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Up All Night: 12/03/2013

12/03/2013

BBC Radio 5 Live - Up All Night, 12/03/2013

A time for reflection and choice as Cardinals begin electing the next Pope.

We are in Rome as 115 cardinals gather to begin the process to elect the next Pope. We also hear from drivers stranded in their cars following blizzards in the south of England.

News from home and abroad with Rhod Sharp

'A time for prayer and reflection' is how Miguel Díaz -- the first Hispanic ambassador of the United States to the Holy See - describes this time at the Vatican, as 115 cardinals meet to chose the next Pope. He tells Rhod the conclave is an important time for those involved to discuss who and what type of man they want for this 'daunting' task. Whoever is elected, he adds, faces a difficult time with the church and wider human family facing deep challenges. He and the world, he says, will watch and wait for that white smoke to rise.

It may be mid March, but across most of the country, it's been feeling more like mid January. And it's been a miserable night for hundreds of drivers stranded on roads in the south of England. Amber and Becka have been stuck on the A23 for 9 hours, describing the scene as apocalyptic, with abandoned cars everywhere. Chris has spent 6 hours on the same road when we catch up with - wearing nothing warmer than his work suit. Even the experts get caught out. Gloucestershire's chief fire officer Jon Hall joins us at the end of his epic 14 hour journey from Oxford to Brighton. He urges calm, and that people check on those around them, warning he saw one ambulance struggle through the snow for an hour to reach someone. He says if we make sure all those around us are safe and warm, the world will be a better place.

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