Foreign
Jimmy Carter’s funeral brings together 5 current and former US presidents to honor one of their own
As they filed into the front pews at Washington National Cathedral, wearing dark suits and mostly solemn faces, five current and former presidents came together for Jimmy Carter’s funeral. During a service that stretched more than an hour, the feuding, grievances and enmity that had marked their rival campaigns and divergent politics gave way to a reverential moment for one of their own.
Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the first two of the group to take their seats Thursday, shook hands and chatted at length. Trump, the former president who will retake the Oval Office in 11 days, leaned in and listened intently to his predecessor, notwithstanding the political chasm between them. At times, the two flashed smiles.
Trump later returned to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida Thursday night to meet with Republican governors and refused to say what he and Obama discussed, but joked, “It did look very friendly, I must say.”
“I didn’t realize how friendly it looked. I said, ‘Boy they look like two people who like each other and we probably do,” he said. “We have little different philosophies, right, but we probably do.”
The president-elect added, “I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
Obama, who attended Carter’s funeral without his wife, Michelle, shared a second-row pew with former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with their spouses. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived last and sat in the pew just in front of them.
Members of the exclusive presidents’ club were on their best behavior. Bonded by the presidency, they rarely criticize one another or the White House’s current occupant — though Trump has flouted those rules frequently. He has both praised and criticized Carter in recent days, and he complained that flags will still be at half-staff to honor the deceased president during his inauguration.
In one seemingly chilly moment, Trump looked up when Vice President Kamala Harris — whom he defeated in November’s hard-fought election — entered the cathedral, but he didn’t move to greet her as she and husband Doug Emhoff took seats directly in front of him and Melania Trump. Nor did Harris acknowledge him.
After the service, Emhoff made a point to turn around and shake hands with Trump.
Obama, with Trump on his left, also turned to his right to chat with Bush. Clinton, with wife Hillary, was the last of the ex-presidents to take a seat and got in some chatter with Bush as well.
The White House said the former presidents also met privately before taking their seats. There was no word on what was said then, though Trump said later of its participants, “We all got along very well.”
Funerals are among the few events that bring members of the presidents’ club together. In a way, former President Gerald Ford was there, too: Ford’s son Steven read a eulogy for Carter that Ford had written before he died in 2006.
Busy with personal pursuits, charitable endeavors and sometimes lucrative speaking gigs, the former leaders don’t mingle often. They all know the protocol of state funerals well — each has been involved in planning his own.
During the 2018 funeral for George H.W. Bush, then-President Trump sat with his predecessors and their spouses, including the Carters, and the interactions were stiff and sometimes awkward.
This time, Trump also didn’t appear to interact with Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in the 2016 election.
Trump was seated in the pew in front of his former vice president, Mike Pence — one of the few times they have coincided at events since Pence refused to overturn the results of the 2020 election after Trump lost to Biden. The two shook hands but didn’t speak much beyond that. Pence’s wife, Karen, appeared to avoid engaging with the president-elect.
Trump, who largely avoided contact with the former presidents during his first term — and pointedly did not seek their advice — has been critical of Republican former presidents, particularly the Bush family, which made him an uneasy member of the former presidents’ club. Carter himself didn’t particularly relish being a member of the club, at times criticizing its staid traditions.
Many past presidents have built relationships with their predecessors, including Bill Clinton, who reached out to Richard Nixon for advice on Russian policy, and Harry S. Truman, who sought counsel from Herbert Hoover.
One of the first calls Obama made after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was to George W. Bush to spread the word that the mission had been accomplished, said Kate Andersen Brower, author of “Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump.”
“It’s the loneliest job in the world, so usually they reach out and rely on each other,” said Andersen Brower. “But Trump didn’t have that the first term, so this will just be another four years where he doesn’t depend on anyone who came before him.”
She noted that Carter spent years as a proud Washington outsider and skipped the unveiling of his own portrait to avoid being in the same room with the man who beat him in 1980, President Ronald Reagan.
“Carter and Trump, even though they have the least in common about everything else, are similar,” Andersen Brower said, “in just how they approach telling what they actually think.”
A Cessna 550 Citation Bravo carrying Brazilian singer Rey Vaqueiro and seven other people has overrun the runway while landing at Parelhas Airport in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
The aircraft, with registration PP-WMO, was involved in the incident during the early hours of Sunday, September 13, according to aviation news platform FL360aero, which reported the incident in a post on X.
The aircraft reportedly ran beyond the runway while landing at the airport and subsequently caught fire, with both engines said to have been engulfed in flames.
Firefighters battled the blaze for approximately five hours before it was brought under control.
All eight people on board, comprising six passengers and two crew members, reportedly evacuated the aircraft.
