now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from new york. i m stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture. the buzz in this nation comes from right here in terms of the arts, entertainment, publishing, the media, but what happens in new york when america had s political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident, paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s a pleasure to be in your home, your writing study is just below us, the floor below. just tell me, does it matter to you when you are writing what is going on in the world outside yourfront door? does it affect your writing? well, it depends on what you mean. if there is a fire engine screeching in front of my door, it will interrupt my concentration, and i might go out and see what s going on. but if there is a distant war going on in anothe
life ended all too soon. what happened to your husband, man? i believe he s he s dead. he was laying on the floor, and i got scared. i ran out of the house. a young father murdered in broad daylight. didn t look like a robbery. lots of valuables left behind. lots of secrets too. it kind of just sent chills up my back. something was tearing a family apart. i don t even know where to start. or was it someone? the most cold-blooded evil person. a family feud and an innocent man caught in the middle. you know these shows that poem watch that people see the ghosts of their loved ones? i wanted that so bad. so bad. hello and welcome to dateline. marc despain was a family man, a loving son, devoted husband, father of two boys. he was also a businessman, a real estate appraiser like his parents, and a successful one at that. the money was pouring in, in fact. but family and business, the two rarely seemed to mix. is that what led to marc s death, or was it
getting we went, to pepper pig world. describing the performance is shambolic. describing the performance as shambolic. austria is back in lockdown today. its trying to control a rising covid infection rate. and with new restrictions coming in across europe, we ve seen protests in belgium, austria, italy, the netherlands, switzerland and croatia. once again we re seeing the tension between public health measures and personal freedoms. let s start in austria. tens of thousands of people protested in the capital, vienna, in response to the new national lockdown and to plans that make vaccination a legal requirement. here s the president of the austrian medical association on the decision to do this. here is from february the 1st, vaccination will be mandatory in our country because it is necessary to stop the spread. a police press conferences just started. a police press conferences ust started. , ., ., ., , started. firing his weapon and was takin: a started. firing his we
to do, what will be asked instead. . mommy. a warm welcome to this blustery guardian on the top of a community centre in berlin. where here as we begin our coverage of the german election campaign through to the last day of voting on sunday. of course a german election is always a significant moment. this is one of most powerful countries in europe, one of the most powerful countries in the world. so the selection of a new government does it matter for germans, it matters for visit to eight people across the european union across the world. of course this decision has extra impact this time around. angela merkel has been chancellor of this country since 2005, but she is stepping down. germany will first choose their mps, they will then form a coalition, that coalition will have a leader in that coalition will have a leader in that leader will be the next chancellor. it is a moment of great, great importance. were going to explain to all of the details of how the selection wor
out there. police then an ambulance. what could be but the bitter taste of he is evil. he is not the kind of person that he has the public convinced that he is. jonesboro as both a college town, and a farming town. it tends to the needs of young minds, and rice farmers on the vast plains of sticky fertile western mississippi river. it is where don marc despain went through school with this is the charm. is his mother. he was the only freshman that we know of who was chosen by a senior to go to the senior prom. marc became a high school football star, his sister watched him bring trophies home to lay at the feet of his father, and then, while it s, an old story really. when i was 18 he was 19. we just bumped into each other. pretty michelle, she was sitting on top of the car when mark spotted her one night. before, along pregnant. the way i was brought up, if you got to go pregnant, you married her. that was just what you did. so, there was a