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In addition to fighting on the front lines, Ukrainians are fighting on the economic battlefront. Businesses are trying to survive, and with a bit of help, succeed. A new online platform helps them do just that. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Andre Sergunin.
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Britain’s King Charles III Leads Queen Elizabeth’s Coffin Through Edinburgh
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Ukraine claimed Monday it had recaptured several more villages in the northeastern part of the country, pushing some Russian forces back to the border between the two nations.     

After months of only incremental territorial gains and losses by Kyiv’s and Moscow’s forces, Ukrainian leaders exulted in the sudden advance since the beginning of September in the Kharkiv region.   

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation Monday that Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 6,000 square kilometers of territory since the offensive began this month.   

“The movement of our troops continues,” he said.  

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there has been “significant progress by the Ukrainians, particularly in the Northeast,” citing both support from the United States and other allies and “the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian people.” 

“This is early days still,” Blinken said. “So, I think it would be wrong to predict exactly where this will go, when it will get there and how it will get there.” 

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged over the weekend it was pulling back forces, saying they were regrouping them in the eastern Donetsk region.   

Oleh Syniehubov, the Ukrainian governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region, said, “In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation,” with Russian troops chaotically retreating.   

“The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles,” Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern front line, told Sky News.   

“Making progress”

The general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said Monday its troops had recaptured more than 20 settlements within the past day. The British Defense Ministry said that, in recent days, Kyiv’s forces had reclaimed territory at least the size of the London metropolitan area.   

A senior U.S. military official said Monday Ukrainians are “making progress” in their efforts to reclaim territory in the south and the east and said Russian forces around Kharkiv have ceded ground to Ukraine.  

The official said the Russian pullback was “indicative” of morale issues, among other factors, and said Ukraine has presented Russian forces with “multiple dilemmas.” Many of the Russian forces who have ceded ground have moved across the border to Russia, according to the official.  

Analysts say the war is likely to continue into 2023, but the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that “Ukraine has turned the tide of this war in its favor” through its effective use of Western-supplied weapons like the long-range HIMARS missile system and strategic battlefield maneuvers. “Kyiv will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting.”     

In Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said power and water that had been cut off by Russia were restored to about 80% of the region’s population.   

In Russia, some complaints were voiced, even on state-controlled television, about the setbacks its forces were sustaining.   

“People who convinced President [Vladimir] Putin that the operation will be fast and effective … these people really set up all of us,” Boris Nadezhdin, a former parliament member, said on an NTV television talk show. “We’re now at the point where we have to understand that it’s absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using these resources and colonial war methods.” 

Death, destruction continues

But the war’s death toll continued to mount, with Ukraine’s presidential office reporting that at least four civilians were killed, and 11 others wounded in a series of Russian attacks in nine regions of the country. Even in liberated Kharkiv, a police station in the city’s center was hit by a missile, setting part of it on fire and killing one person, a regional police chief said.       

Russia also shelled Nikopol across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, damaging several buildings there. The last operational reactor in that plant has been shut down to prevent a radiation leak.   

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press. 
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Members of the public paid their respects Tuesday to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, with many waiting overnight for a final opportunity to file past the queen’s coffin before it is flown to London. 

Princess Anne is due to accompany the coffin on the flight back to London later Tuesday. 

The queen’s body will be taken to Buckingham Palace first, then transferred in a public procession led by King Charles III to the 11th-century Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state for four days. The hall will be open 23 hours a day for visitors. It will be guarded by soldiers from the royal household.  

Tens of thousands of people are expected to travel to Westminster to pay their respects.   

A solemn procession

Elizabeth died Thursday at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a place she cherished.  

King Charles III, Princess Anne and their siblings Prince Andrew and Prince Edward held a silent vigil Monday in St. Giles’ Cathedral, bowing their heads as they stood at the four sides of their mother’s coffin. 

The body was brought to the cathedral in a solemn procession through the streets of Edinburgh, where thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the late monarch.

After the procession reached St. Giles’ Cathedral, members of the royal family along with political leaders attended a service inside for the queen.      

“And so, we gather to bid Scotland’s farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary,” the Rev. Calum MacLeod said.   

New monarch speaks to Parliament

Earlier Monday, King Charles III spoke to both houses of Parliament in London for the first time as the monarch.   

His brief address to approximately 1,000 lawmakers and their guests at London’s Westminster Hall came after the lawmakers offered their condolences on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony filled with pageantry.  

Charles said of his mother who served as monarch for 70 years: “She set an example of selfless duty which, with God’s help and your counsels, I resolved faithfully to follow.”    

