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The six-day state funeral of the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has begun in his home state of Georgia. Coalition talks between Austria's two biggest centrist parties have collapsed. The Chancellor has said he'll resign. Rwandan-backed rebels have made rapid advances in the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, capturing two towns in two days.
Also in this podcast, if you thought typewriters were obsolete, we tell you about one type that's still very much in use.
We begin in the U.S. state of Georgia, where America has begun bidding a long farewell to the former President Jimmy Carter.
The band of the 282nd Army played America the beautiful in Atlanta as the coffin was carried into the Carter Presidential Center for a service and prayers. Jimmy Carter's eldest grandson was the first to address the congregation. All of us have been thinking about this day and planning for it for a long time, but it is obviously still hard for all of us.
For us, in my family, and I'm sure I can see on your faces for many of you, I appreciate that. But just know that while we mourn my grandfather's passing, I know in my heart and you all do that his legacy will live on, not only because of the millions of people that he touched across the globe, but very specifically, because of your spirit and your knowledge and the work and the track record that you do every day.
Pastor Tony Loudon remembered cherished times with the former president. Today's Saturday, and usually every Saturday I'm making the pilgrimage down to Plains, Georgia, and sitting beside President Carter in the compound. When you walk in the room, he's wrapped in a blanket that has Psalms 23 on it, one of his favorite Psalms.
Then the former president's son, Chip Carter, paid tribute to his father and also his late mother, Rosalynn. He was an amazing man, and he was held up and propped up and sued by an amazing woman. And the two of them together changed the world. And it was an amazing thing to watch from so close, and to be able to be involved in. I thank you for your service.
Earlier the courtage carrying the former President's coffin, accompanied by his children, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren, passed by the small farm in the town of Plains where he grew up. Our correspondent, Karl Nesman, has been covering events throughout the day from Atlanta.
We're right outside of the Carter Presidential Center and Library here in Atlanta. This is really the headquarters, if you want to think about it. That way of his post presidency, where over many decades, far longer, of course, than when he was in the White House. Jimmy Carter, along with his wife, Roselyn Carter, worked to combat many different things. They worked to promote democracy across the world combat.
infectious disease worked towards all kinds of different diplomatic missions. This really is the center of his life after 1981 when he left the White House. But what we're seeing today is now pouring of tributes and memorials for the former president just watching that motorcade go through these
Very rural areas of Georgia, Plains, Georgia, where he grew up, his boyhood town, the boyhood farm where he grew up, where there was no running water or electricity back in 1924 when Jimmy Carter was born there. Many people were remembering his legacy and what he meant as a president, but also as a diplomat, as someone who advocated for civil rights, someone who advocated for healthcare and vaccines around the world. So Jimmy Carter left quite the legacy.
And those are the stories and memories that of course are being shared today here, not only at Georgia, but across the country.
and tell us what we're expecting to see over the course of the next few days. This is just the beginning of a multi-day state funeral here in the United States. It will then move on to the capital of Washington DC. He'll be lying in repose in the capital building for a couple of days before a big national memorial. We know that Jimmy Carter personally asked President Joe Biden to deliver the eulogy for him at that memorial service in the National Cathedral. And then
After all that pomp and circumstance, appropriate, a very humble man from humble beginnings will return back to that small town of Plains, Georgia. That's where he wishes to be buried alongside his late wife, Roselin. And briefly, in this polarized age, he has been a unifying figure.
Yeah, Jimmy Carter, when he left the White House, really wasn't a very popular president. His approval ratings were some of the lowest that we've ever seen historically for a president. But ever since then, Jimmy Carter has earned respect for the work that he has done building houses with a group called Habitat for Humanity. Of course, his work through the Carter Center.
has always had that kind of respect as a person, a very religious man, who even taught Sunday school into his later years, just years before he ended up passing away. Jimmy Carter even got the respect of someone who he has not always agreed with. The next president, Donald Trump, who paid his respects in a very gracious way just a couple of days ago in a social media post. So those memories being shared in the White House now and in the future White House too. Karl Nesman in the US state of Georgia.
Talks between Austria's two main centrist parties on forming a coalition government collapsed on Saturday, prompting the Conservative Chancellor Karl Nahammer to announce that he would step down.
After the breakdown of the talks, I will therefore do the following. I will resign as Chancellor and also as Leader of the People's Party in the next few days, thus enabling an orderly transition. This transition is particularly important to me because I have always stood for stability in our country and in the People's Party.
