it s seven in the morning in singapore, and two in the morning in turkey where voting has closed in one of the most critical elections. the country is deciding whether president erdohan remains in power after 20 years. it is expected to be a close race between him and an opposition leader kemal k l cdaroglu. he is a former civil servant who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, both secular and islamist. he promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by mr erdogan and return turkey to a parliamentary system. and also called for better relations with the west including renewal of turkey s bid for membership of the eu. the current leader recep tayyip erdogan first came to power as prime minister in 2003 and became president in 2014. under him turkey enjoyed strong economic growth, but it s been hit by high inflation, and the recent earthquakes in which tens of thousands died. he s also become increasingly authoritarian with more powers in the hands of the president
in just the last few hours, a ceasefire between israel and palestinians in the gaza strip has began, but some fighting has reportedly continued. the agreement was brokered by egypt it follows five days of violent exchanges which have killed at least 33 palestinians in gaza and two people in israel. 33 palestinians in gaza the truce, which as you see here prompted celebration in the streets, includes a commitment by israel to stop so called targeted assassinations . in return, israel reportedly demanded a complete halt to rocket fire by palestinian militants at its civilians. however, just hours after islamichhad militants confirmed a ceasefire was in effect, a rocket was fired from the gaza strip, prompting rocket warning sirens across a region of southern israel. it s not yet clear who fired the rocket, but its worth noting that several smaller militant palestinian groups are opposed to the truce brokered earlier in the day. the current bout of violence erupted on tuesday
good evening, welcome to the programme. we are at buckingham palace tonight, ahead of the big event on saturday the coronation of king charles iii and queen camilla. we have a packed programme for you tonight, we will be looking ahead to this most ancient of ceremonies at westminster abbey, in the company of two people who were there in 1953, in fact one of our guests, even sang at the christening of the king in 1948. we have tv royalty on hand, as well, where katty kay is standing by for us. leaving nothing to chance on an occasion like this. we will talk about what the coronation is, what is isn t, the role the king has played in the preparations, and how the people, the commonwealth, and the different faiths will be included. and at 9pm, the royal watchers will be here robert hardman and christine ross joining us. both of them are taking part in the bbc s coverage. but let us begin with what the royals have been doing today. the king is in residence here at buckingham