Foreign News

Queen Margrethe II: Danish monarch announces abdication live on TV

Published

2 years ago

2024/01/1

Priyan

Queen Margrethe II (pic BBC)

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has announced her surprise abdication in a new year TV address.

She will formally step down on 14 January, which will be 52 years to the day since she became queen. “I will leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” she announced.

The 83-year-old is the world’s only reigning queen and the longest serving current monarch in Europe, taking the throne after the death of her father King Frederik IX in 1972.

She revealed the decision was made after a period of reflection following surgery on her back in early 2023. “The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,” she said. “I have decided that now is the right time,” she added, and offered her thanks to the Danish public for their support over the years.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen for her service. “On behalf of the entire population, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Her Majesty The Queen for her lifelong dedication and tireless efforts for the Kingdom,” she said in a statement.

“Although the duty and position of regent has been handed down for more than 1,000 years, it is still difficult to understand that the time has now come for a change of throne,” the statement read. “Many of us have never known another regent. Queen Margrethe is the epitome of Denmark and throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation.”

Unlike British royal tradition, there will be no formal crowning ceremony for Crown Prince Frederik, who is 55. Instead, his accession will be announced from Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen on the day. He will take her place as King of Denmark and head of state in the country – which is a constitutional monarchy – as well as in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

*Queen Margrethe II and Queen Elizabeth II in the year 2000 (pic BBC)*

Queen Margrethe is a popular figure in Denmark, and many Danes had expected her to remain on the throne until her death. “She is to us what Queen Elizabeth was to you,” Danish journalist Tine Gotzsche told the BBC.

Queen Margrethe attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and they celebrated their respective jubilees in the same year. She had not been expected to become Queen when she was born. But when she was 13, Danish law changed to allow women to take the throne.

More than a decade ago, Queen Margrethe reflected that she was inspired by the late British Queen “that I must somehow understand that I must dedicate my life to my nation like she has done, and in that way she has been very important to me.”

The pair had been the world’s only remaining female sovereigns before Queen Elizabeth’s death. Elizabeth reigned for 70 years.

Some also consider her the world’s longest reigning monarch. The Sultan of Brunei has been on the throne for longer, but his country only gained independence in 1984.

She is also the longest-serving monarch in Danish history, after surpassing King Christian IV, of Denmark and Norway, earlier this year.

Affectionately known as Daisy, Queen Margrethe is known for her smoking habits and rejection of mobile phones and the internet – declaring herself “very happy” without them.

Gotzsche said the Danish royal transition is a moment of mixed celebration and sadness.

Prince Frederik and Princes Mary walk outside Westminster Abbey — *Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary attended the coronation of King Charles III in May (pic BBC)*

“She has always been there, she has been ageing with all of us,” she said, but added: “the Crown Prince is in a very good position to take over, the succession is laid out – it’s very logical, and it absolutely makes sense.”

Crown Prince Frederik, like Britain’s King Charles III, is known for his passion for the environment. He has vowed to “guide the ship” of Denmark into the future.

His wife, Princess Mary, grew up on the Australian island of Tasmania and was working as a lawyer when the pair met in 2000.

They are considered by some to represent modern values and have tried to give their four children as normal an upbringing as possible, sending them mainly to state schools.

During her time on the throne, Queen Margrethe continued to work as an artist and was well known for her love of the arts. She also has a passion for archaeology and has taken part in several excavations.

She studied in the UK, spending time at Cambridge’s Girton College and the London School of Economics.

In 1967, she married French diplomat Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who served as her royal consort until his death in 2018.

Each year on New Year’s Eve, she delivers a speech broadcast on television. This year, aside from the announcement, she also spoke of the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as the importance of addressing climate change.

Facing similar challenges of modern society as other royal families across Europe, the Danish royal family has decided to slim down its number of royals. This led to a very public rift last year after Crown Prince Frederik’s younger brother Prince Joachim’s children were stripped of their royal titles.

(BBC)

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Related Topics:abdication Crown Prince Frederik Denmark Denmark's Queen Margrethe II Princess Mary

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Pilot praised after crash-landing faulty Somali passenger plane on seashore

Published

18 hours ago

2026/02/11

Priyan

The plane was on its way to Puntland before the pilot requested a return to Mogadishu [BBC]

An airline in Somalia has praised one of its pilots after he crash-landed his passenger plane, which had suffered a technical fault, on the shoreline next to the capital’s international airport with all 55 on board surviving.

Starsky Aviation said the pilot’s quick thinking was crucial in saving the 50 passengers and five crew.