A third party, Nios, had walked away from the talks a day earlier on Friday. The negotiations had been complicated by the decision of these parties to exclude a far-right party, the FPO, that won the largest share of the vote in elections last year. Here's our Vienna correspondent, Bethany Bell.
The head of the Conservatives, Chancellor Karl Nihammer, said his party in the Social Democrats had failed to agree on key issues. He said he would resign as Chancellor and Party Leader in the coming days. The far-right Freedom Party, the FPO, won the general election in September. But Mr. Nihammer and the other parties had ruled up forming a coalition with the FPO leader, Herbert Kical.
Analysts say the collapse of the talks means that likely options could be a coalition between the Freedom Party and the Conservatives or a SNAP election. And Austria is not the only European country struggling to form a stable government as the far right is on the rise again.
Germany is holding its own snap elections next month and it seems that Elon Musk wants to get involved. The world's richest man is due to host a conversation with the leader of the far right German party, the AFD, which polls suggest could come second in the elections. Mr Musk has also attacked Germany's Chancellor Olath Schulz. Here's our Berlin correspondent, Jessica Parker.
The Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a German magazine he's staying cool about Elon Musk's activities. He added it's the will of citizens that counts not the erratic statements of a billionaire. Elon Musk has previously described him as a fool, and recently penned a controversial opinion piece endorsing alternative for Deutschland or the AFD.
The AFD is a far-right party that even classes extremist in certain German states by domestic intelligence. Mr Musk dismissed such allegations and claimed he'd earned the right to speak out on German politics because of his significant investments in the EU's largest economy.
Notably, Mr Musk's electric car-making brand Tesla has a huge factory in the eastern state of Brandenburg, just outside Berlin. Now, this coming week, Mr Musk is expected to hold a live online discussion with the AFD's candidate for Chancellor.
Alice Vidal. This all comes just weeks ahead of Germany's snap federal election. The vote will take place on February 23, following the collapse of Germany's bickering three-way coalition, the comprised of Chancellor Schultz's Social Democrats, the Greens and the FDP Liberals. The AFD, despite polling second,
has a little prospect of taking power because other parties won't work with it, while Olaf Scholz's chances of retaining the chancellery have long looked slim. Nevertheless, Germany looks set to be the next electoral testing ground for Elon Musk's apparent willingness to wade in to national politics.
Jessica Parker. Let's turn now to political turmoil, not in Europe but in Asia. The freezing cold weather in South Korea's capital Seoul is not taking the heat out of the political crisis there. A month after its president, Young Sun and Yul, stunned this young democracy by trying to impose martial law.
A day after investigators were forced to abandon an attempt to arrest the impeached president after being blocked by hundreds of his security personnel, protesters turned out to enforce again on Saturday. The demonstrations which went late into the night were both for and against the suspended president.
What kind of situation is this country suffering right now? Eight years ago, they and Justly removed the president, and now they're trying to remove President Yun as well, based on absurd charges.
In this kind of unjust society, we're not just going to comply. We're holding this protest to oppose the government. I hope every one of us will come together so that our country moves towards a true democracy. This comes as the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is on his way to South Korea. Our Asia-Pacific editor, Miki Bristow, told me more about the latest demonstrations there. Tens of thousands of people
as we heard there, protesters from both sides of the divide. That's people who want to see the suspended president not only arrested, but they want to seem prosecuted and completely removed from office. There are also his supporters who want to see the impeachment, which was voted for by the National Assembly, still got to be approved, but they want to see that impeachment rescinded. So both sides
of the divide out protesting throughout so central areas mainly but also around the presidential compound and that's complicated matters about trying to arrest the president or this former president because investigators want to speak to him they want to arrest him
They haven't been able to do that yet and these protesters out on the street are making that even more complicated. And South Korea is supposed to be a democracy and yet somehow the president seems to be able to resist this attempt by the investigating authorities to arrest him. Yeah, it's all quite complicated and it does appear to be that scenario. They've had impeached presidents before but never before has a sitting president face this kind of situation where he is essentially wanted
by the authorities who want to arrest him. That hasn't arisen before. We have people around President Yun who essentially were given the job, his presidential security service, given the job of protecting him. That's what they are doing. Everyone's doing their job, but it's not clear how this legal situation is going to be resolved.