Residents line streets for glimpse, goodbye      

The hearse carrying the queen’s body set off on Sunday from Balmoral Castle, the beginning of her long and final journey.   

The convoy, which included royal officials and security personnel, tracked slowly through the majestic Scottish hills, a landscape treasured by the late monarch, where she spent her final peaceful weeks of life. In years past, the queen was frequently seen visiting these remote Scottish villages when she resided at Balmoral Castle.   

Residents gathered on the roadside to glimpse her for the last time and to say goodbye.    

Some onlookers threw flowers as the hearse passed; many in the crowd shed tears. Gentle ripples of applause followed as the convoy continued southward.     

“We’ve known (her) for all our lives. So, it’s been the one constant thing in the whole of our lives — the queen,” said Stephanie Cook, a resident of the village of Ballater, close to Balmoral.      

After a six-hour journey, the hearse crossed the River Forth toward Edinburgh.    

Fiona Moffat traveled from Glasgow to witness the moment. She fought back tears as she described her emotions.  

“A very historic moment. I am quite speechless actually,”  Moffat said to The Associated Press.  “She was a lovely lady. Great mother, grandmother. She did well. I am very proud of her.”

Elaine Robertson, visiting Edinburgh from her home in Ayr on Scotland’s west coast, was also in tears. “I think it is just important to be here. Just important to say goodbye,” Robertson said. “She has been on the throne for a long time. So, yes, it means a lot.”  

The funeral is scheduled for September 19 at Westminster Abbey. The coffin will then be taken to Windsor for the committal service, where the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was laid to rest in April 2021.    

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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Near final results in Sweden’s election Sunday show that a bloc of right-wing parties was expected to defeat a left-wing bloc headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. The conservative group includes a populist anti-immigration party that made its best showing. 

However, the result was so close that the election authority said it would not be known before Wednesday when some uncounted votes, including those cast abroad, have been tallied. 

According to the early count, Andersson’s ruling left-wing Social Democrats won 30.5% of the vote, more than any other party. However, a bloc of four left-wing parties appeared to fall short as a whole of winning a majority of votes in the 349-seat parliament, or Riksdag. 

Exit polls had initially predicted a narrow victory for Andersson’s camp but as the evening wore on, and the vote count supplanted the exit poll, the results tipped in favor of the conservatives. 

Early Monday, the conservatives appeared to have 176 seats to 173 for the center-left. 

In a speech to her supporters, Andersson said that while the results were unclear, it was obvious that the social democratic movement, which is based on ideals of creating an equal society and a strong welfare state, remains strong in Sweden. 

The biggest winner of the evening was the populist anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, which had a strong showing of nearly 21%, its best result ever. The party gained on promises to crack down on shootings and other gang violence that have shaken a sense of security for many in Sweden. 

The party has its roots in the white nationalist movement but years ago began expelling extremists. Despite its rebranding, voters long viewed it as unacceptable and other parties shunned it. But that has been changing, and its result in this election show just how far it has come in gaining acceptance. 

“We are now the second-biggest party in Sweden, and it looks [like] it’s going to stay that way,” party leader Jimmie Akesson told his supporters. 

“We know now that if there’s going to be a shift in power, we will be having a central role in that,” he said. “Our ambition is to be in the government.” 

The conservative bloc was led during the campaign by the center-right Moderates, who won 19%. It was previously the country’s second largest party. 

Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson told his supporters that he stands ready to try to create a stable and effective government. 

Regardless of the election outcome, Sweden is likely to face a lengthy process to form a government, as it did after the 2018 election. 

Andersson, a 55-year-old economist, became Sweden’s first female prime minister less than a year ago and led Sweden’s historic bid to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
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Experts say Ukraine has dealt its opponent a major operational defeat with a surprise counteroffensive in the country’s northeast, sending shockwaves through the invading Russian army. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine looks at the likely impact of the Ukrainian military gains on the war.
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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday recommended a COVID-19 booster designed to combat the currently circulating Omicron BA.4/5 subvariants, days after endorsing a pair of boosters tailored to target the older BA.1 Omicron variant.

The latest recommendation is for a so-called bivalent vaccine developed by Pfizer PFE.N and BioNTech 22UAy.DE, which targets BA.4/5 as well as the strain of the virus that originally emerged in China in December 2019 targeted by earlier COVID vaccines.

The EMA recommendation is to authorize the retooled booster shots for people aged 12 and above who have received at least primary vaccination against COVID. The final go-ahead will be subject to European Commission approval, which is expected to come shortly.

If authorized, the BA.4/5-tailored booster will be available in days to all 27 EU member states, Pfizer said in a statement on Monday.

