Heroes team up to help AIDS orphans

• Three CNN Heroes are working together to help AIDS orphans in Malawi
• The children attend a school run by 2008 CNN Hero Marie Da Silva
• Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, a 2010 CNN Hero, is helping feed the students
• Fellow 2010 Hero Evans Wadongo is providing lanterns so they can study at night

(CNN) -- In the movies, it's a familiar storyline: superheroes joining forces to tackle a world crisis.

But CNN Heroes can do it, too. Marie Da Silva, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow and Evans Wadongo are working together to help AIDS orphans in the African nation of Malawi.

In 2002, Da Silva started the Jacaranda School in Malawi, where half a million children have been orphaned by AIDS. For her efforts, she was honored as a top 10 CNN Hero in 2008.

Today, there are 400 children in the school, and they're also benefiting from the help of two top 10 Heroes from 2010: Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, whose organization, Mary's Meals, feeds more than 600,000 schoolchildren around the globe; and Evans Wadongo, who has brought more than 23,000 free solar lanterns to rural African communities through his nonprofit, Sustainable Development For All.

CNN recently spoke with Da Silva about the team-up and how it's helping the children.

CNN: How did you connect with Magnus?

Marie Da Silva: I went to the CNN Heroes tribute show in 2010, and I saw Magnus because he was one of the top 10 CNN Heroes. In his speech, he mentioned ... how he was feeding over 300,000 children in Malawi. And it touched me. So, after he got his award, I had to go and see him and say thank you.

But there was something else that was happening at our school at that same time. For all the years that I had the school, I was buying the porridge for the children, costing me something like $500 a month. Then, for a time, we were given porridge by (another organization) ... but we had had a drought in Malawi, so I was panicking.

I went up to Magnus and ... I told him what was going on at the school. I felt a little embarrassed, but I just asked him to consider us. Now, he's feeding all 400 of our students a day.

Some of these children do go without food at home, and most of them come without breakfast to school. This porridge has all the nutrients needed and is made of soya, too -- one of the healthiest meals our orphans can have each day. We have many students who are HIV-positive, so Mary's Meals is saving lives by keeping our children healthy.

CNN: How has Magnus' support enabled you to do more for your students?

Da Silva: The high school students who stayed in school through the afternoon ... they were weak, most sleeping in class. (Mary's Meals) agreed to provide an additional meal of porridge for (them) at noon. This has resulted in a lot more attendance at the school and students studying with energy.

One of our college graduates is now working for Mary's Meals as a field monitor. We are so proud. ... This is what we want: to see them graduate and get quality jobs.

Mary's Meals built a new stove for us that uses less firewood and cooks our porridge even faster. ... Now, the most firewood we will use is about seven pieces, down from 40 pieces. So we've actually saved our costs. And the most important thing is, we're saving the environment.

Magnus, he's really a saint to me. His support means a lot to us. Every day, the children will always have something to eat, so we are thankful.

Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2012 CNN Heroes

CNN: How did you come to work with Evans Wadongo?

Da Silva: I first heard about Evans through CNN Heroes. I met him through a friend of mine, Lane Hill, who thought Evans should come to teach our kids to build the (solar lanterns).

Then Robert Burke, a math teacher at the Shanghai American School in China -- one of our biggest supporters -- was looking for another project for his students to become involved in. ... Since seeing my story on TV, they've visited us and donated money to build our first toilets with running water, a clinic and a physics and science lab. ... So, (he) raised money to bring this project to life.

Today, I'm happy to tell you that we have over 200 lamps made by the kids themselves with the help of Evans and his team, and we distributed the lamps to the kids who are taking their examinations.

For the family, (this) cuts the costs. And for the children, it's helping them to study. And during this examination time ... I'm sure we're going to see better results, so we're very thankful to Evans.

CNN: How did your students respond to him?

Da Silva: Evans brought a lot more than just those lamps to our students. ... He's a young African guy, and they're young African students, so ... he's motivated our kids to be inventors. They've come up with their own little models that work just like Evans' lamps. ... He really gave them confidence that they, too, can make something that can help people and change people's lives.

This summer, the kids will be making their own designs and (giving) a lamp and a book out in the villages and to schools. This will be our first outreach program ... teaching our kids to give back.

CNN: Are you surprised that two of your fellow honorees have been able to help you?

Da Silva: CNN Heroes coming together to work together is something that I don't see as that unusual. All of us (are) doing something that is helping others, so when we hear each other's stories, we just want to see if we can help.

It's a family, you know? You want to help your family. I love it, and it makes a huge difference.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_world/~3/AKbOKdYpjpU/index.html

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Queen's funding shows small rise

2 July 2012 Last updated at 06:12 ET

The cost to the taxpayer of supporting the British monarchy has risen by �200,000 in the last financial year, Buckingham Palace accounts show.

The Queen's official expenditure increased from �32.1m in 2010/11 to �32.3m in 2011/12.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18673692#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Arms trade treaty negotiations begin, Syria casts shadow

By Louis Charbonneau | Reuters�?�17 mins ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Delegates from around the world gather in New York on Monday for the start of month-long U.N.-hosted negotiations to hammer out the first-ever binding treaty to regulate the global weapons market, valued at more than $60 billion a year.

Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies as a result of armed violence around the world and that a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.

Most U.N. member states favor a strong treaty.

If they get their way, all signatories would be charged with enforcing compliance to any treaty by companies that produce arms and with taking steps to prevent rogue dealers from operating within their borders.

They say conflicts in Syria and elsewhere cast a shadow over the talks, reminding delegates of the urgency of the situation.

"In Syria, Sudan and the Great Lakes of Africa, the world is now once again bearing witness to the horrific human cost of the reckless and overly secret arms trade," said Brian Wood, international arms control and human rights manager at Amnesty International.

"Why should millions more people be killed and lives devastated before leaders wake up and take decisive action to properly control international arms transfers?" he said.

There is no guarantee the July 2-27 negotiations will produce a treaty, let alone a good one. In February, preparatory talks on the ground rules for this month's talks nearly collapsed due to procedural wrangling and other disagreements.

In the end, the United States and other countries succeeded in ensuring the treaty must be approved unanimously, so any one country can effectively veto a deal.

But the treaty may not be doomed if that happens. Wood said nations that support a strong pact could bring a treaty to the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly and adopt it with a two-thirds majority vote if there is no consensus in July.

There are deep divisions on key issues to be tackled in the treaty negotiations, such as whether human rights should be a mandatory criterion for determining whether governments should permit weapons exports to specific countries.

Arms control advocates say a strong treaty is long overdue.

"It is an absurd and deadly reality that there are currently global rules governing the trade of fruit and dinosaur bones, but not ones for the trade of guns and tanks," said Jeff Abramson, director of Control Arms.

EYES ON SYRIA

Abramson, Amnesty's Wood and Anna Macdonald of Oxfam spoke with reporters on Friday about the negotiations.

Much of the discussion revolved around Russia's arms supplies to Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's 16-month assault on an increasingly militarized opposition has killed over 10,000 people. Russia is Assad's top arms supplier.

Wood said Russia is not the only culprit in Syria, one of many conflicts fed by unregulated arms deliveries. Western nations have also helped Assad. There are tanks on Syrian streets, Wood said, that come from Slovakia, upgraded by Italy.

Oxfam's Macdonald said: "From Congo to Libya, from Syria to Mali, all have suffered from the unregulated trade in weapons and ammunition allowing those conflicts to cause immeasurable suffering and go on far too long. In the next few weeks, diplomats will either change the world - or fail the world."

One senior Western diplomat said the Syrian conflict has led to a "polarization" within the arms trade talks, with Russia becoming increasingly defensive about arms supplies to its ally Damascus that it says have nothing to do with the conflict.

The campaigners outlined what they want to see in the treaty. Governments should be required to regulate the sale and transfer of all weapons, arms, munitions and equipment used in military and domestic security activities, ranging from armored vehicles, missiles and aircraft to small arms and ammunition.

Governments should also be required to make risk assessments before authorizing arms sales, make public all authorizations and deliveries and track their use. Trading without permission or diverting arms should be made a crime, they said.

One of the reasons this month's negotiations are taking place is that the United States, the world's biggest arms trader accounting for over 40 percent of global conventional arms transfers, reversed U.S. policy on the issue after Barack Obama became president and decided in 2009 to support a treaty.

But U.S. officials say Washington insisted in February on having the ability to "veto a weak treaty" during this month's talks, if necessary. It also seeks to protect U.S. domestic rights to bear arms - a sensitive issue in the United States.

The other five top arms suppliers are Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

Wood, Macdonald and Abramson said some of the top arms trading countries have been joining other nations in an attempt to weaken the treaty. They said the United States, China, Syria and Egypt were pushing to exclude ammunition.

China, they added, wants to exempt small arms, while several Middle East states oppose making compliance with human rights norms a mandatory criterion for allowing arms deliveries.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/arms-trade-treaty-negotiations-begin-syria-casts-shadow-050557366.html

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Tension rises along Turkey-Syria border

Syrian?Turkish relations have long been strained, even though Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighboring states together.

This friction has been due to disputes including the self annexation of the Hatay Province to Turkey in 1939, water disputes resulting from the Southeastern Anatolia Project, and Syria?s support for the Kurdistan Worker's Party which have been recognised as a terrorist organisation by NATO, EU and many other countries. But relations have improved greatly since October 1998; when PKK leader Abdullah �calan was expelled by Syrian authorities. However, the 2011?2012 Syrian uprising has once again strained relations between the two countries, leading to the suspension of diplomatic contact.

Syria normally maintains an embassy in Ankara and two consulates?general in Istanbul and Gaziantep. Turkey has an embassy in Damascus and a consulate?general in Aleppo. Diplomatic relations has been severed due to the Syrian Uprising. Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Historic background

Hatay annexation

In 1938 Republic of Hatay became independent from the French mandate of Syria as the Republic of Hatay and following a referendum, 8 months later in 1939, it decided to join Turkey. This self-annexation was never recognized by Syria, which continues to show the Hatay Province of Turkey as part of Syria's territory on maps.

Water politics

Water disputes have been a major source of conflict, as Turkey has constructed several dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project to develop the region.

Support of Terrorism

Turkey has condemned Syria for supporting the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the USA, NATO and the EU and has claimed that Syria employed Alois Brunner to train Kurdish militants for attacks against Turkey.

The two countries came to the brink of war when Turkey threatened military action if Syria continued to shelter Abdullah �calan in Damascus, his long-time safe haven. Relations have improved since October 1998, when �calan was expelled by Damascus and Syria pledged to stop harbouring the PKK terorists and the 1999 signing of the Adana agreement, following his subsequent capture in Kenya, envisaged security cooperation between the two countries.

Current relations

Diplomatic thaw

In The New Turkey (Granta Books, 2005) BBC correspondent Chris Morris claims that Syria was ?for years a bitter foe? as ?Turkey?s secular democracy, its application for EU membership and its close relationship with the United States have long been regarded in Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus with intense suspicion. Islamists look at the secular state which buried the caliphate and think ?betrayal?; and Arab nationalists still haven?t forgotten that Turks are their former colonial rulers.? ?But there?s been a thaw, especially since the AKP came to power,? and ?the new Turkish model ? trying to mix greater democracy and Islam together ? is now the subject of curiosity and not a little envy.?

The Turkish Parliament?s refusal to cooperate militarily with the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was a turning point in Syrian-Turkish bilateral relations as Syria?s perceptions of Turkey as incapable of acting independently were altered.

In late 2004 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an flew to Damascus to sign a free trade agreement in the follow-up to former Turkish President Turgut �zal?s high-level trade negations with Syrian authorities, which included the first ever visit to Turkey by a Syrian President, in the 1990?s and Erdo?an?s own recently successful bid to initiate a Turkish EU accession which would allow Europe, ?to extend its reach to the borders Syria, Iraq and Iran.?

In 2008 Turkey was, as a sign of mutual trust in Damascus and Tel Aviv, invited to play the role of facilitator between Syria and Israel to solve their dispute over control over the Golan Heights, but these talks were abandoned after four rounds, following the deterioration in Turkey-Israel relations after Turkish Prime Minister Erdo?an criticised Israel?s conduct of the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict as a "crime against humanity."

The Syrian-Turkish relationship becomes now very strong and intimate as Syria and Turkey have cancelled entry visas and signed joint declaration of strategic council.

Military cooperation

On April 26, 2009 the two states announced an ?unprecedented? three-day military manoeuvre involving ground forces along their mutual border in what was described as ?a step farther in their ever expanding cooperation.? According to Turkish military sources, ?The aim of the exercise is to boost friendship, cooperation, and confidence between the two countries land forces, and to increase the ability of border troops to train and work together.? The exercise which commenced on April 27 involved teams from each country crossing the border to visit outposts.