Meanwhile, you've got a country that's reeling from a devastating plane crash. A lot of people are very concerned about the short-lived attempt last month by the suspended president to impose martial law is the absence of clear leadership being felt. Obviously, the absence of any clear leadership in any country is going to be a problem, in particular in South Korea, which faces a number of important threats in North Korea for one thing. And in fact, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is on his way to Seoul
He's going to be holding talks on Monday to discuss a number of issues. North Korea will be among them. So clearly, Anthony Blinken will want to go to Seoul and he wants to have a conversation with somebody who's in charge who can affect and make decisions and understand what the latest thinking of the South Korean government is. It doesn't appear from the outside that person exists. But having said that, South Korea is not a one-party state. I'd imagine the country is still getting on with the
basic levels of governments, but at the higher levels it seems function is broken down. Mickey Bristow. The world's oldest person has died in Japan at the age of 116. Tomiko Ituka died in a nursing home near Osaka, the city where she was born. Grant Ferrich reports.
The local mayor paid tribute to Tomiko Ituka, saying her long life had given hope and courage to others. Born in 1908, she went on to fit a pattern common to many supercentenarians. She stayed close to her birthplace for much of her 116 years. She also ate healthily, expressing a fondness for bananas. Exercise was an important part of her life. She was into her 70s when she became interested in mountaineering.
And unlike many Japanese pensioners, she avoided social isolation, living with her daughters for several decades.
It's just a couple of weeks or so before Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as US president. His campaign promise to deport millions of immigrants has many people living in fear and trying to get their paperwork in order. Nowhere more so than in California, which has the largest immigrant population in the US. But the Democratic governor there says he will protect them. Reagan Morris reports from Los Angeles. Good morning.
Immigrants packed into a public school in Los Angeles to get free legal advice. Workshops to help immigrants get their papers in order have been held across California since Donald Trump was elected in November. Many here say they are afraid of being deported. I am feeling anxious about what is going to happen in the next four years. I'm worried of my safety.
Andrea is 33 and came to the US from Mexico as a child. Like everyone else at this workshop, she didn't want her full name used to protect her identity. I want one day for my kids to come home and I'm not home because I was deported. So yeah, it's just because I'm worried and I have a family here. I pay my taxes. I'm a teacher as well.
Like many people in California, some members of Andrea's own family supported Donald Trump for president, including her mother, who herself is vulnerable to deportation. Although unable to vote, Andrea's mother urged others to support Trump because she believes he will be better for the economy and that he will only deport criminal immigrants.
Since the election, Californians have come out demonstrating in support of immigrant rights, and the state has vowed to defend its immigrant population. California sued the Trump administration more than 120 times last time Donald Trump was president, and California Governor Newsom convened a special session of the legislature to prepare for possible future lawsuits.
As it relates to the special session, that's a special session to focus on litigation, preparation, as it relates to the reality. It's not a theoretical exercise. We know what happened the last time Donald Trump was president.
Although Donald Trump lost California, as was expected, he did better here this election than four years ago, with 38 percent of the Golden State's vote. And he won the presidency with the promise of deporting millions of people. I will rescue every city in town that has been invaded and conquered. I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.
Critics say he will struggle to keep his promises. Immigration attorneys say the system is so backlogged that they don't see how anyone could deport so many people. Tess Feldman is an immigration attorney for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. She says many of her clients seeking asylum had their cases started under the first Trump administration.
When I appear before a judge, I often request the first available court date for my client to be heard on their case. And oftentimes that's a two or three year scheduling weight. So to hear that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions more people, families, children would be processed through this system that is already operating with a two, three, four year lag, I am curious how this would be physically possible in this country.
Many are curious how that will work, but critics say any attempt to Trump-proof California is premature and that people should focus on the facts, not the rhetoric. Although the Biden administration was blamed for letting the border get out of control, the fact is his administration deported more immigrants in 2024 than Donald Trump ever did, more than 270,000 people. That was the highest tally of deportations since Obama was in office 10 years ago.
That report by Reagan Morris. Still to come, we hear why many highly qualified Chinese graduates are struggling to find work. China is now a country where your high school's handyman may have a master's degree in physics, where a cleaner could be qualified in environmental planning, a delivery driver, perhaps studied philosophy.
Delve into a world of secrets. The BBC's Global Investigations Podcast, breaking major news stories around the world. A BBC investigation finds that Muhammad al-Fayed, former owner of Harrods, was accused of raping five members of staff. Muhammad al-Fayed was like an apex predator.
from the top of British society to the heart of global fashion brands. The former boss of clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch is accused of exploiting young men for sex. That world has enough and spit out a lot of young and attractive guys. Gripping investigations available to listen to now with more coming soon. Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts and click follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.
You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Even as there's been a renewed push yet again to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza War and secure the release of Israeli hostages, there's been a surge in Israeli attacks and the number of Palestinians killed. Israel doesn't allow foreign journalists independent access to Gaza, so we have to rely on figures from the Hamas-run health authorities there.
