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(NEW YORK) — Four months after the Taliban seized power, Obaidullah Alikhil found himself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet as his son laid in bed with no strength to even open his eyes as he battles malnutrition.

Weighing around 12 pounds, 2-year-old Mohammed Alikhil was first admitted to the hospital in the summer of 2021, as the U.S. prepared to retreat its troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s power continued to grow. He was hospitalized for 21 days due to severe diarrhea, Alikhil told ABC News in December.

At the end of his stay, he was brought back home. But his condition, according to Alikhil, only got worse, leading to another hospital visit.

Several hospital visits and medications did not help with Mohammed’s recovery. With no solution, the bills continued to pile up, and the family’s financial situation became even more challenging.

Mohammed is one out of millions of Afghans on the brink of starvation as their families run out of money. More than 23 million Afghans face acute hunger, including nine million who are nearly famished, according to the UNICEF World Food Program.

By mid-2022, the U.N. Development Program estimates that 97% of Afghanistan’s population will “plunge” into poverty. Up to one million children under 5 could die by the end of the year due to the country’s food crisis and the lack of water and sanitation services, according to UNICEF.

The cold weather brought by the winter season makes the situation even more complicated. To keep Mohammed warm, Alikhil boils water and sets the kettle near his bed.

The struggle to keep their homes warm could increase the risk of illnesses, according to UNICEF. If a child is malnourished, the risks of getting sick are higher, and the recovery could take longer.

“We are approaching a critical juncture for Afghanistan’s children, as winter brings with it a multitude of threats to their health,” Abdul Kadir Musse, a former UNICEF Afghanistan representative, said in a Jan. 15 press release.

“There is no time to lose. Without urgent, concerted action — including ensuring we have the resources to deploy additional cash transfers and winter supplies — many of the country’s children will not live to see spring,” he said.

The financial situation among Afghans becomes even more challenging, following the freezing of more than $9 billion in assets after the Taliban took power last August.

The measure to freeze foreign reserves was taken as a way to prevent the resources from falling into the Taliban’s hands. The U.N. has about $135 million in aid in Afghanistan but it can’t access the money since the Taliban-run central bank lacks the infrastructure to convert it to afghani, the country’s currency.

As a way to meet the needs of families, UNICEF launched a $2 billion appeal in December as a way to respond to the needs of over 24 million Afghans. The appeal will “help avert the collapse of health, nutrition, WASH, education and other vital social services for children and families.”

The U.S. is also taking part in providing aid to Afghanistan as it deals with a growing humanitarian crisis. In January, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced a contribution of over $308 million in humanitarian assistance for Afghans, bringing the total amount of aid in the country to nearly $782 million since October 2020.

“The United States continues to urge the Taliban to allow unhindered humanitarian access, safe conditions for humanitarians, independent provision of assistance to all vulnerable people and freedom of movement for aid workers of all genders,” a press release stated at the time. “We will continue to work to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people and call on other donors to continue to contribute to this international response.”

The U.S., however, is under growing pressure to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets. The Taliban met with western diplomats from the U.S., Britain, France, Italy and Norway in January during a series of closed-door meetings in Oslo to discuss the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Afghans.

It marked the first official talks since the group seized power six months ago.

For people like Alikhil, they struggle to find opportunities in a country under conflict and the Taliban’s leadership.

“All I want from them is to create a job opportunity [for us] so our lives get better. I am an educated person. I need a job so I can serve the country,” he said. “There is no job, no money.”

Without money and resources, some families are forced to make horrific decisions to make some money — even if it means selling their children.

“As of now, this child belongs to me; I have the right to sell him,” Khoday Ram, who is struggling to feed himself and his family, told ABC News. “If things would have been better, I would have let him study. But we’ve been left like this.”

“It’s normal to sell our daughters, but the situation is so bad, I have to sell my son because we’re hungry,” he said. “What happens to my son once I sell him is not up to me. He could end up being killed, or he could be allowed to go to school.”

Others are left with the choice to sell their organs in exchange for some money to buy a meal.