Visiting Syrian Defense Minister Hassan Turkmani and Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi G�n�l also signed a letter of intent giving the green light for cooperation in the defence industry, on the sidelines of the 9th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF?09) that commenced in Istanbul the same day, as a sign of the level of political relations reached between the two states, although a Turkish defence industry source emphasised that, ?it does not mean that the two countries will immediately enter into cooperation in arms production.?

2009 Turkish Presidential visit to Syria

Turkish President G�l?s 15?17 May official visit to Syria was made at the invitation of Damascus in reciprocation of Syrian President Assad?s 2007 official visit to Turkey. A senior Turkish diplomat confirmed that, ?The main topic on the agenda and the goal of the visit is the maintenance of momentum that has built up in bilateral relations within the last decade.? The Turkish delegation included Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer �a?layan, Agriculture Minister and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertu?rul G�nay.

Shortly before the visit new Syrian Ambassador to Turkey Nidal Qablan confirmed that Syria was ready to restart the Turkish mediated peace negotiations with Israel and G�l supported the call, following his meeting with Assad, stating that, ?We have heard Syria say it is ready to resume the peace talks from the point where they stopped with the previous [Israeli] government. We in Turkey are also ready.? Assad confirmed, ?Turkey?s role is important because we have trust in Turkey.? Israeli President Shimon Peres dismissed these calls stating, ?The Syrians should be ready to talk. If President al-Assad wants peace, why is he shy? We suggested direct talks many times. He thinks direct talks are a prize for Israel. It?s not a prize. It?s normal.?

Syrian refugees in Turkey (2011-present)

The 2011 Syrian uprising which took place in many smaller cities throughout Syria began to impact Turkey when at least 3,000 Syrian refugees fled crackdowns by the Syrian army on towns such as Jisr ash-Shugur. In June, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan described to Anatolian Agency his feeling that "They [Syria] are not acting in a humane manner. This is savagery." Earlier in May, he advised the Syrian government to not initiate another Hama massacre. However, the Turkish government is currently refraining from describing the Syrians who have fled as "refugees" or "asylum-seekers", instead referring to them as guests, and Erdogan, while demanding for implementation of promised reforms by the Syrian government, is currently refraining from calling for Bashar al-Assad's departure.He also announced that "We are completely suspending all of these trade relations,all agreements between Turkey and Syria have been suspended."

On 9 August, 2011, BBC and numerous other news sites have reported that Turkey is sending its foreign minister, Ahmet Davuto?lu, to Syria to give the regime a "tough" message. Erdogan has said that he is becoming impatient with the "savagery" of Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian regime.

Ahmet Davuto?lu also announced that "We are completely suspending all of these trade relations, all agreements between Turkey and Syria have been suspended."

On 9 April 2012, the Syrian envoy to Turkey was summoned after Syrian forces fired across the Syria-Turkey border. At least two were killed in the incident and many others injured in the incident.

See also

• Foreign relations of Syria
• Foreign relations of Turkey
• Turks in Syria
• Turkish pilgrim bus attack

• External links

• Embassy of Turkey in Damascus
• Embassy of Syria in Ankara
• Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Syria
• Syria-Turkey Economical Relationship

• References

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Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/07/02/Tension_rises_along_TurkeySyria_border/

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Sources: Roberts switched views to uphold health care law

(CBS News) Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of President Obama's health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations.

Roberts then withstood a month-long, desperate campaign to bring him back to his original position, the sources said. Ironically, Justice Anthony Kennedy - believed by many conservatives to be the justice most likely to defect and vote for the law - led the effort to try to bring Roberts back to the fold.

"He was relentless," one source said of Kennedy's efforts. "He was very engaged in this."

But this time, Roberts held firm. And so the conservatives handed him their own message which, as one justice put it, essentially translated into, "You're on your own."

The conservatives refused to join any aspect of his opinion, including sections with which they agreed, such as his analysis imposing limits on Congress' power under the Commerce Clause, the sources said.

Instead, the four joined forces and crafted a highly unusual, unsigned joint dissent. They deliberately ignored Roberts' decision, the sources said, as if they were no longer even willing to engage with him in debate.

The inner-workings of the Supreme Court are almost impossible to penetrate. The Court's private conferences, when the justices discuss cases and cast their initial votes, include only the nine members - no law clerks or secretaries are permitted. The justices are notoriously close-lipped, and their law clerks must agree to keep matters completely confidential.

But in this closely-watched case, word of Roberts' unusual shift has spread widely within the Court, and is known among law clerks, chambers' aides and secretaries. It also has stirred the ire of the conservative justices, who believed Roberts was standing with them.

After the historic oral arguments in March, the two knowledgeable sources said, Roberts and the four conservatives were poised to strike down at least the individual mandate. There were other issues being argued - severability and the Medicaid extension - but the mandate was the ballgame.

It required individuals to buy insurance or pay a penalty. Congress had never before in the history of the nation ordered Americans to buy a product from a private company as part of its broad powers to regulate commerce. Opponents argued that the law exceeded Congress' power under the Constitution, and an Atlanta-based federal appeals court agreed.

The Atlanta-based federal appeals court said Congress didn't have that kind of expansive power, and it struck down the mandate as unconstitutional.

On this point - Congress' commerce power - Roberts agreed. In the Court's private conference immediately after the arguments, he was aligned with the four conservatives to strike down the mandate.

Roberts was less clear on whether that also meant the rest of the law must fall, the source said. The other four conservatives believed that the mandate could not be lopped off from the rest of the law and that, since one key part was unconstitutional, the entire law must be struck down.

Because Roberts was the most senior justice in the majority to strike down the mandate, he got to choose which justice would write the Court's historic decision. He kept it for himself.

Over the next six weeks, as Roberts began to craft the decision striking down the mandate, the external pressure began to grow. Roberts almost certainly was aware of it.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/bda934FSp7w/

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Masked 'goons' kill 17 in Kenya church attacks

Masked attackers killed at least 17 people on Sunday in gun and grenade attacks on churches in a Kenyan town used as a base for operations against al Qaeda-linked insurgents in Somalia.

At least 45 people were wounded in the simultaneous attacks on Garissa, in the north of the East African country which has suffered a series of blasts since sending troops into Somalia last October to crush Somalia's al Shabaab militants.

---

"We have 17 bodies at the mortuary so far," regional medical officer Abdikadir Sheikh told Reuters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police said they suspected the attacks could have been the work of al Shabaab sympathizers or bandits, but it was too early to say. Inside Somalia, al Shabaab declined comment.

"The goons were clad in balaclavas," regional deputy police chief Philip Ndolo told Reuters from Garissa.

He said a total of seven attackers hurled grenades inside the Catholic Church and the African Inland Church and then opened fire with guns. They struck the churches, which are two miles apart, at around 10.15 a.m. local time (03:15 a.m. ET).

Two policemen were among the dead.

They were the latest attacks on Christian worshippers in Kenya after two people were killed in grenade blasts in March and April.

But Sunday's coordinated attacks on churches resembled the tactics of Nigeria's Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds of people on the other side of the continent.

Other blasts in Kenya have hit nightclubs and bus stations in the capital Nairobi, the coastal city of Mombasa and areas near the Somalia border.

Kenya's border region has been tense since it sent troops into Somalia to pursue al-Shabab Islamic militants, the BBC reported.

Although a majority of Kenyans are Christian, Garissa is more heavily Muslim.

The town of around 150,000, a market centre for the trade in camels, donkeys, goats and cattle, is largely populated by ethnic Somalis.

"You can imagine for such a small town how the police and medical services have been stretched trying to deal with this," the police's Ndolo said.

Garissa is about 60 miles from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, where gunmen kidnapped four aid workers and killed a driver on Friday before fleeing towards the border with Somalia.

Last Sunday, three people were killed in a grenade attack at a night club in the port city of Mombasa, a day after the U.S. embassy in Kenya warned of an imminent attack on the city.�

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/01/12506909-masked-goons-kill-at-least-17-in-attacks-on-churches-in-kenya?lite

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The Absent Prince: A Shadow over the Queen's Jubilee

Grace Jones marched onstage with a red hula hoop. Annie Lennox pranced around in white angel wings. And Elton John tickled the ivories sporting a pink sequined jacket. But amid all the color of the Diamond Jubilee concert, held outside Buckingham Palace on Monday night, there was one glaring dark spot. Halfway through the concert Queen Elizabeth II entered the royal box wearing black.

Just hours before the concert began, an ambulance had rushed Prince Philip, her husband of more than 64 years, to a hospital to treat a suspected bladder infection. His sudden illness meant that he would miss out on the final two days of celebrations marking the Queen's 60th year on the throne. Her Majesty felt it: not even royal stoicism could camouflage her remarkably dour expression as the concert unfolded without him. At the climax of the evening, shortly before fireworks exploded overhead, Prince Charles gave voice to his mother's concern. "The only sad thing about this evening is that my father couldn't be here with us, because unfortunately he was taken unwell," he said before a crowd of 10,000 well-wishers. "But ladies and gentleman, if we shout loud enough, he might just hear us in hospital and get better."

The Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 91 on June 10, will remain under observation at London's King Edward VII Hospital for several days. Buckingham Palace described it as a "precautionary measure" in a statement released on Monday. Although his condition is not life-threatening, the incident brings to the fore fears ? more felt than spoken ? that Prince Philip is slipping away. On Tuesday afternoon, about 20 photographers and journalists stood watch outside the hospital where he is being treated, and six broadcasting vans with antennas sat ready to beam out updates on the Duke's condition. Two guards watched the door of the hospital. Several more stood on corners watching the media scrum.

(See TIME's coverage of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.)

Britain's tabloid press ? which has remained on its best behavior throughout the Diamond Jubilee ? isn't working overtime merely to get a scoop. The media's concern stems from very real developments with Prince Philip's health that remain on the public's mind. In the fall of 2010, Prince Philip relinquished his commitments with several charities and organizations like the Royal Agricultural Society and his chancellorship of Cambridge and Edinburgh universities. Speaking to the BBC for a documentary timed to his 90th birthday last June, he said rather bluntly that "it's better to get out before you reach the sell-by date." The presenter protested, but Prince Philip remained adamant about the personal limitations that come with age. "There is an ageism in this country, as everywhere, and quite rightly so, because I think you go downhill ? physically, mentally and everything," he said. "I reckon I've done my bit. I want to enjoy myself for a bit now. With less responsibility, less rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say ... On top of that, your memory's going, I can't remember names. Yes, I'm just sort of winding down."

Prince Philip's version of winding down, however, hasn't exactly involved leading a more secluded life where he sets his own schedule. Despite undergoing heart surgery just five months ago, he has traveled up and down the country with the Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour, attending fashion shows, sitting through lengthy speeches and standing upright for hours at a time as the Queen cut ribbons and unveiled plaques. Regardless of age, the perks and privileges of a royal life still come wrapped in self-denial and sacrifice ? a reality made all the more evident by the Thames River pageant on June 3. Throughout the four-hour spectacle ? during which 1,000 boats passed the royal barge at the leisurely pace of 4 knots ? Prince Philip and the Queen did not appear to sit down. Sharp winds blew into their faces, temperatures dipped into the mid-40s, and rain blighted much of the afternoon. Neither wore a coat, and Philip's ceremonial uniform appeared particularly heavy and uncomfortable given the series of medals that accompany the ceremonial regalia. It's unclear if either of them had an opportunity to use the restroom.

Commentators have already wondered aloud whether the Prince's bladder infection resulted partly from his duties onboard the royal barge. Muscles inside the bladder weaken with age, which makes it more difficult to empty the bladder fully. That boosts the chances of bacteria growing in the residual urine. Not using the restroom for an extended period of time gives that bacteria even more time to multiply inside the body.

Prince Philip's heart surgery last December could also have played a role in his sudden illness. Doctors inserted a coronary stent ? essentially a metal tube ? into his heart to release arterial blockage. As part of that procedure, doctors sometimes prescribe drugs to suppress the immune system afterward. The fear is that the body will attempt to reject the stent, which it reads as a foreign object, and that in turn could increase the likelihood of another blockage forming. Such medications make it more difficult to fight off infections.

But an explanation of the cause will come later. On Tuesday, the Queen had still more ceremonies to attend ? albeit without her beloved Prince. The Palace did its best to make her comfortable. As a car ferried her to a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday morning, her lady-in-waiting accompanied her in Prince Philip's place. Inside the cathedral, Prince Charles occupied the red velvet seat next to his mother ? a seat Prince Philip has occupied for so many years. It's no wonder, then, that during a ceremony meant to honor the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams took a moment to honor her husband. "She has made her public happy, and all the signs are that she is herself happy, fulfilled and at home at these encounters," he said. "The same, of course, can manifestly be said of Prince Philip, and our prayers and thoughts are very much with him this morning."

? With reporting by Anoosh Chakelian / London

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