Final preparations underway for Pope Francis's funeral
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Bernadette Keogh, and in the early hours of Saturday 26th April, these are our main stories. The funeral takes place later today of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square in Rome. Many foreign dignitaries are attending, including President Trump. President Zelensky has conceded that Ukraine does not have the weapons to recapture Crimea from Russia.

And the UN's World Food Programme says it has no more food for families in Gaza as Israel's blockade continues. Also in this podcast, Luigi Mangione, who's accused of shooting dead a health insurance executive in New York last year, has pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges. And... I went to my old school, Scottish Ballet School,

to help to teach just for fun. I was far happier teaching rather than performing. A Scottish ballerina, who's one of the UK's longest-serving dance teachers, is hanging up her ballet shoes at the age of 89. The funeral's taking place in Rome later today of Pope Francis.

The Vatican says around a quarter of a million people had viewed the late pontiff's body as he lay in state in St Peter's Basilica. After queuing for hours, they filed past the coffin, where they were permitted to pause for a moment to pay their respects, with many taking a photograph before moving on. On Friday evening, the basilica was closed, ahead of a private ceremony to seal the Pope's coffin.

Tight security arrangements have been put in place ahead of Saturday's funeral, which will be attended by more than 100 foreign dignitaries, including heads of state and royalty. Ahead of Pope Francis' funeral, the BBC has heard from one of those who knew him best. Our religion editor, Alim Makbool, reports from Rome.

We were invited into the Vatican to meet someone who accompanied the Pope on trips for more than ten years. His foreign minister, through almost all of his papacy, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who more than most knew what drove the Pope. He was very aware that we live in a world which the vast majority of people are powerless, that they do not have their destiny in their hands. And I think he felt that he could...

contribute something to that and help make things better, a little bit better for them. I think he was always, you know, willing to surprise us with who he is willing to meet and who he's willing to talk to. He particularly remembers a trip to the Central African Republic at a difficult time when everyone had told the Pope it was too dangerous to go. You know, people were expressing reservations and that.

And he just sort of said, well, I'm going. You know, if nobody wants to come, fine, I'll go on my own. Which, of course, was rather putting us to shame. His very first trip outside of Rome was to honour migrants who drowned off Lampedusa.

His last trip was to a prison in Rome. Some inmates are invited guests at the Pope's funeral. After the funeral, the body of Pope Francis will be brought here for burial inside the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. And we're expecting thousands of people to line the 20-minute route to get here. And then the Vatican says...

He'll be welcomed for the final time on the steps of the Basilica by a group of what it describes as the poor and needy. His trip to Asia last autumn was the longest ever undertaken by any Pope, so why didn't he slow down, even in poor health? Somebody had said to him something like, you know, why don't you take it easier and this sort of thing, and he said, you know, towards the end you have to push...

And he undoubtedly wanted to, you know, die with his boots on. There's no doubt about that. Archbishop Gallagher says even he's been stunned by the magnitude of the void he feels has been left. Now the Pope's voice has been silenced. Alim Makbul. We'll have coverage of the funeral from Rome here on the BBC World Service from 0500 GMT on Saturday. Now to other news.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded that his country does not have enough weapons to recapture Crimea from Russia. He was speaking after an interview with Donald Trump was published, in which the US President said Crimea stays with Russia.

Meanwhile on Friday, as he was leaving for Pope Francis' funeral in Rome, President Trump sounded positive about a peace deal in Ukraine. We're going to try and get out of war so that we can save 5,000 people a week. They happen to be mostly Ukrainian, Russian, 5,000 young Ukrainian and Russian men. And that's a big honour if I can do it. I think we're pretty close.

As he spoke, his envoy, Steve Witkoff, was having a three-hour meeting in Moscow with President Putin. The diplomacy has been picking up pace, with meetings of European officials in London and Paris producing a rival set of peace proposals to US ideas. Following it all is our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, who sent this report from Moscow.

As he arrived in the Kremlin for his fourth meeting with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump's envoy was full of smiles. How are you, Mr President? It's so good to see you, Steve Witkoff said. President Putin was beaming too. Little wonder. He will have heard that in interviews, Mr Witkoff has repeated Kremlin talking points on Russia's war in Ukraine. They sat down. On one side of the table, the President, his foreign policy advisor and his envoy.