The crew of the aircraft, a Fokker 50, reported a problem shortly after take off from Mogadishu on Tuesday morning and requested that the plane return, Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.

It then touched down but failed to stop on the runway, overshooting the tarmac before coming to rest in shallow water, the CAA’s director Ahmed Macalin Hassan said.

It is not clear yet exactly what the issue was.

Footage posted on X appeared to show passengers leaving the aircraft and walking away from the wreckage on the shore of the Indian Ocean. No serious injuries have been reported.

The African Union’s mission in Somalia said UN and AU troops were “swiftly deployed” to help with rescue efforts. Somalia’s transport minister was also at the scene, its post on X added.

“We are relieved to confirm that all passengers and crew are safe. Investigations are under way to establish what caused the technical issue that led to the emergency landing,” Starsky spokesman Hassan Mohamed Aden said.

“The pilot’s swift and calm decision-making played a decisive role in ensuring the safety of everyone on board, and we commend him for how he handled the situation,” he added.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Portugal elects Socialist Party’s Seguro as president in landslide

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/9

Priyan

Presidential candidate Antonio Jose Seguro, of the centre-left Socialist Party, waves to the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of the February 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, on February 5, 2026 [Aljazeera]

Antonio Jose Seguro of the centre-left Socialist Party has secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal’s president in a run-off vote, beating his far-right, anti-establishment rival, Andre Ventura, according to partial results.

With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Seguro has garnered 66 percent. Ventura trailed at 34 percent, still likely to secure a much stronger result than the 22.8 percent his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year’s general election. Ballots in large cities such as Lisbon and Porto are counted towards the end.

Two exit polls have placed Seguro in the 67-73 percent range, and Ventura at 27-33 percent.

A succession of storms in recent days has failed to deter voters, with turnout at about the same level as in the first round on January 18, even though three municipal councils in southern and central Portugal had to postpone voting by a week due to floods. The postponement affected some 37,000 registered voters, or about 0.3 percent of the total, and is unlikely to influence the overall result.

Portugal’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but it holds some key powers, including the ability to dissolve parliament under certain circumstances.

Ventura, 43, who had trailed Seguro in opinion polls, had argued that the government’s response to the fierce gales and floods was “useless” and called for the entire election to be postponed.

However, the authorities rejected the demand.

Seguro, during his last campaign rally on Friday, accused Ventura of “doing everything to keep the Portuguese from turning out to vote”.

Despite his loss on Sunday, Ventura, a charismatic former television sports commentator, can now boast increased support, reflecting the growing influence of the far right in Portugal and much of Europe. He is also the first extreme-right candidate to make it through to a run-off vote in Portugal.

Meanwhile, Seguro has cast himself as the candidate of a “modern and moderate” left, who can actively mediate to avert political crises and defend democratic values. He received backing from prominent conservatives after the first round amid concerns over what many see as Ventura’s populist, hardline tendencies.

But Prime Minister Luis Montenegro – whose minority centre-right government has to rely on support from either the Socialists or the far right to get legislation through parliament – declined to endorse either candidate in the second round.

While the role is largely ceremonial, the head of state has the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

The new president will succeed outgoing conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in early March.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Washington Post chief executive steps down after mass lay-offs

Published

4 days ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

Will Lewis speaks to the staff and employees of the Washington Post in Washington, DC on November 06, 2023. [Cricinfo]

The chief executive of the Washington Post is stepping down, the newspaper has announced, days after overseeing mass lay-offs.

William Lewis said it was the right time to leave, saying in a message to staff that was shared online that “difficult decisions” had been made to ensure the paper’s future.

On Wednesday the newspaper announced it was cutting a third of its workforce, dramatically scaling back its coverage of sport and international news.

The decision was condemned by many journalists and prompted criticism of the Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. Executive editor Matt Murray said the cuts would bring “stability”.

Jeff D’Onofrio, who joined as chief financial officer of the newspaper last year, will serve as acting publisher and CEO, the Post said as it announced Lewis’s departure.

A former Dow Jones chief executive and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Lewis was appointed to the role at the Washington Post in 2023.

He has faced criticism from subscribers and employees as he tried to reverse financial losses at the daily.

Hundreds protested in front of the paper’s headquarters in Washington DC on Thursday after the mass lay offs, which included the paper’s entire Middle East staff and its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent.

Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor until 2021, said the cuts ranked “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations”.

The departure of Lewis marks the latest upheaval for the leading US newspaper, which has seen a series of staff cuts and controversial editorial decisions in recent years.