Some of the occupants were said to have sustained minor injuries, while no serious injuries were reported.
The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by Brazil’s Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA).
The incident involved a Cessna 550 Citation Bravo, a business jet commonly used for private and charter flights.
More flights are expected to be delayed in the United Kingdom (UK) after a technical problem with the country’s air traffic control system led to more than 2,000 cancellations.
A total of 291 flights were cancelled on Wednesday after 1,750 were cancelled on Tuesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by the disruption.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK’s air traffic control provider, blamed the disruption on a technical glitch. Its chief executive, Martin Rolfe, apologised and said a full investigation would be carried out.
He admitted that resolving the problem had taken “longer than hoped”.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the outage as “unacceptable”, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe to explain what happened.
The disruption affected several major UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. Airports in Ireland also reported disruption.
At Heathrow, departures were initially paused on Tuesday before operations resumed and then faced further disruption later in the day.
Heathrow said its operations were recovering on Wednesday but warned passengers of further delays because aircraft and crew needed to be repositioned.
Gatwick also said flights had resumed but warned that it would take time for operations to return fully to normal.
Passengers have been advised to check directly with their airlines before travelling to airports. Heathrow said passengers should only travel if they have a confirmed flight.
The technical fault affected NATS’ flight data processing system. Rolfe said it was not the same system that failed during a major disruption in 2023.
However, the latest incident is the third technical problem experienced by NATS in three years. A computer shutdown in 2023 caused widespread disruption affecting around 700,000 passengers, while another outage in 2025 resulted in about 150 cancellations.
Airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air have called for changes to NATS. Wizz Air UK managing director Yvonne Moynihan said the company needed to consider whether NATS was “fit for purpose”.
Despite the disruption, Rolfe defended the UK’s air traffic control system, saying it remained one of the best in the world.
However, former NATS air traffic control manager Doug Maclean said repeated failures were undermining the system’s reputation.
Even though the technical issue has been resolved, passengers are expected to face further disruption because of the backlog of flights, aircraft and crew.
NATS said it was working to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.
(BBC News)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be working royals allowed to carry out official engagements now they have returned to the UK, a letter sent on behalf of King Charles spells out.
The letter is intended to clarify the status of Prince Harry and Meghan, who moved back from California with children Archie and Lilibet last month.
They will still not be able to use titles of “His and Her Royal Highness”, and remain “private citizens”, says the letter sent on behalf of the King by the Lord Chamberlain, a top Palace official.
It comes as Prince Harry appears to have been pictured for the first time since his return, with a photo on social media showing him at a London TV and podcast studio.
The King’s letter has been sent to Prince Harry’s team, government departments, military officials and Lord Lieutenants, according to Palace sources.
Lord Lieutenants, who are the monarch’s local representatives, and government staff are often involved in royal visits and engagements.
This letter makes clear that any engagements carried out by the Sussexes will be in a private capacity and they will not be representing the Royal Family.
It seems to be something of a shot across the bows, making clear that any Prince Harry and Meghan visits should not be treated as royal engagements.
This comes ahead of what are likely to be public appearances by the Sussexes this autumn, as they settle in the UK and support their charities.
The couple have kept a low profile, but the first picture of Prince Harry since coming back to the UK appears to have been posted on the social media account of Tower Bridge Studios in London.
The message from the King emphasises that the position agreed in 2020 when the Sussexes left the UK – the so-called Sandringham Agreement – is still in place.
This ruled out any “half-in and half-out” status, so Harry and Meghan could not pursue their own commercial interests while continuing to be working royals.
“It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” the letter says.
The letter sent on behalf of the King makes it clear that this remains the case.
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” it adds.
The King’s message says that any questions from organisations about the reception to be given to the Sussexes, “particularly where recourse to public funds may be required, should be directed to Buckingham Palace”.
Prince Harry and Meghan faced an acrimonious departure from the UK in 2020, which they chronicled in their Netflix documentary.
They established their financial independence in California, including Prince Harry writing a best-selling memoir Spare and Meghan creating an online food range, As Ever.
This summer the couple made a surprise return to the UK, where their children will be going to school.
It’s expected that Prince Harry will be supporting his charities, including the Invictus Games, which are due to be held in Birmingham next year.
There have been reports that Meghan is considering a return to acting.
Disputes about Prince Harry and Meghan’s security in the UK remain unresolved and the letter spells out: “Any operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant police authorities.”
Prince Harry has complained about a lack of adequate police protection in the UK, but the Palace says that has to be addressed by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee – known as Ravec – which decides security for royals and public figures.
Palace sources have suggested it was better to make the Lord Chamberlain’s letter public, in a spirit of transparency, rather than risk it emerging in leaks.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s representatives have been contacted for a response.
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