On the other, just Mr. Witkoff with interpreter. After three hours of negotiations, President Putin's advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said on a conference call that the talks had been constructive. I tried to ask a question. What are the main sticking points on the path to peace in Ukraine? The conference call abruptly ended.

Earlier, on the edge of the city, peace shattered. A car bomb killed a senior Russian general. It looked similar to previous attacks that have been linked to Russia's war in Ukraine. There is no guarantee that today's talks will end in peace. And there will be concern in Kiev and in Europe that they were not at the table.

But it's clear that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are determined to bring their countries closer. The watchword is cooperation. And symbolising that, a ceremony at a Moscow war memorial, marking the moment 80 years ago today when American and Soviet soldiers met on the Elbe River at the end of World War II.

when Russia and America were allies. Russia's war against Ukraine put Moscow and Washington on opposite sides. It seems they're trying to change that. Steve Rosenberg in Russia. So what are we to make of the Witkoff talks?

A question for BBC Monitoring's Russia editor, Vitaly Shevchenko. It's obvious that Moscow is very keen to signal its happiness with the way things are going with America. Yuri Yurtaakov, he described the meeting as constructive, very useful, and he suggested that Russia's and US positions have never been closer to

And that, of course, is alarming to Ukraine. And just over the course of today, I think I can detect shifts in what officials in Kyiv are saying. In the morning, a foreign ministry spokesman said that, no, no, no, we're not going to recognize Russia's control over any part of our territory. That's out of the question.

And in the evening, Volodymyr Zelensky, who's visiting the site of yesterday's deadly Russian missile strike in Kiev, he seemed to suggest the possibility of Ukraine discussing territorial concessions. He said...

full and unconditional ceasefire first, and then it'll open up a way for discussions of everything, including territorial issues. So all this pressure coming from Donald Trump's administration and

And Donald Trump said in an interview published today that Crimea, an annexed Ukrainian region, will stay Russian. All this pressure, it seems to be working. And it's also clear that Donald Trump has basically sidelined Ukraine and its European allies from any talks about Ukraine's future. And he seems to be keen to talk to Vladimir Putin and nobody else.

Vitaly, there appear to be rival peace proposals. Can you tell us what's on the table? There have been various leaks from various sources. We don't know how much of those leaks is true, but they are focused on Ukraine's territory, the prospects of Ukraine joining NATO and Russia and America saying that this is

out of the question, while Ukrainian officials are saying, well, you don't have the right to veto of our future aspirations. Do you feel Ukraine's being increasingly pushed into a corner?

I do. I do. The reason for that is that Ukraine is dependent on its allies, of which the richest and the mightiest is clearly America. And what Donald Trump's administration has been saying and doing makes so many Ukrainians think that, well, basically America has switched sides.

The Ukrainians, they may not like the prospect of having to give up territory or mineral resources. But the question is, what are they able to do about it? And the answer to that question is not much. Vitaly Shevchenko.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the country with the largest number of landmines in the world. Expert assessments suggest it could take decades or even hundreds of years to clear them. And because of the continuing loss of men of fighting age on the front line, women are playing a bigger part than ever in making the land safe again.

The BBC's Anna Foster has been to meet a team of female sappers, as they're called, trained up by the Ukrainian military and the Canadian NGO Marira Aid. It's important that we all keep with us and on us personal armour and your helmets as well.

So we're located west of the city of Chernihiv. This is an area where battles were fought at the very beginning in the first weeks of the war. Standing here with women sappers who decided to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They're going to be neutralizing a number of unexploded ordinances, putting the unexploded ordinances into a pit.

and using other explosives in order to render them safe by detonating the explosives so they can't explode otherwise. One thing that's happening here now, as increasing numbers of men die in battle, is that women are starting to move into particular frontline jobs that were dominated by men beforehand, and one of them is this demining work. And here there are four women,

women now who are trained to the highest levels who are part of the team and it's you're seeing this real shift to teams that were once all male becoming much more more female heavy as the the demographic in this country changes because of the toll that the war is taking

My name is Kateryna Aylivyn-Cherdigiv. Before I joined the military, I worked at a furniture company. I was responsible for buying fittings and materials and supervising the production. So a level three deminer is a commander of a troop of deminers. So they will command a troop of deminers in order to address that particular threat and deal with it.

