Jimmy Carter: Former US president’s six-day state funeral starts with procession – as mourners gather for service
Six days of funeral events are under way for the former US president Jimmy Carter as a service took place in Atlanta on Saturday.
The 100-year-old Democrat, who served one term in office from 1977 to 1981, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family on 29 December. He was the oldest living former US president.
A motorcade with his flag-draped coffin set off from the Phoebe Sumter Medical Centre in Americus, where ex-Secret Service agents who protected him served as pallbearers and walked alongside the hearse as it left the campus.
Former Secret Service agents assigned to protect Jimmy Carter carry his coffin to a hearse. Pic: AP
His family, including his four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, accompanied him in a procession that took his body through Plains and past his boyhood home on his family farm in nearby Archery.
Members of the National Park Service watch as the hearse passes through Jimmy Carter’s boyhood farm in Archery, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
There, the National Park Service rang the old farm bell 39 times to honour his time as the 39th president.
People lined the procession route in central Plains, near the train depot where Mr Carter had his presidential campaign headquarters.
Crowds watch the hearse leaving Phoebe Sumter Medical Centre in Americus, Georgia. Pic: AP
Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins with Mr Carter’s photo.
“We want to pay our respects,” said Will Porter Shelbrock, 12, who was born more than three decades after Mr Carter left the White House in 1981.
“He was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.”
Read more:
‘Jimmy who?’ The US president 1970s America needed
Tributes to ‘extraordinary leader‘
Pic: The Carter Centre
A service took place at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. Pic: Reuters
The motorcade made its way to Atlanta, where there was a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol, and later a ceremony took place at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.
His body will remain at the Carter Presidential Centre until Tuesday, when he will be flown to Washington DC to lie in state at the US Capitol.
His state funeral begins on Thursday at 10am at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.
He will be buried near his home, next to his late wife Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023.
Pic: AP
They were both born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the city, apart from Mr Carter’s navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.
Last year, on his 100th birthday, Mr Carter received a private congratulatory message from the King, expressing admiration for his life of public service.
Jimmy Carter’s coffin passes his boyhood farm in Archery, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
Mr Carter became president when he defeated former president Gerald Ford in 1976.
The Georgia native and former peanut farmer was later beaten by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.
The final year of Mr Carter’s administration was dominated by a hostage crisis in Iran, when 52 Americans were taken captive at the US embassy in November 1979.
Pic: Reuters
On the day he left office, 20 January 1981, the hostages were released. Mr Carter had continued negotiations behind the scenes, even after his election defeat.
In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to avoid conflict around the world.
Mr Carter conducted diplomatic missions into his 80s and was involved in building houses for the poor well into his 90s.
Following his death, former president Bill Clinton and his wife, the ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, led tributes to Mr Carter, who they first met during his campaign in 1975, giving “thanks for his long, good life”.
“Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others – until the very end,” they said in a statement.
White House incumbent Joe Biden said: “Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.”
President-elect Donald Trump said the challenges Mr Carter faced as president “came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans”.
“For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” he said in a statement.
Former US president Joe Biden has prostate cancer, his office has said.
The statement said Mr Biden, who left the White House in January, is reviewing options for treatment with his physicians.
It read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
File pic: Reuters
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and the disease is “likely to grow quickly”.
A source familiar with Mr Biden and his family’s thinking has told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that the former president is considering “multiple treatment options” – including hormone treatment for the cancer.
They added he is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that as of now, it is unclear where the former president will be treated.
Mr Biden, 82, was the oldest person to ever serve as president, with concerns about his health raised regularly during his campaign for re-election last year.
After a poor debate against Donald Trump in June, he withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway