King Charles III's Commonwealth visit to Samoa will highlight climate change ... and dance

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III should be prepared to dance when he visits Samoa this week.

Freddie Tuilagi made sure of that when he visited St. James' Palace recently wearing nothing but a bark cloth wrap and a necklace historically worn by orator chiefs. Charles, in a blue suit and carefully knotted tie, grinned while gamely trying to follow along as Samoa’s honorary consul to the U.K. moved through the steps of a traditional dance.

“He loves it. He said he wants to learn the dance,” Tuilagi said afterward, showing off his moves once again.

Tuilagi, who moved to Britain to play professional rugby, said the 75-year-old king can expect more of the same when he arrives in the South Pacific island nation on Wednesday. Villagers throughout the country of 220,000 people have taken steps to decorate and show how much they appreciate Charles’ visit, he said.

Charles, the symbolic head of the Commonwealth, is traveling to Samoa for a meeting of top government officials from each of the 56 independent nations that make up the organization. At the top of the agenda is the fight against climate change, an issue Charles has championed for decades.

The king can count on Samoans to be receptive. Its islands are at the forefront of the climate emergency, facing increasing threats from rising sea levels, warming ocean temperatures and more intense storms.

The royal visit is attracting global media attention. Many Samoans hope that images of the king and Queen Camilla strolling on the islands’ breathtaking beaches will help attract European tourists and boost the economy.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase our culture, showcase our heritage and how ... proud (of) that we are as a country,’’ Tuilagi told The Associated Press. "To host the king and the leaders of the Pacific, you know, the Commonwealth coming to Samoa is something special for us.’’

Tuilagi said he hopes his demonstration of Samoan dance and song will help the king when he arrives. He particularly hoped that he would make an impression since he wore national dress, which includes leaving the shirt at home.

Think joy. That's Tuilagi's point.

“It’s not every day the king will see a chief from Samoa topless ... at the palace,’’ he said, chuckling.

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car drives on a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car turns off a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People gather together at a meeting place near a portrait of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of the royals. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

FILE - Britain's King Charles III, second from left, and Queen Camilla, third from left, smile as former Samoan rugby player Freddie Tuilagi dances during a reception to celebrate the Commonwealth Diaspora of the United Kingdom, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, at St. James's Palace, London, on Oct. 2, 2024. (Adrian Dennis, Pool Photo via AP, File)

DIBBINE, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force struck different parts of southern Lebanon on Friday as the military issued evacuation warnings for nine villages, including one that has been spared much of the destruction and was sheltering thousands of people displaced by the three-month war.

Six people were killed, Lebanon's state news agency reported. The warnings forced hundreds of families to flee the village of Anqoun and the area of Aarnaya, on the edge of the predominantly Christian village of Maghdoucheh, near the southern port city of Sidon.

The strikes came a day after the Hezbollah militant group rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government, and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

The war in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south since March 2, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

Nearly three hours after the evacuation warnings were issued by the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson, Israeli warplanes struck the villages, including Anqoun. About 2,500 people displaced by the fighting were sheltering in Anqoun, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported.

On Friday, U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops were seen at an entrance of the village of Dibbine, near the town of Marjayoun, after Israeli forces withdrew following intense clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

The ceasefire agreement calls for Lebanon’s armed forces to take control of security zones in Lebanon from which the militants would be banned.

It was the first time Israeli troops pulled out from an area in southern Lebanon since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began three months ago. At the entrance of the village, dozens of homes were seen destroyed as a result of the clashes and airstrikes. A bulldozer for the peacekeeping force was opening the main road leading to Dibbine.

Israeli troops have seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing further into the country’s south than at any time since the end of Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation. The latest declared ceasefire came about through U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government, which accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into war and had made efforts to disarm it before the latest hostilities.

On Thursday night, an airstrike in the southern city of Tyre killed three and wounded seven people, including three children and two women, the Health Ministry said.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began. The fighting has killed at least 29 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.

Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

People swim on a public beach as smoke, background, rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qlaileh village, seen from the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

An Israeli flag hangs on a destroyed building in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Thursday June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)