How did you find yourself doing this kind of work? Was it an advert that you responded to? How did it work? I didn't become a D minor right away.

It was already after I joined the military. I started interacting with the guys and going out with them. Oh, and I used to fly drones before. I filmed their work and how they operated. And then I got interested. Why not? I went to Kosovo for some training. We went to Kosovo for training and started training.

Life can be taken even when you're sitting at home.

You see what's happening in our country. Of course there's fear. Everyone is afraid. You worry for your own life and for the lives of those around you.

When I've met demining teams in other parts of the world, they say that actually it's a kind of work that women are particularly good at because they have the patience often to do something so intricate very well.

Well, that's how it is. Women are more resilient. Life comes into this world. Who brings it? Women. We know how to endure, to wait, and to do everything very carefully, cautiously, to think things through several times, to pause, to take a breath in and out. That report by Anna Foster in Ukraine.

Many people in Gaza have been receiving hot meals through mobile kitchens and community kitchens. Now, though, the UN's World Food Programme says its food stocks are depleted and they'll run out by the end of the month. Antoine Renard is the representative and country director of the World Food Programme.

The challenge that you have is that in the next coming few days, what all the kitchens are doing is trying a maximum to extend whatever is left.

They are sometimes receiving just barely spaghetti with a bit of boiled spices, but that's all they have. The point where we will have to say there's nothing left, it would be too late. The point now is that populations are facing massive hunger. There's no access to meat, to fish, to fruits, to dairy products.

Our correspondent Sebastian Usher is in Jerusalem. What the World Food Programme is saying is that the amount of supplies, ingredients that it has now for the hot meals kitchens that it runs, which it says are an absolutely essential part of a way that people in Gaza are getting their protein, their food, that those have now been depleted and

and that within a few days they won't be able to provide that food anymore. Also, bringing attention to the fact that the 25 bakeries which they help run in Gaza have been closed for all of this month. So the supply of cheap, fresh bread has become almost unavailable and the prices have as a result rocketed. I mean, the WFP provides a statistic saying that between now and...

And the period during the ceasefire, when large numbers of supplies were getting into Gaza, that prices have rocketed by 1,400%. So people are really struggling with a lack of food right now? Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's no doubt about that. And we have had in the past during the conflict, we have had people, children who've died of malnutrition, whether that's the situation that this is heading towards now,

is very much open to whether Israel will allow supplies to go in. Well, Israel has stopped all humanitarian aid for more than seven weeks now. What do we know of the criticism it's faced for that policy? Other countries have criticised it strongly. There have been expressions of that, but it's had no effect so far on the Israeli government. I mean, the Israeli government seems at the moment to be committed to

to putting the maximum pressure not just on Hamas, but one has to say on the Palestinian population. That may be partly to do with the fact that there have been some protests against Hamas that have arisen in the past few weeks. It may be a feeling that if things get even worse in Gaza, that that anger that people feel against Israel may also transfer to Hamas and add more pressure on

But I think one has to say that there's no doubt that the pressure goes far beyond what is placed on Hamas and the people who suffer are the Palestinians themselves. Sebastian Usher in Jerusalem. Still to come, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting dead a health insurance executive in New York last year, has pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges. But

But despite the accusations, he still has supporters. He receives about 10 letters a day from people while he's in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.

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Bobby Bones here with news on the Top Shelf Country Cruise setting self February 27th to March 6th, 2026. It's not just a cruise. It's a country music experience at sea. An amazing lineup of performers. Well, we're going to be there. The Bobby Bones Show, I'm going to be there. Keith Urban, Lee Bryce, Scotty McCreary, Parma Lee, Leanne Rimes. It doesn't end there. We'll also be stopping in stunning destinations along the way. Go to topshelfcountrycruise.com to book any available state room. Gotta hurry though. These spots are filling up fast.

Brazil's former president, Fernando Collor de Mello, has been arrested after the country's Supreme Court upheld his sentence of nearly nine years on corruption and money laundering charges. He's the third former Brazilian leader arrested on corruption charges, after Michel Temer and Lula da Silva.

Our America's regional editor, Leonardo Rocha, reports.