On Saturday, they set a total of 136 people had been killed over the past 48 hours, among them a family of 11, most of them children. Emma Nada is following developments from Jerusalem.
A series of heavy Israeli air strikes have hit the Gaza Strip as pressure builds on both sides taking part in the ceasefire negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha. In one attack at dawn, civil defense officials reported that around a dozen displaced people were killed when a building in Gaza city was hit by an Israeli strike. Ahmadayan lives nearby.
At around 2am we were woken by the sound of the huge explosion. And we were surprised to find that it was on the house of our neighbours. It was filled with people. Around 14 or 15 were staying there. Most of them are women and children. They are all civilians. There is no one there who shot missiles, nor is from the resistance.
The Israeli military has said that in the past week it had struck more than 40 Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout the Gaza Strip but hasn't commented directly on the latest strikes. Hamas has published a video of one of the hostages taken during its attack on the 7th of October, 2023. It shows Liri Albaq, who's 19. She had been serving in the Israeli military. In a still image which was released from the video by a group representing the families of the Israeli hostages, she is seen holding her head in her hands.
In a statement, Liri Albaq's parents said the video had torn their hearts to pieces, and they appealed to the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make decisions as if your own children were there. In a court in Liri Albaq's parents, the Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country's delegation must remain at the negotiating table until all 100 hostages were returned home. The hostage families group believe there is pressure on both sides to reach an agreement ahead of President Trump's inauguration this month.
The incoming president has warned they would be held to pay if a deal wasn't concluded by the time he takes office. Emma Nadir. It's a country blessed with virtually every type of mineral, but for the Democratic Republic of Congo, its huge natural wealth has been a curse over the centuries. Having shaken itself free of the shackles of colonialism, Congo is still trying to fight off outsiders. Among them, a Rwandan-backed rebel group, the M23,
which, having taken vast swathes of mineral-rich territory in the past four years, has now taken two towns in North Kyivu Province in just two days, with the Congolese army and its Allied militia apparently unable to stop them. Our Afrikaregional editor, Will Ross, told me more.
I think the capture of Massissi was significant. This is the capital of an administrative area and we understand that the Congolese army sent a lot of ammunition there to try and defend this town. It's somewhere that's been very well defended before and has been seen as a kind of prize.
But the army and the militias couldn't defend it, it was taken over by the M23. This is a group that's been imposing taxes on the mines that it captures in the areas it seizes. And people are looking at the map and kind of wondering where is next, but this is clearly part of a very rapid expansion by this M23 rebel group.
And tell us about Rwanda's involvement with this group. So Rwanda initially denied being involved but doesn't really counter the claims now and there has been a lot of evidence that they're supporting this M23 rebel group.
and that there have been Rwandan troops in Congo. Rwanda has always said that this Tutsi population in eastern Congo is under threat, and this is a Tutsi-led group, the M23, fighting to really protect the Tutsi population, which Rwanda says has kind of been discriminated against for many years.
So the M23 itself says we are simply fighting for our rights, but then the whole mineral question comes in and people look at the minerals that are moving through Rwanda to get onto the global market. These are vital minerals for the whole energy sector and for our mobile phones. And the Rwandan government is also concerned about the presence of
who to rebels in eastern Congo and it's always blamed the Kinshasa government for working with those rebels and not doing enough to stop them from being active and helping Rwanda. Will Ross.
The once high octane Chinese economy is currently struggling. As a result, many highly qualified graduates haven't been able to get the jobs they thought they would and are instead having to work as cleaners, couriers or waiters, often to the disappointment of their parents. Our China correspondent, Stephen McDonald, went to meet some of these overqualified workers.
China is now a country where your high school's handyman may have a master's degree in physics, where a cleaner could be qualified in environmental planning.
delivery driver, perhaps studied philosophy, and where a PhD graduate from the prestigious Qinghua University can end up applying to work as an auxiliary police officer. These are all real cases, and it's not hard to find others, like 25-year-old Sun Jun, who graduated with a master's degree in finance. We met him in the southern city of Nanjing, where he's employed as a waiter in a hot pot restaurant.
My dream job was to work in investment banking. If I could invest in some good company stocks, I could make a lot of money. I've looked for such a job, but with no good results. China is churning out millions of university graduates every year, and in some fields they just aren't enough jobs to soak them all up.
When Sunjian ended up as a waiter, this was met with displeasure by his parents. My family's opinions are indeed a big concern for me. After all, I studied for many years and went to a pretty good school. For me to do a job with no threshold makes them feel embarrassed.
