of the sights and sounds ringing in 202a. hello, i'm carl nasman, thanks forjoining us. the world's only reigning queen says she's stepping down from the thrown. denmark's queen margrethe ii the second made the surprise announcement in her new year address. the 83—year—old will formally step down onjanuary 1a — 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 ofjanuary 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 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 welcome the next royal generation. naomi choy smith, bbc news. the queen caused a stir last year when she downsized the danish royal family — stripping four of her grandchildren from their royal titles. she apologized, but did not reverse the decision — calling it "necessary future—proofing of the monarchy." her son, crown prince frederik, will take the throne alongside his wife. he's known for his environmentalism, and for being a daredevil — which has landed him in the hospital after sledding and scooter accidents. unlike british royal tradition, there will be no formal crowning ceremony for crown prince frederik. his accession will be announced from amalienborg castle in copenhagen. danish journalist betty kandindima has more on the future king. i would say basically he is very popular because he is very down—to—earth, usually you will see him at festivals, we have

here in denmark during the summertime he also has a royal run and a lot of people sign up because they want to run with the future king of denmark. so he is very down—to—earth and a very modern person. he has spoken for most of his kids went to public school instead of private school so people feel very connect it to him. there was no pause in the war between israel and hamas as the new year began. israeli airstrikes intensified on sunday — the hamas—run health ministry says they killed at least 48 people. hamas fired rockets into israel throughout the night, most of which were intercepted by the country's iron dome defence system. the barrage didn't deter these revellers in tel aviv — but many israelis were in a more sombre mood. some families of the 129 israeli hostages held by hamas in gaza marked the new year with a protest, demanding their government secure their immediate safe return. as 2024 begins, the israel

defence force says it expects the war in gaza to continue throughout the entirety of the new year, and it is adjusting its troop deployments accordingly. the idf says some reservists will be withdrawn from gaza to allow them to regroup, and to return to their normal jobs, shoring up the economy over what it expects to be a year—long conflict. more than 80% of gazans have been displaced since the war began, and food is running low. the outgoing israeli foreign minister says his country is prepared to allow aid shipments to gaza immediately, as part of a proposed sea corridor from cyprus. it would mark the first time israel has eased its naval blockade on gaza, since it imposed it when hamas took power in 2007. the un's relief agency warns gaza is at risk o famine without immediate aid. shaima khalil has the latest from jerusalem. street by street, the battles on the ground in gaza rage on. israel is concentrating

its ground offensive on the centre and the south of the strip. 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 nuseirat refugee camp. further south in neighbouring deiral—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. translation: | hope - that the war would end soon. i hope we can return to our homes, go back to school, return to everything that is familiar in the new year. the fallout from the war in gaza continues to be felt in the red sea with yet another houthi attack. the us central command said that navy helicopters destroyed three of four small boats used by the iranian—backed militants as they attempted to board a container ship. the houthis have released a statement confirming that ten militants were killed in the us�*s response to their attack on the vessel, saying the united states would bear the consequences and vowing to continue targeting what they described as israeli—linked ships. as this year draws to a close, there is no end in sight

for the war in gaza or the suffering of its people. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. as we heard, the us says it has destroyed three boats following an attack on a container ship in the southern red sea. the us says the raid, by iran—backed houthi rebels, got as close as 60 feet to the vessel. a fourth boat fled the area. it was the second assault within 2a hours on this ship, the hangzhou, operated by the danish shipping giant maersk. it's part of an growing pattern of attacks deterring some shipping companies from entering the area. these are the locations of many of the incidents in the red sea in the last six weeks. the houthi rebels have previously claimed their attacks are directed at vessels linked to israel. our north america correspondent, gary o'donoghue, has more from washington. i think they are under a lot of pressure to maintain what they call freedom of navigation in that red sea area through the suez canal

and beyond because it is such an important economic route for the whole world, around 10% world of trade flows through that area. they are also of course responding to these provocations because they believe iran is behind groups like the houthis and others who have been launching attacks against american bases in iraq and syria, which they have also been responding to. but this is a significant escalation and what we have here is us navy pilots coming effectively face—to—face with houthi fighters in the red sea, killing 10 of them and thinking three of their boats, and i think it will mean in future are certainly a lot of pressure from republicans to do more to combat the threat from the houthis including according to one republican, the house chair of the intelligence committee, potentially striking their capacities inside yemen itself. for more on the situation in the red sea and the us attack on houthi boats, we heard earlier from rear admiral chris parry,

a former royal navy warfare officer, strategic forecaster and writer. the sea is the physical equivalent of the world wide web, you get choke points with the geography constrains the maritime route, you get that in english channel and the straits of aden and you get quite a lot of aden and you get quite a lot of shipping going through, it is very high density and much of the oil and gas that the west users comes through that route. the only alternative is to go around the cave and it is quite significant that the houthis as the agents of iran are not constraining oil and gas going to china and india but they are constraining oil and gas that is coming to europe and the rest of the free world. with 2024 under way in ukraine and russia, the war has ticked into its third calendar