Colo de Melo was Brazil's first president after democracy was restored in the late 1980s. He was forced to resign in 1992, halfway through his term, following corruption allegations, but eventually returned to politics as senator for his home state of Alagoas. Leonardo Rocha.

Tension between the Trump administration and the judiciary has been rising in recent weeks. On Friday, it ratcheted up sharply with the news that the FBI has arrested a judge. Hannah Dugan was arrested in Wisconsin on charges of helping an undocumented migrant who was appearing in her court to evade arrest by immigration officers.

The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, posted about the arrest on social media and then deleted his post. Gary O'Donoghue in Washington gave me more details. This was last Friday and she was dealing with a case, a misdemeanor involving a fight. And the defendant in this particular case also, it seems now, had an immigration warrant out against him, an administrative warrant.

and the immigration officials came to the court. The judge, Hannah Dugan, became aware that they were there waiting to arrest Eduardo Flores Ruiz. She referred the matter to the chief judge. And while this was happening, it's alleged that she sort of ushered the defendant and his lawyer out of a sort of side door into a private area...

and that the agents saw this happening and there was a bit of a chase and Ruiz is alleged to have run away and then they caught him and arrested him. And what they're saying is the judge effectively tried to smuggle the defendant out of the court to avoid the immigration warrant. She had her first appearance in court today and her lawyer said that she protested and regretted that she'd been arrested and that she said it wasn't in the interest of public safety that that should have happened, but no plea at this stage.

Well, Gary, how rare is it for judges to be arrested for what they've done in their own court?

Incredibly rare. I mean, incredibly unusual. Although, bizarrely, there was a similar case to this in Massachusetts back during the first Trump administration, where a judge was accused of something quite similar. Charges were brought, but they were dropped, and it ended up as a sort of judicial disciplinary investigation. Now, we're at a very early stage of this. This hasn't been to a grand jury yet. There hasn't been an arraignment or anything like that. So we're some way off an actual trial, for example.

But if she is convicted on either of the two charges that they're talking about, the second one, the obstruction charge, that could carry a jail sentence of up to five years and a fine of $250,000. So there's a lot at stake. And it's an indicative moment, I think, in the clash between

The administration here, which is determined to deport millions, as it says, of illegal migrants and the other parts of the constitutional order in this country, such as the judiciary, who believe it's their job to uphold the rule of law. And this clash that's happening at the moment in all sorts of areas. Gary O'Donoghue next to New York.

The man accused of shooting dead a health insurance executive in the city last year has pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was appearing in a Manhattan court. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. They argue that Mr Mangione killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, to amplify an ideological message and spark resistance to the health insurance industry.

Netta Taufik sent this report from outside the court. Wearing a tan prison jumpsuit, Luigi Mangione was told to stand. When asked how he pleaded to the charges of stalking, murder and a firearms offense, he leaned into the microphone and said not guilty. His defense lawyers told the court that given he faces the death penalty, they now want his federal trial to take place before his state case.

At the same time, though, they are fighting to prevent the government from seeking capital punishment, arguing that Attorney General Pam Bondi's past statements in press releases and on social media indelibly prejudiced the process. The judge gave them until June 27th to submit their motion on the issue.

She also asked prosecutors to remind government officials and Ms. Bondi about the strict rules surrounding public statements that could impact the right to a fair trial. It's now clear any trial won't take place before 2026. Several protesters once again turned up at the court to support Luigi Mangione, something that has dismayed others who say he should not be celebrated as a hero.

Julian Marshall spoke to Lorena O'Neill, who's written an in-depth profile of Luigi Mangione for Rolling Stone magazine. So he grew up in Towson, Maryland. It's a Baltimore suburb. And he went to Catholic school when he was younger, Catholic private school. And he went to Gilman when he was in high school, which is a very

well-known, prestigious all-boys school. And he was very, very well revered there. He performed very well academically. He was social. And his family was well-respected in the Maryland area. They were philanthropers, gave a lot of money to charities. They were well-known. They were very, very well-respected as well. So in short, a regular guy from a very regular background.

Yeah, and I would go as far as saying he was a regular guy. He was a well-respected teen when he was in high school. And when I spoke to one of his teachers, they said, oh, we always thought he was going to go far. We thought he was going to be in science labs making amazing discoveries or developing some new technology. They had a lot of hopes for his future. After high school, he went to the University of Pennsylvania. He went to college there.

