King Charles Attends Church Prayers on Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's Death

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, for a Sunday church service, Sunday Sept. 8, 2024. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, for a Sunday church service, Sunday Sept. 8, 2024. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)
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King Charles Attends Church Prayers on Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's Death

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, for a Sunday church service, Sunday Sept. 8, 2024. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, for a Sunday church service, Sunday Sept. 8, 2024. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

King Charles III attended church near the royal Balmoral estate in Scotland for prayers and reflection in remembrance of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday, the second anniversary of her death.

Charles, 75, and his wife Camilla have been spending the summer in the Scottish Highlands, where the late monarch died at 96 years old on September 8, 2022.

Charles and Camilla were seen arriving for the Sunday morning service at the tiny granite church of Crathie Kirk, the royal family's place of worship when they stay in nearby Balmoral Castle. Charles' great-great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, laid the foundation stone for the church, and Elizabeth was a regular attendee, The AP reported.

Charles ascended the throne two years ago Sunday when his mother died in her Platinum Jubilee year after reigning for a record seven decades.

His second year as sovereign was marked by two significant health blows — both Charles and his daughter-in-law Kate, the Princess of Wales, announced they were diagnosed with unspecified types of cancer earlier this year.

The monarch has gradually returned to public duties, undertaking dozens of visits, meetings and events. On Saturday Charles, dressed in a tartan kilt, and Camilla were seen laughing and in good spirits as they visited the Braemar Gathering Highland Games, an annual event featuring bagpiping, Highland dancing and traditional games including tug-of-war.



Colombian Court Orders Escobar's Hippos to Be Hunted

Hippos descended from a small herd introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar are seen in the wild in Antioquia Department, Colombia, in April 2023. Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP/File
Hippos descended from a small herd introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar are seen in the wild in Antioquia Department, Colombia, in April 2023. Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP/File
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Colombian Court Orders Escobar's Hippos to Be Hunted

Hippos descended from a small herd introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar are seen in the wild in Antioquia Department, Colombia, in April 2023. Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP/File
Hippos descended from a small herd introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar are seen in the wild in Antioquia Department, Colombia, in April 2023. Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP/File

A Colombian court on Friday called for the hunting of hippos, introduced to the country in the 1980s by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca set a three-month deadline for the Ministry of Environment to issue "a regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species," which is affecting the area's "ecological balance."
In their homeland in Africa, the animals are responsible for more human deaths than almost any other animal, but in Colombia, the hippopotami have become loved members of the local community and a tourist attraction.
They've also been increasingly posing problems for the local community near Escobar's old ranch in Antioquia state -- one that experts worry may soon turn deadly.
After Escobar's death, hippos from his private zoo made their way into nature, in an area of abundant vegetation and where there are no predators.
There are now some 166 of the two-ton beasts wandering freely.
Attacks on fishermen have been reported on the Magdalena River, and experts argue manatee populations could be threatened -- though animal rights activists and tourism workers oppose hippopotamus hunting.
The court specified that measures to eliminate the hippos should include "controlled hunting and sterilization."
The environmental ministry had already announced last year plans to sterilize part of the population, while euthanizing others, as part of an effort to contain the growing number of hippos.
The sterilizations have proceeded slowly while no cases of euthanasia have been carried out.
Plans to move the animals to Mexico, India or the Philippines have also floundered.