While existing coronavirus vaccines provide good protection against hospitalization and death, their effectiveness, particularly against infection, was reduced as the virus evolved.

Earlier this month, the EMA endorsed both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s MRNA.O vaccines updated for BA.1.

EU officials signaled in recent months they were open to initially using boosters targeting the older BA.1 variant, given those specifically targeting the newer, now dominant Omicron BA.4/5 offshoots are further behind in development.

In contrast, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration insisted it was only interested in vaccines targeting BA.4/5. Last week, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna secured U.S. authorization for those despite limited available clinical data.

Given BA.1’s earlier emergence, data from human trials testing those redesigned vaccines has been submitted to EU regulators. For the BA.4/5 adapted vaccines, regulatory submissions are largely based on lab and animal studies.

Using animal and lab data to solicit regulatory approval is done regularly for flu vaccines that are revamped each year to combat the latest circulating strains.

On Monday, the EMA said its backing of the Pfizer-BioNTech updated BA.4/5 shot relied partly on data from human clinical trials available on the companies’ BA.1-tailored vaccine.

A clinical trial testing the Pfizer-BioNTech BA.4/5 vaccine in humans was initiated in early September, and data should be available later this autumn. Meanwhile, human trial data on Moderna’s BA.4/5 shot is expected by later this month or early October.

EU officials have encouraged member states to roll out boosters of the established original vaccines and the bivalent shots — whatever is readily available — for the vulnerable and elderly following a rise in summer infections, as protection waned due to the domination of BA.4 and especially BA.5.

Uptake could be limited, as people have become less worried about the disease, thanks in large part to the success of the first generation of shots. Experts also worry that the public may be suffering from vaccine fatigue and less likely to seek the boosters, which could be a fourth or fifth COVID shot for some.
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Britain’s King Charles III and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, join his siblings – Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward – when the coffin of his mother Queen Elizabeth II is taken in a solemn procession from the royal Palace of Holyroodhouse to St. Giles’ Cathedral in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Members of the public will be able to pay their respects.
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Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada al-Nashif highlighted the growing desperation of millions of people trapped in a never-ending cycle of human rights violations, violence, and political instability in dozens of countries around the world.

She addressed the worsening situation in numerous countries in Africa, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Mali. She offered a rare glimmer of hope regarding the nearly two-year old conflict in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray province.

“Following the recent resumption of hostilities in northern Ethiopia, I am encouraged by the announcement yesterday by authorities in Tigray of their readiness to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union. I urge the parties to take immediate steps to end the violence once and for all, and to opt for constructive and genuine dialogue,” she said.

She dwelled at length on the unbearable levels of violence and human rights abuses by heavily armed gangs in Haiti. She called on the international community to help contain the scourge of violence in that country.

However, she made only passing reference to China’s incarceration of more than a million Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in so-called vocational centers. This is despite growing demands by human rights activists for a special debate on this issue at the Council.

“On 31 August, my Office published its assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, with recommendations to the Government and other stakeholders,” she said.

Acting High Commissioner, al-Nashif, was more robust in her criticism of Russia’s actions aimed at quelling domestic opposition to its war in Ukraine.

“In the Russian Federation, the intimidation, restrictive measures and sanctions against people voicing opposition to the war in Ukraine undermine the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms… Pressures against journalists, blocking of internet resources and other forms of censorship are incompatible with media pluralism and violate the right to access of information,” she said.

Al-Nashif said the war in Ukraine continues and the suffering of the civilian population continues. She noted the serious socio-economic consequences of the war also persist. This, she said, has resulted in severe fuel shortages and threats to food security in some of the world’s poorest countries.

She added the devastation caused by the war in Ukraine will be discussed later in the session.
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An Emirati court ruled on Monday that a British man suspected of masterminding a $1.7 billion tax scheme cannot be extradited to Denmark to face charges.

The decision in the high-profile case grants the hedge fund trader, Sanjay Shah, a victory against Danish authorities who sought him for his role in one of the country’s largest-ever fraud cases. Monday’s court ruling, delivered after a closed-door hearing and without explanation, can be appealed by prosecutors.

The elaborate scheme, which ran for three years beginning in 2012, allegedly involved foreign businesses pretending to own shares in Danish companies and claiming tax refunds for which they were not eligible.

“Of course we will try to get him [out] on bail now immediately,” Shah’s lawyer, Ali al-Zarooni, told The Associated Press at court.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in past interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations. Al-Zarooni had contested the extradition, arguing that Denmark had “breached” the rules of international extradition treaties in unspecified ways.