And there he studied AI and engineering. And then he went to Hawaii and lived there for a few years before backpacking around Asia. And this is where we sort of don't know exactly what happened. For the moment, he remains a suspect. But it is something of a mystery that he is accused of doing what he is alleged to have done.

Yes, it's very surprising that he has been accused of this. It really rocked his hometown. He is not the person that people would be expected of being accused of a murder like this. And is he aware of the uproar that the murder has created in the United States and the sort of divisions that it has created and the kind of support there is for him as a suspect?

He's extremely aware of it, I would say. He receives about 10 letters a day from people while he's in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. And he released a statement in February saying, I am overwhelmed by and grateful for everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support. And just explain to those of us outside the United States, you know, why Mangione has become such a cult figure.

The arrest happened after a very heated political election. There's been a lot of conversations about what is happening with men his age and the internet. And the one thing, though, that I think that has stuck out about Mangione is that he has actually, he has transcended political lines. There are people that support him that are considered themselves liberal. There are people that support him that consider themselves conservative. And the

Health insurance in America is a lightning rod for these conversations because everybody knows someone who is affected by medical debt. And that is something that can be unifying for people. The writer Lorena O'Neill. And for more on the story, listen to the Mangione Trial podcast from the BBC World Service. It's available wherever you get your BBC podcasts and on the BBC World Service YouTube channel.

A Scottish ballerina who's one of the UK's longest-serving dance teachers is hanging up her ballet shoes at the age of 89. Sheena Goff has trained students from all walks of life and after a 70-year career, she taught her last class at the weekend. Joanne McCauley reports from Edinburgh.

The dancers in this studio in Edinburgh are regulars at Sheena Goff's classes, but this one will be her last. At 89, she's decided to hang up her ballet shoes after a 70-year career, which began with studies in London and Paris, alongside famous names like Margot Fonteyn. It was while she was recovering from an injury that she found her passion for teaching.

I went to my old school, Scottish Ballet School, to help to teach just for fun. And lo and behold, I discovered I was far happier teaching. It was what I really loved to do rather than performing. Her teaching has attracted people from many walks of life, amateurs as well as professionals. Ian Johnson, a retired mechanical engineering lecturer from Galloway, made a

200 mile round trip every week just for her class. I travel up for Sheena's classes because she's one of a kind they're inspirational and there's nobody else who teaches quite like her. It's a wonderful style and well worth the journey but it's going to be quite a shock not to have her but I will hear her corrections I will hear her saying where's your face where's the joy where's the excitement every time I do a class for the rest of my life.

Gina says she's always expected hard work from her students, but feels it's time to step back. I'm very critical. Got to be good, got to be right. Getting old and deaf and probably repetitive, I've no idea. But I just think people probably had enough of me. LAUGHTER

But as she bids farewell to these students, she may not be putting her feet up entirely. She's been persuaded to give private lessons to a former pupil who's about to move to Scottish Ballet. That report by Joanne McCauley in Scotland. Let's return to our main story, the funeral today of Pope Francis. As we reflect on the life and legacy of the late pontiff, let's listen back to some of the sounds of the past week from Rome.

You join us at the top of the hour when we have some breaking news to bring you from the AFP news agency that Pope Francis has died. In Buenos Aires, where Pope Francis was born, crowds gathered to pray for him. The funeral of Pope Francis will take place on Saturday. Donald Trump and Prince William will be among those attending.

The Vatican says the numbers that have turned out to file past are a visible reminder of how widely this Pope was loved and respected. He's our spiritual leader and he showed how supposedly we Christians, Catholics, embody the kind of life of Jesus Christ as a follower.

the sounds of the past week from Rome. And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global News Pod.

This edition was mixed by Chris Murphy. The producer was Liam McSheffrey. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Bernadette Keogh. Until next time, goodbye.

Toyota is the best resale value brand for 2025, according to kellybluebookskbb.com. And with a wide range of dependable vehicles for any lifestyle, you can get everything you need in a vehicle today while investing in tomorrow. So choose Toyota and choose value. Shop by at toyota.com for great deals and more. Vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2025 model year. For more information, visit kellybluebookskbb.com. Kelly Blue Book is a registered trademark of Kelly Blue Book Co. Inc.

Toyota, let's go places.