“I couldn’t go out and beg for money, I was not able to beg. Then I decided to go to the hospital and sell my kidney, so I could at least feed my children for some time,” Ghulam Hazrat told ABC News.

With over 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees, they consist of one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Approximately 2.2 million have relocated to Iran and Pakistan, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Due to the growing conflicts and the rise of the Taliban to power, the UNHCR predicts the number will continue to rise.

While Alikhil struggles to find a job so he can provide for his family, what keeps him hopeful is Mohammed and his recovery after getting the strength to open his eyes once again.

“Only God knows the future, what will happen, whether we will get help or not,” he said. “In our community here, until now, we didn’t get any kind of help yet, neither money or flour. So far no one has helped us.”

“All I want is to earn something so I can take care of my family’s expenses, that’s it,” Alikhil said.

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(LONDON) — More than two dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second to batter the island nation since the start of the year.

With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.

The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 72,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 27 have died.

At least three children under the age of 12 were among the dead, according to United Kingdom-based international charity Save the Children, which cited Madagascar’s risk and disaster management office.

Hundreds schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the country’s risk and disaster management office said.

The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”

“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”

Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”

“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”

Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.

One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.

Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.

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(KYIV, Ukraine) — French officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed to not launching any new “military initiatives” near Ukraine, a sign they said suggests Putin is moving towards de-escalating the crisis around the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Putin made the commitment during more than five hours of talks between the two leaders on Monday night in Moscow. The French officials said Putin had also promised that thousands of Russian troops massed in neighboring Belarus to the north of Ukraine would leave after exercises end there this month.

It “makes it possible to consider de-escalation,” the officials said in a briefing note sent to journalists.

If true, the promise could be an important sign Putin may be closer to taking Western diplomatic offers as a road out of the crisis, where the massing of tens of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine has sparked fears of invasion.

The Kremlin on Tuesday downplayed the French officials comments, denying that any deal had been reached.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Financial Times, which first reported the French claims, had “simply written incorrectly.”

Peskov said it was not possible for Putin and Macron to reach a deal since France was not the leader of NATO, which would need to accept any agreements.

But in reality the French officials had not said a deal was reached, just that Putin had promised not to undertake new military initiatives and to initiate a “broader dialogue” that would need to include the rest of NATO countries.

Peskov also confirmed the promise Russian troops will leave Belarus once the joint exercises there end on Feb. 20.

“No one has ever said that Russian troops will remain on the territory of Belarus, that has never been a question,” Peskov told reporters. “On the conclusion of these exercises the troops will return to their place of permanent deployment.”

Russia has been pouring trainloads of troops into Belarus amid its broader build up near Ukraine, alarming Western countries which fear they could be used as a cover for an attack. But Moscow and Minsk both insist the troops are there just for war games.

Putin and Macron’s marathon talks in the Kremlin Monday had ended with a glimmer of hope the Russian leader is ready to accept diplomacy. Putin afterwards told a press conference that Macron had brought “a range of ideas,” which he said it was too early to talk about publicly, but that Putin said he considered “possible as the basis for our next steps.”

It was not clear what those ideas were. But French officials afterwards said Putin and Macron had agreed to “the initiation of a broader dialogue” on three key points: First, Russia’s military posture; second, the long-running ‘Normandy Format’ negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine between government and Russian-backed separatists in the east; and third, the “opening of a dialogue on strategic issues,” a phrase that refers to troop and weapon deployments, and wider questions of NATO’s relationship with Moscow.

Macron flew to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, where he is expected to bring some of the ideas to which Putin referred. Putin on Monday night told Macron, “Let’s see” how that meeting goes, saying he and Macron had agreed to speak again after.

While massing troops near Ukraine, the Kremlin has demanded the United States and NATO give binding guarantees that Ukraine will never join the alliance and that NATO will pull back its infrastructure from eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War.

The U.S. and NATO countries, including France, have rejected those as non-starters, but have offered to engage with the Kremlin on more modest security issues, including limits on missile deployments and troop exercises.