Shah’s lifestyle on Dubai’s luxurious palm-shaped island over the past few years had sparked outrage in Denmark. After the countries signed an extradition treaty, Dubai police arrested Shah in June.

During his time in Dubai, the hedge fund manager ran a center for autistic children that shut down in 2020 as Denmark tried to extradite him. He also oversaw a British-based charity, Autism Rocks, which raised funds through concerts and performances.

His arrest comes as pressure grows on Dubai, the region’s financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating illicit finance. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money.

In recent months, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two of the Gupta brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former President Jacob Zuma.
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For many people around the world, the word corgi is forever linked to Queen Elizabeth II. 

Princess Diana once called them a “moving carpet” always by her mother-in-law’s side. Stubby, fluffy little dogs with a high-pitched bark, corgis were the late queen’s constant companions since she was a child. She owned nearly 30 throughout her life, and they enjoyed a life of privilege fit for a royal pet. 

Elizabeth’s death last week has raised public concerns over who will care for her beloved dogs. But Sky News reported Sunday, according to a palace spokesman, the corgis will live with Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.  

“One of the intriguing things people are wondering about at the funeral is whether a corgi is going to be present,” said Robert Lacey, royal historian and author of “Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor.” “The queen’s best friends were corgis, these short-legged, ill-tempered beasts with a yap that doesn’t appeal to many people in Britain but was absolutely crucial to the Queen.”  

Puppy love

Elizabeth’s love for corgis began in 1933 when her father, King George VI, brought home a Pembroke Welsh corgi they named Dookie. Images of a young Elizabeth walking the dog outside their lavish London home would be the first among many to come over the decades. 

When she was 18 she was given another and named it Susan, the first in a long line of corgis to come. Later there were dorgis — a dachshund and corgi crossbreed — owned by the queen. Eventually they came to accompany her in public appearances and became part of her persona.  

Throughout Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne, the corgis were by her side, accompanying her on official tours, reportedly sleeping in their own room at Buckingham Palace with daily sheet changes, and occasionally nipping the ankles of the odd visitor or royal family member. 

Three of them even appeared alongside the queen as she climbed into James Bond’s waiting helicopter in the spoof video that opened the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  

Royal treatment

British author Penny Junor documented the dogs’ feisty lives in a 2018 biography “All the Queen’s Corgis.”  

She writes that Elizabeth walked and fed the dogs, chose their names, and when they died, buried them with individual plaques. Care for the corgis had fallen largely on the queen’s trusted dressmaker and assistant Angela Kelly and her page Paul Whybrew.  

The corgis were also present when the queen welcomed visitors at the palace, including distinguished statesmen and officials. When the conversation lulled, Elizabeth would often turn her attention to her dogs to fill the silence.  

“She was also concerned about what would happen to her dogs when she is no longer around,” Junor wrote, noting that some royal family members did not share her fondness for the corgis.  

After the death of her corgi Willow in 2018, it was reported that the queen would not be getting any more dogs. 

But that changed during the illness of her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in 2021 at age 99. She turned once again to her beloved corgis for comfort. On what would have been Philip’s 100th birthday last year, the queen was given another dog. 

In addition to her human family, Elizabeth is survived by two corgis, a dorgi, and a cocker spaniel.  
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The International Monetary Fund is looking for ways to provide emergency funding to countries facing war-induced food price shocks and will discuss measures at an executive board meeting on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The plan, which has not previously been reported, will be presented at an informal board session.

It would allow the IMF to help Ukraine and other countries hit hard by Russia’s war in Ukraine without imposing conditions required in a regular fund program, said the sources, who asked not to be named since the matter is still under review. The size and scope of the measures was not yet clear.

A formal vote backing the measure — which has been developed by the IMF staff in recent months — is expected before the Fund’s annual meetings in October, the sources said.

If approved, it would temporarily increase existing access limits and allow all member countries to borrow up to an additional 50% of their IMF quota under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument, and the Rapid Credit Instrument that serves low-income countries, the sources said.

“The concept is simple, but it could help many countries,” said one of the sources.

Responding to need

Food prices surged worldwide after the start of the war given blocked supply routes, sanctions and other trade restrictions, although a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed resumed exports of grain from Ukrainian ports last month has begun to help improve trade flows and lower prices in recent weeks.

The Washington-based lender projected in July that inflation will reach 6.6% in advanced economies this year, and 9.5% in emerging market and developing economies, posing a “clear risk” to current and future macroeconomic stability.