Big budget movies require lots of extras to fill out their scenes. And in China's famous film production town of Hongdian, southwest of Shanghai, there are plenty of university graduates looking for acting work, including one we met who studied computer programming. This is a situation in China, isn't it? The moment you graduate, you become unemployed. I've come here to find work while I'm still young. When I get older, I'll find a stable job.
Another graduate who studied electronic information engineering spoke to us before heading off to play a bodyguard. The 26-year-old laughed that his good looks have helped him become employed as an extra. I mainly stand beside a protagonist as eye candy. I am a foreground actor with a good appearance who is seen next to the lead actors but with no lines. I asked if he likes it.
He said people often come to Hungarian and work for just a few months at a time. In his case, he said it was just a temporary fix till he could find something permanent. 29-year-old Wudan says her Hong Kong University of Science and technology classmates have all found it hard to secure decent positions after returning to the mainland.
The job market has been really tough. It's difficult to find work. For many of my master's degree classmates, it's their first time hunting for a job and very few of them have ended up landing one. Even if friends who are employed can feel quite lost.
In fact, they are quite confused and feel that the future is unclear. Those with jobs are not satisfied with them. Also, they don't know for how long they can hold onto these positions.
It's unclear when and even if this will all turn around in China. But in the meantime, you should never assume you know what has led this country's waiters or cleaners or movie extras to where they are today. That report by our China correspondent, Stephen McDonald.
In these days of laptops, tablets and smartphones, typewriters might seem like long outdated technology. But one form of typewriter is still very much in use here in the UK. Despite advances in technology, the Perkins Braille typewriters are still a vital communication tool for blind users.
and Alan Thorpe, his Britain's last certified fixer of them. He took some of the machines to a special conference to mark World Braille Day in Britain on Saturday and to mark the 200th anniversary of the Frenchman, Louis Braille, inventing embossed type. One of his machines dates back to the 1880s. Jane Hill asked Alan, who is blind to himself, to describe the Perkins Braille typewriter.
They weigh between five and a half and six kilos. It's used by people of all ages, from small children all the way through to pensioners and older generations. It's there for learning to read and for writing. So I've been using one for nearly 45 years. It's peculiar that there are about 500 parts inside a person's Braille. Wow.
some tiny tiny little springs, the size of a grain of rice, to larger bits, a drum for actually winding the paper round. It is fiddly work and I enjoy doing it. I'd like somebody else to learn. We never know what's around the corner for us. I've now just turned 60. And I think it's time that somebody else sort of took it on a bit.
I'm self-employed and do this. I'm probably not in a position to employ somebody to do it, but happy for somebody to come along and be shown how to do it. I would still be on hand, but more for somebody to become the entrepreneur themselves, learn how to do some servicing under their own steam, and I support them as long as I can.
Alan, you talk about being self-employed, but is it partly a hobby as well? I mean, do you actually really love this and the challenge of working out what's wrong with the machine and then making it right again? Yes. If a machine just comes for a survey, it's just boring. It's just routine. Take the bottom off, the top, the screwdriver knows its own way. You've been news that many times.
Not any screwdrivers I use. But they're actually trying to diagnose what the problem is. Trying to get parts shipped over from America, because again, it's the only place they can get those from. There's quite hefty costs, where there are some machines which are being used for donor parts, because they've had a hard life.
Yes, I've got a machine here, what? Nearly 70 year old and still working. I've got a few, which are probably 40 or 50 year old, which are still working. If an apprentice doesn't come along and if there isn't someone who comes to you who you can train up, what does that mean, do you think? If nobody comes along, I would assume the servicing might still take place, but somebody to actually
new and have the skills passed on by actually doing a major repairs. It probably won't be anybody around. It's hard to imagine nobody being around for it, but it probably is the actual realistic answer. Alan Thorpe, who for now is Britain's last certified fixer of the Perkins Braille typewriter.
And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Tom Bartlett, the producer was named Chefry, the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jenna Gillil. Until next time. Goodbye.
Delve into a world of secrets. The BBC's Global Investigations Podcast, breaking major news stories around the world. A BBC investigation finds that Muhammad al-Fayed, former owner of Harrods, was accused of raping five members of staff. Muhammad al-Fayed was like an apex predator.
from the top of British society to the heart of global fashion brands. The former boss of clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch is accused of exploiting young men for sex. That world has enough and spit out a lot of young and attractive guys. Gripping investigations available to listen to now with more coming soon. Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts and click follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.
