fireworks pop and crackle. a beautiful display in brazil as the strike —— clock strikes midnight in rio dejaneiro. it's tradition in brazil to wear white on new years and jump over waves 7 times after the clock hits midnight. more new year's eve celebrations later on in the programme. first i want to bring you some other news. but first the world's only reigning queen says she's stepping down

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 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 this 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 four kids went to public school instead of private school so people feel very connected 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 intro israel throughout the night, most of which were intercepted by the country's iron dome defence system. he 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 of 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 on america's escalating role in the red sea 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 sinking 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. gary o'donoghue there. now, with 2024 underway 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 force 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, i the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production. ourweapons, our equipment, our artillery, our shells, our drones, our naval to the enemy and at least1 million drones all of which we will generously. use on land, the sky and also 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 mount the larger attacks and this week has been no exception in 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 bore the brunt, with several dozens of missiles landing in the city, causing extensive damage to medical buildings, we are told, residential blocks including a hotel, popular among foreignjournalists. our team was there

only a few days ago. so i think this is a deadly tit—for—tat in the aerial sense, but it almost takes place in tandem with what goes on on the front line, when you have 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. so, that's the view from kyiv. let's switch gears now to russia, and many russians are still willing to believe the kremlin�*s narrative that the west is to blame for the war. the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg, one of the few remaining western journalists in the country, takes a look at what people in russia think about the future of the war. so, i've driven about 60 miles

east of moscow to the town of...

a look inside russia by our bbc washer editor steve rosenberg. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at a story out of the uk now. 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 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 it kind of — it kind of solidifies in my own mind how lucky i've been.

what were your real highlights for 2023, then? playing glastonbury has to be a highlight because i never thought i'd get to play that stage. i never thought i'd get to play glastonbury, never mind the pyramid stage. 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 and alicia keys, who've also played the concert. you're live with bbc news. 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 years 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 at 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're expecting a speech from the king, a message will be played out, along with many other messages but this is the spectacular, that 100,000 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 — the air, you can smell it. it's fireworks night here. big ben, the chimes have

rang and we are now officially in 2024. 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've lined the street in the centre of the city. they're having a hooley — a scottish word for a party. all sing: # i'm gonna be, - i'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you. all enjoying themselves! down on the main stage, we've the british band pulp have been on headlining tonight. they're gonna come back when the fireworks display is over but this is four days of celebrations

here in scotland's capital. started with a torchlight procession on friday, carries on tomorrow with what's called first—footing. at night, though, the main party, a big night of celebrations and 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. crowd: 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. before we go, we wanted to remind of you some of good news from the sports world in 2023. fans of wrexham afc won't forget this year! the football club, owned by actors ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney, was promoted to the english football league after wrexham's victory over visiting boreham wood in april. the team returns to the league after a 15—year absence. this year's women's world cup final not only crowned first time winners spain but it shattered viewership records across the globe this summer. according to fifa, 1.12 billion

people tuned in to watch the tournament. this august, the most decorated gymnast of all time simone biles returned to competition for the first time in two years since bowing out of the tokyo olympic games in 2021. biles wrapped up her year by winning two gold medals at the 2023 gymnastic world championships, cementing her status as the most decorated gymnast in history. and after going into cardiac arrest during a game earlier this year, buffalo bills player damar hamlin made his triumphant return to the field in october, just some nine months after his near—death experience in january. we started with live pictures from brazil. let's go now to times square in new york. people are already partying, 90 minutes to go, around about. the party is getting started in the middle of manhattan. you can see people waving their balloons, banners, they are getting ready to bring in 2024

here in the united states. hgppy here in the united states. happy new year to you, wherever you are celebrating. stay tuned. we will have more 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. this is arguably one of the most important rivers in the world. the mekong sustains tens of millions of lives. for thousands of years, it has filled fishermen�*s nets and nourished rice fields right across south—east asia and china. but there are increasing signs that this ecosystem — one of the richest ecosystems on the planet — is being strangled. the mekong is under an onslaught of dam building, intensifying climate change and sand mining.