels.

Barbosa can no longer bathe in the river and now has to travel longer distances to collect drinking water.