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BBC World Service

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

Newshour

There are reports that the US coastguard may be trying to intercept another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, but why is US oil firm Chevron still operating in the country?

Also in the programme: Israel's security cabinet approves 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank; and an elegy for the US penny that is no longer being produced after 230 years.

(Photo: Government supporters participate in a protest against US President Donald Trump's order to blockade sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela on 17 December 2025. Credit: Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)

US pursuing another Venezuelan oil tanker

The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has been booed at a ceremony in Sydney to remember the fifteen people who died in the Bondi Beach shooting. A minute's silence was held across the nation to mark the time that the attack began, and candles were lit. Tens of thousands of people gathered at Bondi Beach to pay their respects to those who were killed when two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish celebration a week ago.

Also in the programme: The US seizes another oil tanker in the Caribbean; and Morocco prepares for the start of the Africa Cup of Nations. 
 
(Photo: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the 'Light Over Darkness' vigil honouring victims and survivors of a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, in Sydney, Australia, December 21, 2025. CREDIT: REUTERS/Hollie Adams)

Thousands gather at Bondi Beach to pay their respects

We get reaction to the Epstein files, which were released on Friday but were heavily redacted and represent only a fraction of the number held by the FBI. There is more information, but are Epstein survivors satisfied that enough is being done? We are joined by Lisa Bryant, director and executive producer of a Netflix documentary series titled Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.

Also on today’s programme: President Zelensky says he is open to US proposals for direct talks with Russia, though there are conditions; will the prizefighter vs YouTuber bout change boxing? And a new lemon-shaped planet has been discovered -- and it’s really weird.

A sheet of redacted pages in connection with late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is shown on a computer screen (19 December, 2025. U.S. Justice Department/Reuters)

Epstein victims and lawmakers criticise number of files released and redactions

The US justice department has released a tranche of some of the so-called Epstein files, including photos of the interiors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's homes, his overseas travels and celebrities. Survivors and some US politicians have criticised the release as incomplete, overly-redacted and providing no context of when and where photos were taken. We hear from survivor Marina Lacerda.
 
Also in the programme: US fighter jets attack targets linked to Islamic State in Syria; and a rare sighting of a "pink" platypus in Australia.
 
(Photo: Undated handout photo issued by the US Department of Justice of a photograph appearing to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor reclining across the laps of five people. It has been released in the latest tranche of Epstein files. He appears to be smiling with his eyes closed and his head nearly resting on a woman's lap while Ghislaine Maxwell (now a convicted associate of Epstein) stands above peering and smiling in the undated picture. Issue date: Friday December 19, 2025. PA Photo)

Politicians and survivors criticise Epstein file release

The US justice department has released hundreds of thousands of highly anticipated documents related to Jeffrey Epstein ahead of a Congressional deadline. The issue divided the Republican Party after the department initially refused to publish the files, despite President Trump's campaign promises.
 
Also in the programme: President Putin says Russia is ready to end the conflict in Ukraine, but only on his terms; and a comet, that's only the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, is making its closest approach to Earth.

Photo: One of the Epstein files released today in Washington, DC USA Credit: US Department of Justice

The US justice department releases Epstein files

European Union leaders have agreed to loan Ukraine $100bn to cover the cost of its military and public services, but they failed to reach on a deal on using frozen Russian assets.

They instead opted to secure the oan against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets. What signal does that send to Moscow?

Also in the programme: We'll hear from the Ukrainian widows cut off from compensation because their soldier husbands took their own lives; excitement builds in Morocco as it prepares to host Africa's biggest football tournament; why the boxing influencer Jake Paul may be risking more than his reputation in tonight's big fight.

(Photo shows Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen, European Council president Antonio Costa, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the EU Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium on 19 December 2025. Credit: Olivier Hoslet/EPA)

EU leaders agree Ukraine loan

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says key parts of the Ukrainian war machine will have to be scaled back unless Europe approves the use of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv.

Also on the programme: the EU's top court rules that Denmark's 2018 "ghetto law," which relocates residents from minority-heavy areas, could amount to ethnic discrimination; and what could the new documentary about Melania Trump tell us about the American first lady?

(Photo: A woman holds a banner as people demonstrate outside the European Commission in support of using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine. Credit: Reuters)

Zelensky urges EU to reach deal on Russia's frozen assets

Volodymyr Zelensky is urging European Union leaders gathered at a crunch summit in Brussels to loan billions of euros in frozen Russian money to fund Ukraine's military and economic needs.

But there's opposition from some countries fearful of Russian retribution. We'll have the latest.

Also in the programme: the Australian government announces new legislation to combat anti-semitism, following Sunday's mass shooting in Sydney; YouTube buys the TV rights to the Oscars; and ghosting in the jobs market - why are some companies advertising roles that probably don't exist?

(Photo shows Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference at the EU Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on 18 December 2025. Credit: Olivier Hoslet/EPA).

EU leaders meet to try to keep Ukraine afloat

The head of the World Health Organisation has called for the immediate and unconditional release of health workers who are believed to be detained in south- western Sudan. The Sudanese Doctors Network fears about 19,000 people could be held by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala, South Darfur. We hear from a journalist there about the situation.
 
Also in the programme: The Secret trial of a Chinese General who defied orders to crush the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square; and Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet on his latest film.

(Photograph: Darfuri children in Tine refugee camp. Credit: Reuters)

Sudan conflict: Thousands detained by RSF in South Darfur

President Trump says he's ordered a total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela. In a social media post, he said the US military build-up near Venezuela would only get bigger and described the government of Nicolas Maduro as a terrorist organisation. The Venezuelan government has accused President Trump of launching warlike threats. We hear from a US Democrat congressman. 

 
Also in the programme: The EU waters down its plan to end new petrol and diesel car sales by by 2035 and we hear how the Hollywood star, Timothee Chalamet, spent seven years mastering table tennis for his latest film role in Marty Supreme

Photo: US President Donald J Trump speaks at a round-table with high-tech business executives in Washington DC, USA Credit: AARON SCHWARTZ/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

Trump orders blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers

Belarus has freed 123 prisoners, including prominent opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, after the US agreed to lift sanctions on the country. Also on the programme, Cambodia has shut its border crossings with Thailand, as fighting continues despite US President Donald Trump earlier saying they had agreed to a ceasefire; and, how the British novelist Charles Dickens is being celebrated this Christmas in a small Dutch town.

(Belarus released over 100 political prisoners form prison, Vilnius, Lithuania - 13 Dec 2025. VALDA KALNINA/EPA/Shutterstock)

Belarus frees 123 prisoners as US lifts sanctions

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