Macron in front of Putin again affirmed NATO’s so-called “Open Doors” policy, calling it “existential.” Any diplomatic breakthrough would either have to find a creative way of reassuring the Kremlin on its main demands or for Putin to move back from them.

Putin with Macron had said there were “some thing possible to talk about” in written responses the U.S. and NATO have sent to Russia’s demands, referring to the more modest offers on missile deployments and other military issues. But he referred to them as “secondary.”

The Kremlin on Tuesday lowered hopes around Macron’s efforts, saying “for now, of course we can’t say we sense any real path to a resolution.”

Peskov said Russia didn’t see “readiness for now” from Western countries to pay attention to its main concerns on NATO.

“The president emphasised this yesterday that, to our regret, in the answers that we received from Washington and NATO there are grains of rationality, but they unfortunately have a secondary character,” Peskov said Tuesday. “And on the fundamental issues we, unfortunately haven’t received an answer. And so this issue remains open in the full sense of that word and remains for us the most important.”

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(JERUSALEM) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden by phone this weekend just as the nuclear talks in Vienna enter a critical final stage.

During the phone call Sunday, which Israeli media says Bennett has been trying to arrange for weeks, the two leaders discussed the U.S. raid that killed the leader of ISIS, regional security issues, ties with the Palestinians and the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

But when it came to Iran, there was no hint of their clashing views on the nuclear talks taking place in Vienna.

Biden believes saving the 2015 deal will curb Iran’s nuclear activities, while Bennett, just hours before talking to the U.S. president, slammed the deal as ineffective.

During the call, Biden also accepted an invitation to visit Israel later this year.

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(LONDON) — More than a dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second storm to batter the island nation since the start of the year.

With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.

The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.

According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 70,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 21 have died.

Some 211 schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the risk and disaster management office said.

The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”

“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”

Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”

“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”

Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.

One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.

Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders as tensions with Russia persist over Ukraine.

During brief remarks in the Oval Office ahead of a joint press conference, Biden said the two countries are “working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and address the challenges opposed by China and promote stability in the Western Balkans,” as military forces buildup along the Ukraine border.

Monday marks Scholz’s first visit to the White House, and Biden said it provided a good chance to “get to know you more personally.”

While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face “severe” consequences if it invades Ukraine, Germany had often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany had also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian natural gas pipeline, not yet operational, that would carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia’s threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. But meeting with Scholz Monday, the two world leaders expressed unity with their posture towards Russia.

After both leaders appeared to avoid mentioning the pipeline, under repeated questions from reporters at an afternoon press conference, Biden, standing next to the German chancellor said Nord Stream 2 would not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin of potential economic consequences.

“If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the — the border of Ukraine again, then there will be — there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said during the press conference with Scholz, who did not go as far as Biden, but insisted the U.S. and Germany remain “absolutely united.”

Pressed on how he can commit to that given that Nord Stream 2 is under German control, Biden doubled down, saying, “We will — I promise you — we will be able to do it.”

Scholz, in turn, expressed unity with the U.S. and said that Germany was preparing sanctions in case Putin decides to invade.

“As I already said, we are acting together,” Scholz said at the press conference. “We are absolutely united and we will not take different steps. We will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand.”

Biden added that all diplomatic lanes should be taken to de-escalate the situation on the Ukraine border where at least 100,000 Russian troops have gathered and that Russia needs to understand NATO nations stand together.

Asked by another reporter if Americans who are still in Ukraine should leave, Biden said would be “wise” for Americans to leave the country.

“I’m not talking about our diplomatic core. I’m talking about Americans who are there. I hate to see them get caught in a crossfire if, in fact, they did invade. And there’s no need for that,” Biden said.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Biden as he was exiting the press conference, “Is de-escalation possible?”

“The answer is yes,” Biden replied.

While an administration official earlier acknowledged “the narrative that’s been out there” that Germany’s response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz’s hesitation thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Putin decides to move.

“We’re confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they’re very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said. “What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward.”

When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall, ahead of Biden’s joint remarks.