year, nearing another anniversary in february. leaders of both countries gave a new year's address with a message that indicates the war is still far from over. russian president vladimir putin called for united support of his military, without explicitly referring to the war in ukraine. translation: we have proven more than once that we know how to solve the most difficult tasks, and we will never retreat. because there is no forced that can divide us, make us forget the memory and faith of our fathers and stop our development. ukraine's president zelensky vowed to continue to fight back. translation: next year the enemy will feel the breath of domestic production. our weapons, our equipment, our artillery ourselves our drones our naval to the enemy and at least i our naval to the enemy and at leasti million drones all of

which we will generously use on land, and the sky and course at sea. their speeches come after a deadly weekend in ukraine and russia. russia's massive bombardment of ukraine on friday killed at least 45 people — one of the biggest missile bombardments of the war so far. and officials in the russian city of belgorod say 2a people have died in ukraine's retaliation on the city saturday. it was one of the deadliest attacks on russia since it invaded ukraine. our correspondentjames waterhouse takes a look at the latest exchange of strikes between ukraine and russia this week. it is not like for like with russia always being able to count the larger attacks on this week has been no exception and the most deadliest of terms. in a week where we saw its biggest ever aerial bombardment, we saw ukraine respond and rush to hit back,

it seems the northeastern city of kharkhiv over the last 48 hours has or the brunt, with several dozens of missiles landing the city, causing extensive damage to medical buildings, we are told, residential blocks including a hotel, popularamong residential blocks including a hotel, popular among foreign journalists. ourteam hotel, popular among foreign journalists. our team was there only a few days ago. so i think this is a deadly tit—for—tat aerial sense, this is a deadly tit—for—tat aerialsense, but this is a deadly tit—for—tat aerial sense, but it almost takes place in tandem with what goes on on the front line, when you have led amir putin as you say saying he will never retreat, i don't think anyone expected him to say otherwise but certainly there were fears russia had been stockpiling missiles as we approached the new year's celebrations but that moment has already arrived. for more on the respective attacks from russia and ukraine, the bbc spoke to military expert and former

us marines chief of staff in europe, colonel brendan kearney. the russians from the very beginning of this conflict, have made a real practice of waging a war of terror on the ukrainian civilians. and they have just consistently, i ukrainian civilians. and they havejust consistently, i mean the evidence is overwhelming, targeted hospitals, churches, schools you name it, everything except the tactical targets most militaries would actively go after. so there is nothing different and what the russians are doing. i think the ukrainians have made an emphasis very selectively targeting russian infrastructure, primarily airports, as close as into moscow and conducting some sabotage operations into as far east as siberia. so it is two different approaches to warfare but the russians are being very indiscriminate and ready it is a violation of the rules of war

across the board. the united nations secretary general has expressed his gratitude to mali's un peacekeeping mission, as it completes its withdrawal from the country after a decade. it began in 2013 after an armed rebellion. the withdrawal was demanded by the militaryjunta which is building close ties with moscow. security experts warn that the area could now become a focus of a struggle in the north as rebel groups and the arm seek to take areas the un has left further destablizing the country. the un says only a small team will remain in mali to oversee the transportation of assets and disposal of un—owned equipment. mali's military government had asked the 12,000 strong contingent to leave by december 31st. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the singer rick astley was featured this evening on a bbc new year's eve show. the appearance capped off

a great year for the �*80s icon as he enjoys a major comeback in the uk and around the globe. our entertainment correspondent colin paterson caught up with him as he rehearsed for sunday's big show and spoke with him about the song that made his career, never gonna give you up. yeah, it's funny, obviously that song never gonna give you “p that song never gonna give you up has been part of my dna now for 30 odd years and as mad as people may find the fact that i still enjoy singing it, i still do, because i kind of... it kind of solidifies in my own mind how lucky i've been. what were your _ mind how lucky i've been. what were your real— mind how lucky i've been. what were your real highlights - mind how lucky i've been. what were your real highlights for 2023, then?— were your real highlights for 2023,then? m , ., , , 2023, then? bisley glastonbury has to be a _ 2023, then? bisley glastonbury has to be a highlight _ 2023, then? bisley glastonbury has to be a highlight because i l has to be a highlight because i never thought i'd get to play that stage. i never thought i'd get to play custom ligament let alone the pyramid stage. —— i never thought i'd get to play glastonbury. the bbc one new year's eve special traditionally attracts one of the biggest tv audiences of the year. astley follows in the footsteps of robbie williams, alicia keys

and sam ryder who've also played the concert. you're live with bbc news. the community of international journalists has been remembering one of its own — the australian journalist and documentary film—maker john pilger, who's died at the age of 84. pilger was particularly well known for his work during the vietnam war and about cambodia under the khmer rouge. he worked for outlets including the daily mirror, the guardian and itv�*s investigative programme world in action. he was also a well—known critic of western foreign policy. tim dawson is the deputy general secretary of international federation ofjournalists. he told the bbc how he'd rememberjohn pilger. as an enormously committed and talented journalist who i think, you know, i think is a giant ofjournalism not only in this country, but around the world. he's someone whose tenacious pursuit of so many subjects really changed world affairs. and while there are many things — many of his opinions that i don't share, i think he's a shining example of committed, determined journalism who takes that

commitment and determination to entirely new audiences. he had many critics, he had many, many views, and it's unsurprising that he had critics. i said to one of your colleagues earlier he's quite possibly somebody i wouldn't have voted, for had he stood to be prime minister. but once i'd voted for somebody to be prime minister, would i want pilger to be holding them to account? would i want him to be holding their feet to the fire to make sure that they delivered on their promises? i absolutely would. and if you read his, you know, his columns, particularly, he was a very visual journalist, so he would very often start with some some detail that he'd observed that he felt exposed a deeper truth and would explore that before moving to a much broader picture and setting something in a context that he thought was important. a large part of his early reputation is based on his reporting from across indochina, the vietnam war and its sort of onward impact in countries like cambodia, so i think for many years, people would've seen him

as very much a champion of that part of the world. and he then did important work about his home country — injustices perpetrated on aboriginals, in particular. so, while he was somebody firmly rooted in london, he was very much a journalist of the world. remembering john pilger. let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world. a record number of migrants and asylum seekers arrived at the us border with mexico in the past month — that's according to internal us government data obtained by our media partner cbs news. immigration officials were on track to record 300,000 migrant crossings in december. 80% of them were detained. officials say a surge in migration from venezuela is a driving factor behind the figures. felix tshisekedi has been declared the winner of democratic republic of congo's presidential election. opposition parties have alleged widespread irregularities and fraud, but the government has refused calls for a fresh vote. the election was held on december 20th. it was marred by widespread logistical problems. the voting had to be extended to a second day in some parts of the vast country.

police in germany have arrested three people over an alleged plot to carry out a new year's eve attack at cologne cathedral. a police official says they'd been detained in raids on properties outside the city. reports say they were islamists planning to use a car in the attack. one suspect was arrested a week ago. the police have said the person was part of a larger network. the world is celebrating new year's as, hour by hour, fireworks explode in different cities around the globe. we're still a few hours away from midnight here in washington but for our colleagues over in london, big ben has already rang the uk into the new year. our correspondent greg mckenzie was in the middle of the celebrations as the fireworks display was under way earlier. this is it! this is live here

in london and the london eye! this is the ten minute spectacular. the biggest fireworks display in europe. more than 100,000 people are here along the river thames to watch this spectacular. we are expecting a speech from the king, a message will be played out, along with many other messages but this is the spectacular, the hundred thousand people got tickets for and ultimately, this will go on for about ten minutes. it is the biggest fireworks display in europe. 20,000 fireworks. as you can see them, incredible sight. you can actually smell the gunpowder. the air, you can smell it. it's fireworks night here. big ben, the chimes have banged and now we are officially in 2024. watch the show there _ officially in 2024. watch the show there in _ officially in 2024. watch the show there in london! - —— quite the show there in london! a bit farther north, fireworks and celebrations kicked off 2024 in edinburgh, where our scotland

correspondent lorna gordon was among the crowds. you know, hogmanay, new year in scotland is a really big deal. traditionally bigger than christmas. you can see the fireworks behind me, above edinburgh castle. it is a magnificent setting for a fireworks display. and here enjoying it all is some of the 50,000 people who have lined the street in the centre of the city. they are having a hooley, a scottish word for a party. all enjoying themselves! here on the main stage, we have the british band pulp headlining tonight. they will come back with a fireworks display is over but this is four days of celebrations here in scotland's capital. an automatic torchlight profession on friday, carries on tomorrow with what's called inaudible

main party, big night of celebrations and the fireworks, a ton of them, going off above the party. so, that's the view from the uk. our correspondent sean dilley wraps up how some of the other major cities of the world have been ringing in 2024. crowd: five, four, three, two, one, happy new year! - this is how new zealand welcomed 2024 in auckland. it was the first major city to show off its stunning display. fireworks were launched from its tallest building, the sky tower, and its harbour bridge. over the water, australia used two of their most recognisable landmarks to light up their skies. seoul welcomed 2024 at 3pm uk time. tokyo celebrated with 108 strikes of this bell, the last landing at midnight.

happy new year! shortly after, hong kong marked their new year with this fireworks musical. dubai kicked their year off in serious style from the top of the burj khalifa. and before we close out 2023, we wanted to bring you a round up of some of the good news from this year. in october, the world health organization approved a new anti—malaria vaccine that could give countries an affordable and more accessible option to combat one of the leading causes of child deaths in africa. the vaccine costs $2—$4 per dose and is expected to be available by mid next year. a miraculous rescue in november freed 41 construction workers who were trapped inside a tunnel in northern indian for 17 days. no—one inside the tunnel was killed or seriously injured. the tunnel had collapsed following a landslide. deforestation in the amazon rainforest in brazil fell

to a five—year low in 2023. the country's national institute of space research says there has been a 22.3% decline in trees lost since 2022, reducing brazil's greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5%. and for the first time in 47 years, every animal at a pennsylvania animal shelter was adopted. 90 cats and dogs, as well as a couple of ferrets, found new homes in the weeks leading up to christmas eve. an additional 26 lost pets were also reunited with theirfamilies. that's all from us for now, i'm carl nasman. we wa nt we want to bring you now some of the latest headlines from new york city where, of course, in a matter of hours we will see the famous ball drop over manhattan. see the famous ball drop over manhattan-— manhattan. you can see the crowd is _ manhattan. you can see the crowd is beginning - manhattan. you can see the crowd is beginning to - manhattan. you can see the| crowd is beginning to gather there, some of the festive hats. looks pretty cold. if you talk to people from new york say stay clear of times square but it does look like a pretty fun time as crowds are getting ready to celebrate the new

year, 2024, arriving in a matter of a couple of hours in new york. stay with us here on bbc news more is coming up at the top of the hour. hello there. many of us are glad to see the back of december 2023 because it's felt as though it's not stopped raining. now, of course, we've got to collate the official statistics but it does look likely that the december of 2023 was wetter than average. many of us seeing twice the monthly average rainfall but eastern scotland looks likely to have seen three times the average monthly rainfall. and we are going to start off the new year with an area of low pressure, keeping things pretty unsettled, but it is not expected to last. so, the first few days will be unsettled with some wet and windy weather at times but it does look likely to turn a little bit colder and drier into next weekend. not a bad start, actually, to new year's day on the whole. many of us starting off with some sunshine and keeping the sunshine across scotland, northern ireland and northern

england. clouding over from wales, central and south—west england — the wind strengthening, the rain will gradually turn quite heavy as darkness falls. here, we'll keep double figures, but where we've got that sunshine, let's say from liverpool, lincolnshire north, it will be relatively dry. but it's worth bearing in mind if you're travelling back after seeing friends and family over the new year period, there will be a spell of wet and windy weather through the early evening of monday, and that continues to sweep its way eastwards overnight and then, it's going to be replaced by another batch of heavy rain and strong winds during tuesday. so, we will start off on tuesday with some wet weather moving through scotland. a little bit of wintriness to higher ground. a brief window of fine weather before yet more wet and windy weather pushes in across england and wales. we could see gusts of winds close to 50 miles an hour inland, so that's worth bearing in mind. temperatures generally around 6—13 degrees. and then we see another area of low pressure keeping things on the showery regime,

until we get to the end of the week because high pressure potentially builds in from the west. that high pressure, however, will bring a change to the feel of the weather story. we're going to lose the yellows. the milder air is pushed out of the way, going to be replaced by some colder air and a north—easterly wind. so, on those exposed east coasts, it really will feel quite different. but at least as we head towards next weekend, we're likely to see single figures but, yes, a lot of dry, settled and sunny weather. happy new year. voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight

after this programme. a moment in history — the coronation of king charles iii. god save the king! congregation: god save the king! - cheering across three days in may, the nation celebrated the newly crowned king and queen. at a star—studded concert, a poignant tribute from prince william. as my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. and i know she's up there fondly keeping an eye on us. and she'll be a very proud mother. cheering

also this year, prince harry reveals family secrets in his bestselling memoir and in evidence as he takes on the british press. and digging deep on his first official royal engagement, five—year—old prince louis. crowd: god save the king! god save the king! may the sixth, 2023. god save the kings plays light rain fell as king charles and camilla, queen consort, made their way to westminster abbey for the first coronation in 70 years. # i was glad... prime ministers, presidents, foreign kings and queens, as well as community and charity representatives, joined the king's own

family in a ritual dating back 1,000 years. your majesty, as children of the kingdom of god, we welcome you in the name of the king of kings. in his name and after his example, i come not to be served, but to serve. god save king charles. the coronation oath has stood for centuries - and is enshrined in law. are you willing i to take the oath? lam willing. will you solemnly promise - and swear to govern the peoples of the united kingdom, - of great britain and northern ireland, your other realms and the territories, - to any of them belonging or pertaining according . to their respectivej laws and customs. i solemnly promise so to do. and then, the most sacred part of the ceremony