Many African countries and other poor nations suffering food shortages and acute hunger have clamored for increased funds, but it was not immediately clear how many countries would seek the additional financing aid.
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Britain’s King Charles will fly to Edinburgh to join his siblings Monday when the coffin of his mother Queen Elizabeth is taken in a solemn procession from one of her Scottish palaces to the city’s historic St. Giles cathedral.

The new monarch will also join senior royals for a vigil at the church where the coffin will lie at rest before being flown to London Tuesday.

Since Elizabeth’s death at age 96 at Balmoral Castle, her Scottish holiday home, a carefully choreographed series of plans to mourn Britain’s monarch of 70 years has been put into operation.

On Sunday, her oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath on top, was taken by hearse on a six-hour journey from Balmoral through the picturesque Scottish countryside, villages, small towns and cities to Edinburgh.

‘I just thought she’d live forever’

Tens of thousands of well-wishers lined the roads to pay their respects, while huge crowds, some in tears, gathered in Edinburgh to greet the cortege.

“It’s just very sad,” said Rachel Lindsay, 24. “I don’t think we expected it to ever happen. I just thought she’d live forever. I didn’t think it was real until I saw it.”

Before setting off for Scotland, Charles, 73, who automatically became king of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms including: Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, will travel to the British parliament for another traditional ceremony.

At Westminster Hall, lawmakers from both the House of Commons and the upper House of Lords will express their condolences for the death of his mother, and the new king will deliver a response.

He will then fly to Edinburgh with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, to join his sister Anne, and brothers Andrew and Edward.

The queen’s children will then walk in a procession behind the hearse as the coffin of their mother is taken to St Giles’ Cathedral, flanked by soldiers.

Crown of Scotland

When it arrives at the church, the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the premier Scottish peer, will place the Crown of Scotland on the coffin.

After a service, the coffin will rest at the cathedral for 24 hours to allow people to pay their respects. A continuous vigil will be mounted by soldiers from the Royal Company of Archers – the sovereign’s ‘Bodyguard in Scotland.’

Charles, who will also visit the Scottish parliament and meet Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, will later mount a vigil at 7.20 p.m. (1820 GMT) along with other royals.

On Tuesday, the coffin will be flown to London where on Wednesday it will begin a period of lying in state on a raised platform called a ‘catafalque’ at Westminster Hall. It will remain there until her funeral which is scheduled for Monday, September 19.

It will be guarded constantly by soldiers or by Yeoman Warders – known as beefeaters – from the Tower of London.

Members of the public will be allowed to process past the coffin, which will be covered by the Royal Standard with the sovereign’s Orb and Scepter placed on top, for 24 hours a day until 6.30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Sept. 19.

“Those wishing to attend will be required to queue for many hours, possibly overnight,” the government said in a statement. “Large crowds are expected and people are encouraged to check ahead, plan accordingly and be prepared for long wait times.”

Meanwhile thousands of people are continuing to gather at royal palaces across Britain, bringing bouquets of flowers. In Green Park near London’s Buckingham Palace, where some of the tributes are being taken, long lines of bouquets now snake around the park allowing mourners to read the tributes.

Other well-wishers have attached their messages of condolence to trees.

Britain last saw such a display of public mourning in 1997 following the death of Charles’s first wife, Princess Diana, after she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

“It reminds me of Diana 25 years ago,” Helen Soo, 59, said. “I was much younger in those days; I slept overnight in Hyde Park, and this is multiplied by 100 probably.”
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The body of the late British Queen Elizabeth II has been taken from Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she died Thursday, to Edinburgh. Over the next few days, the public will visit the coffin to pay respects to the queen, who led for seven decades. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Scaled-down celebrations took place Sunday in Denmark marking 50 years on the throne by Queen Margrethe, whose reign is now Europe’s longest following the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Dampened celebrations were ordered Friday by the 82-year-old Margrethe — now also the only female monarch in the world — in respect for Britain’s late queen, who died Thursday at 96.

Margrethe asked her court to adjust Saturday’s and Sunday’s anniversary program at short notice, canceling — among other things — her appearance on the Amalienborg Palace balcony to greet throngs of well-wishers as well as a ride through the Danish capital of Copenhagen in a horse-drawn carriage.

Sunday’s events included a church service and a lunch hosted by Margrethe on board the Danish royal ship Dannebrog for the royal couples and presidents from the fellow Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

A music and theater gala honoring the Danish monarch took place Saturday evening and a gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace — the seat of the Danish Parliament — was taking place late Sunday.

Margrethe was proclaimed queen Jan. 15, 1972, a day after her father King Frederik IX, died following a short illness.

The 50th anniversary jubilee for the Danish queen was initially scheduled for January but most events were canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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