“There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won’t be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany,” the official noted.

ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.

“I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies,” the official said. “And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there’s a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions.”

Scholz’s visit comes almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.

Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-20 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.

As Biden and Scholz participated in their first joint press conference from the East Room, in-person talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin wrapped after five hours, according to Russian media.

Biden told reporters Monday that he has been “very straightforward and blunt” in his discussions with Putin when warning of sanctions Russia could face but said he still he does not know what Putin will ultimately do.

“I know he’s in a position now to be able to invade, almost assuming that the ground is frozen above Kiev. He has the capacity to do that,” Biden said. “What he’s going to do, I don’t know.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders as tensions with Russia persist.

While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face “severe” consequences if it invades Ukraine, Germany has often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany has also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian gas pipeline that will carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia’s threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. Meeting with Scholz Monday, Biden will be looking for Scholz to express unity with the U.S. posture towards Russia.

On Nord Stream 2, in particular, a senior Biden administration official was blunt.

“We have made our position very clear, which is that if Russia invades Ukraine in one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward,” the official said on a briefing call with reporters.

While the official acknowledged “the narrative that’s been out there” that Germany’s response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz’s hesitations thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to move.

“We’re confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they’re very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said. “What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward.”

When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall.

“There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won’t be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany,” the official noted.

ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.

“I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies,” the official said. “And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there’s a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions.”

Scholz’s visit will come almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.

Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-2 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.

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(LONDON) — Queen Elizabeth has marked the eve of her Platinum Jubilee with a request that her daughter-in-law Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, be known as queen consort when her son Charles succeeds her as king.

“And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” she wrote in the statement to mark her 70 years on the throne, “and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”

This is the first time the queen has publicly addressed her daughter-in-law’s role in the future monarchy.

In response to the queen’s remarks, a spokesman for Prince Charles and Camilla told ABC News they are “touched and honoured by Her Majesty’s words,” adding that the Prince of Wales will issue his own statement congratulating the queen on her milestone Sunday.

“This really is an important moment for the queen using this historic milestone of the 70th anniversary of her reign to give Camilla, her daughter-in-law, her blessing, that she wants her to be the queen consort when the moment comes,” explained ABC News Royal Contributor Robert Jobson.

“It’s the first time really she’s spoken about the succession in such detail and she’s really saying when Prince Charles becomes king he deserves to have the support and love of a consort like she did with Prince Philip,” Jobson added.

There have been indications that this was the queen’s intention, and that she is grateful to her daughter-in-law for the support she gives her son. Most recently, the queen gave the Duchess of Cornwall a significant honor, appointing her to the Order of the Garter late last year.

“The Duchess of Cornwall has been an exemplary supporter of the queen and the monarchy,” Ailsa Anderson, the queen’s former press secretary and ABC News royal contributor, said.

“She has demonstrated her commitment in so many causes, including women’s rights and literacy. As a nation we should welcome and embrace this announcement. I believe she will support the Prince of Wales in the years ahead,” Anderson added.

On Feb. 6, Queen Elizabeth will be the first British monarch to reach the milestone of a Platinum Jubilee. Traditionally, the queen spends the day quietly at Sandringham, her Norfolk estate, as she remembers her father George VI who died there 70 years ago.

The queen was on tour in Kenya when she found out her father had died and she was queen, making her the first monarch in 200 years to accede to the throne when overseas.

She left the country a princess and returned a queen, leading the nation in mourning her father. The solemn anniversary makes Feb. 6 a day of mixed emotion for Queen Elizabeth. “The queen normally marks her ascension anniversary privately. It’s obviously a moment of reflection because it’s also the anniversary of her father’s death,” said Victoria Murphy, ABC News royal contributor.

But this year, as it was such a major milestone, the queen hosted a reception at Sandringham on Saturday. Television pictures showed her cutting a cake to mark the occasion. This was her first public appearance since she was hospitalized last October.

In Saturday’s statement she also took the opportunity to thank her people for their support: “I remain eternally grateful for, and humbled by, the loyalty and affection that you continue to give me.”

