Life-Sized Statues of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Unveiled

King Charles reacts after unveiling statues of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip upon his and Queen Camilla's arrival to attend the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance CREDIT: REUTERS
King Charles reacts after unveiling statues of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip upon his and Queen Camilla's arrival to attend the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance CREDIT: REUTERS
TT

Life-Sized Statues of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Unveiled

King Charles reacts after unveiling statues of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip upon his and Queen Camilla's arrival to attend the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance CREDIT: REUTERS
King Charles reacts after unveiling statues of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip upon his and Queen Camilla's arrival to attend the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance CREDIT: REUTERS

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have unveiled new bronze statues of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Royal Albert Hall. The life-sized artworks, installed as part of the concert hall's 150th anniversary, were uncovered as the royals were arriving for the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.

King Charles led the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph. The service honors the contribution of military and civilian servicemen and women in World Wars One and Two, and other conflicts, according to BBC.

People across the UK took part in a two-minute silence, while the King led a Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph, in central London, commemorating the end of the First World War and other conflicts involving British and Commonwealth forces.

Wreaths were laid by members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and dignitaries at the Whitehall, shortly after the police arrested 126 people – most of them are right-wing counter-protesters – during a pro-Palestine rally on the Armistice Day, an annual celebration on November 11.

Almost 10,000 veterans and 800 armed forces personnel from all three services took part in a march-past. They were joined by thousands of members of the public lining Whitehall to watch the service.

Nuclear test veterans, who for the first time wore medals acknowledging their contribution, were among those attending. After 70 years of waiting for recognition, those exposed to the effects of nuclear bombs during the UK's testing program were given a medal - depicting an atom surrounded by olive branches.



The World's Rivers Faced the Driest Year in Three Decades in 2023

People visit Silver Sands Beach at the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
People visit Silver Sands Beach at the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
TT

The World's Rivers Faced the Driest Year in Three Decades in 2023

People visit Silver Sands Beach at the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
People visit Silver Sands Beach at the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

The UN weather agency is reporting that 2023 was the driest year in more than three decades for the world's rivers, as the record-hot year underpinned a drying up of water flows and contributed to prolonged droughts in some places.
The World Meteorological Organization also says glaciers that feed rivers in many countries suffered the largest loss of mass in the last five decades, warning that ice melt can threaten long-term water security for millions of people globally.
“Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, releasing the report on Monday.
She said rising temperatures had in part led the hydrological cycle to become “more erratic and unpredictable” in ways that can produce “either too much or too little water” through both droughts and floods.
The weather agency, citing figures from UN Water, says some 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water for at least one month a year — and that figure is expected to rise to 5 billion by 2050.
The world faced the hottest year on record in 2023, and the summer of this year was also the hottest summer ever — raising warning signs for a possible new annual record in 2024.
“In the (last) 33 years of data, we had never such a large area around the world which was under such dry conditions,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at WMO.
WMO called for improvements in data collection and sharing to help clear up the real picture for water resources and help countries and communities take action in response.
The report said the southern United States, Central America and South American countries Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay faced widespread drought conditions and “the lowest water levels ever observed in Amazon and in Lake Titicaca,” on the border between Peru and Bolivia.