from the throne. denmark s queen margrethe the second made the surprise announcement in her new year address. the 83 year old will formally step down onjanuary 14 that s 52 years to the day since she came to power in 1972. her son, crown prince frederik, will take her place as king of denmark and head of state in the country. for more on the queen s reign and what s next, the bbc s naomi choy smith sent this report. a surprise announcement, live on national television, during queen margrethe s traditional new year s address. translation: on the 14th of january 2024, 52 years after succeeding my beloved father, i will step down as the queen of denmark. the 83 year old danish queen said time had taken its toll on her health and she made the decision to abdicate after undergoing back surgery in february. translation: the surgery naturally gave rise - to thinking about the future, whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation. i have decided tha
father, i will step down as the queen of denmark. the 83 year old danish queen said time had taken its toll on her health and she made the decision to abdicate after undergoing back surgery in february. translation: the surgery l naturally gave rise to thinking about the future, whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation. i have decided that now is the right time. queen margrethe plans to hand the throne to crown prince frederik, the eldest of her two sons. for many danes, queen margrethe is the only monarch they have ever known. she s seen here visiting windsor castle in 1974, two years after she succeeded herfather, king frederik. after the death of queen elizabeth ii, queen margrethe became the longest serving monarch in europe. denmark s prime minister thanked queen margrethe for her service, saying it was difficult to understand that the time had come for a change of throne. a feeling echoed across denmark as the nation prepares to welco
with hamas fighters continuing to resist the idf s advances. translation: the war is at its height. - we are fighting on all fronts. we have huge success, but we also have painful cases. central gaza is the latest focus of israel s military operation, with heavy bombardment on the densely populated al nuseirat refugee camp. further south, in neighbouring deir al balah, palestinian rescue workers stand around the body of their colleague. he was killed in a strike near the al aqsa hospital, where many of the wounded are being treated. this is one of what israel says are safe areas, where palestinians were told to go to escape the fighting in the centre. but as the military operation expands, safe areas for gazans keep shrinking. the southernmost city of rafah has now become the last stop for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing the heavy bombardment in khan younis, many using makeshift shelters near the border with egypt. there is nowhere else to go from here. tran
said time had taken its toll on her health and she made the decision to abdicate after undergoing back surgery in february. translation: the surgery naturally gave rise - to thinking about the future, whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation. i have decided that now is the right time. queen margrethe plans to hand the throne to crown prince frederik, the eldest of her two sons. for many danes, queen margrethe is the only monarch they have ever known. she s seen here visiting windsor castle in 1974, two years after she succeeded herfather, king frederik. after the death of queen elizabeth ii, queen margrethe became the longest serving monarch in europe. denmark s prime minister thanked queen margrethe for her service, saying it was difficult to understand that the time had come for a change of throne. a feeling echoed across denmark as the nation prepares to welcome the next royal generation. naomi choy smith, bbc news. the queen caused a st
administration expected come out of these meetings? well, two key issues at the forefront, that being the conflict that s unfolding in gaza, but also the release of hostages. as you mentioned there, it s a critical time, as the u.s. looks for israel to move away from its high intensity war, as that death toll grows in gaza. so, rhonda armor will be meeting with secretary of state, antony blinken, and national security adviser, jake sullivan, this afternoon. he is a close confidant of israel s benjamin netanyahu, and he s also a member of the war cabinet and previously israel ambassador to the united states. israel has assured the united states previously that it plans to move towards a lower intensity war, more precise strategy that targets hamas leadership. but there hasn t been a timeline as to when that will happen. u.s. officials have previously said that they would expect those localized operations to happen in january. but again, publicly, we haven t really received a