“As we mark this anniversary, it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service,” she wrote.

She also paid tribute to her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last April.

“I was blessed that in Prince Philip I had a partner willing to carry out the role of consort and unselfishly make the sacrifices that go with it,” she wrote.

Jobson argued that the queen wants Charles to have similar support from Camilla when he becomes king, and that this announcement will make the transition to his kingship easier.

“She realizes she’s not going to live for much longer. She’s 96 in April and she wants everything sorted out, so there’s continuity and a smooth succession; and there’s no controversy over whether or not Camilla should be queen,” Jobson said.

Jobson said Camilla’s future role is purely as companion and adviser.

“The reality is she will never reign as queen; she’s there as a supporter to the Prince of Wales,” he said. “There have been enough dramas in the royal family in the last year or so, to last a lifetime. So what the queen wants is a calm and smooth succession.”

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(IGHRAN, Morocco) — A 5-year-old boy who had been trapped 32 meters underground in a well in Morocco for four days was found dead on Saturday following a lengthy rescue attempt that had captivated the Arab world.

In an official statement carried by state television, Morocco’s King Mohamed VI offered his condolences to the parents of the boy, identified as Rayan, as the meticulous relief operation came to a heart-wrenching end.

Relentless digging by bulldozers parallel to the well reached the full depth of 32 meters before rescuers embarked on a horizontal dig to reach the boy.

In the last stretch, which took longer than expected, rescuers resorted to manual digging in fear of possible landslides that would put Rayan’s life at risk. They also inserted pipes as a shelter from rock collapses, television footage showed.

After the pathway leading to Rayan was cleared, paramedics rushed to the tunnel to attend to him. His parents stood by anxiously, with security personnel forming a barrier in front of a crowd of onlookers as the sound of prayers blared through a loudspeaker.

The security guards then formed a cordon around an ambulance as Rayan’s body was moved out on a stretcher, with his mother appearing to be weeping.

Rayan reportedly fell through a narrow opening of the well while playing in the village of Ighran in Morocco’s Chefchaouen province on Tuesday evening.

A “Save Rayan” Arabic hashtag trended in several Arab countries, including in neighboring Algeria as well as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan as thousands of users took to social media to offer their prayers.

“I prayed to God and begged him to get him out of the well alive and safe. Please God, ease my pain. I hope the authorities and rescuers manage to save my son,” Rayan’s mother, Wassima Kharchich, told France24 earlier on Saturday.

Many likened his story to that of Prophet Yunis, commonly referred to as Jonah in the Bible, who was swallowed up by a whale for three days before the giant fish spat him out.

“Please God, protect him just like you protected Yunis in the belly of the whale,” read a caption on a widely shared drawing of a boy playing with toys while being trapped in a deep well.

Several Moroccan media outlets livestreamed the rescue operation to hundreds of thousands of viewers, leading to an outpouring of sympathy. A CCTV camera lowered into the well to track Rayan showed him alive on Thursday, albeit he appeared to be suffering from head injuries. Oxygen, food and water were also lowered into the well.

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(LONDON) — Prince Andrew has agreed to a deposition date of March 10 in connection with the civil lawsuit filed against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, according to an attorney for Giuffre and a source close to the prince.

Lawyers for Giuffre are expected to travel to London to question the prince. The specific location for the deposition has not yet been determined.

Sigrid McCawley, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner, the firm that represents Giuffre, on Saturday confirmed to ABC News that the date has been set. The news of the agreed-upon date was first reported by The Telegraph.

A source close to the prince told ABC News that Prince Andrew’s legal team has agreed to “voluntarily produce” him for the deposition on that date. Giuffre has yet to commit to a date for her deposition “despite repeated requests,” the source close to the prince said.

The news comes following Prince Andrew’s failed attempt to have a lawsuit from Giuffre, an alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim, dismissed at this stage in the proceeding. A federal judge in New York rejected his arguments in January.

Giuffre alleges Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew who she claims took advantage and sexually abused her when she was under 18.

Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegation and attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives.

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