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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 th...

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 M...

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 Sun...

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 Secr...

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 congressm...

Researchers from Yale University say there's evidence that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been trying to cover up mass killings in the Sudanese city of El Fasher by burning and burying bodies. We hear from one of the researchers who analysed satellite images of the area. Also in the programme: the gunmen who carried out the deadly Bondi Beach attack in Australia spent most of last mont...

Australian Jews are now fearing for their safety after the Bondi beach shooting in Sydney, a survivor has told the BBC. One of the two men suspected of carrying out a mass shooting at Bondi Beach was originally from southern India but had "limited contact" with his family there, police sources have said. We'll look at what's emerging from the investigation and what the attack means for Australia's...

Nick Reiner, the son of Rob Reiner, has been arrested and is in custody after the legendary Hollywood director and actor and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home. We speak to Rob and Michele's friend Kris Perry, who served as the plaintiff in a landmark case to overturn California's gay marriage, about the lasting impact of the couples activism. Also in the prog...

As Australia mourn the victims of a shooting, during a Jewish holiday gathering at Bondi Beach, its prime minister pledges solidarity. Anthony Albanese says the attackers were not part of a terror cell, but "clearly, they were motivated by this extremist ideology". The father of a Syrian bystander who was filmed wrestling a gun off an attacker has told the BBC he was driven by "conscience and huma...

Several gunmen attacked Jews celebrating the start of Hanukkah on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. One gunman is dead and a second suspect is in critical condition. We hear from an eyewitness, the local member of parliament, and from a senior figure in Australia's Jewish community. Also on the programme: a communist candidate takes on the far right in a presidential run-off in Chile; the woman caught up in t...

Eleven people have been shot dead in an antisemitic shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach which targeted a Hanukkah celebration. Twenty nine people were taken to hospital including two police officers who are in a serious condition. We hear from an eyewitness, the local member of parliament, and from a senior figure in Australia's Jewish community. Also in the programme: we hear from Chile, where a Com...

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...

After more clashes on the Thai-Cambodian border, we ask a Cambodian official whether the dispute will escalate. Also in the programme: four months ahead of the elections in Hungary, why has child protection become such a key issue? And as Israel plans to build a new road and barrier in the occupied West Bank, we hear from the head of the UN’s Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territo...

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

According to the UN's humanitarian affairs agency, more than 800,000 displaced Gazans could be affected by flooding, as a winter storm surges along the coast. Most of them are living in tents. Also in the programme: we meet the man who smuggled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado out of Venezuela; and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 is the clear winner in the world's top gaming awards, so why has a...

The Trump administration is ramping up its efforts to derail the government of President Nicolas Maduro, which he has accused of turning Venezuela into a "drug-running regime". The leader of the country's opposition, Maria Corina Machado, travelled to Norway in secret to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. We ask if her influence could wane now that she is out of the country. Also in the programme: int...

The Nobel Peace Prize winner arrives in Oslo after a clandestine journey from her hiding place in Venezuela. We hear the inside story of how she slipped out of the country. Also in the programme: French police's crackdown on drug gangs in Marseilles, and a rare public display for Mary Queen of Scots' final letter before execution. (Photo: Maria Corina Machado waving at her supporters from a balcon...

President Trump has said the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela - an operation reported to have been led by the US Coastguard. The seizure is certain to increase tensions between the United States and Venezuela, which is already being threatened by the deployment of a US fleet. Oil futures rose following news of the seizure. Also in the programme: tourists from more than forty...

A sperm donor who unknowingly harboured a genetic mutation that dramatically raises the risk of cancer has fathered at least 197 children across Europe, a major investigation has revealed. Also on the programme, 5alf a million people have been forced from their homes in Thailand and Cambodia as their deadly border conflict escalates; and, the politics of typeface fonts.(Photo: Getty)

In a wide-ranging interview with the Politico news website, President Trump said "decaying" European countries had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end Ukraine's war with Russia, accusing them of letting Kyiv fight "until they drop". We hear from a German parliamentarian and envoy. Also in the programme: A revolutionary gene therapy has successfully treated patients with prev...

The Thai military said there were clashes in five border provinces, and three of its soldiers had been killed since hostilities resumed. Cambodia says Thai attacks have killed seven civilians. We explain why this has happened. Also on the programme: in Australia, the law banning children under 16 years from social media has come into effect - one of the most dramatic moves so far by a government a...

An Israeli-Russian woman held for two and half years by militants in Iraq has told the BBC how she was trussed and hung from the ceiling, whipped, sexually abused and electrocuted. Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was freed in September, suffered extreme abuse for over 100 days, leaving her physically and mentally scarred. Elizabeth believes she was held by members of Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most power...

Syria celebrates a year since the fall of Assad, and an end to a brutal fifty-year dictatorship. But what sort of rule and what sort of future does Syria face? Also in the programme: Ukraine's President Zelensky pleads for Europe and the US to remain to united over ending the war with Russia – we hear from former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt; how China's trade surplus hit a trillion dollars;...

Syrians are holding celebrations to mark the first anniversary since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power after a lightning rebel offensive. Also on the programme, President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet key European leaders in London amid peace negotiations; and, the making of the very first dictionary of ancient Celtic.

UN human rights investigators have said that the cycles of vengeance and reprisal must be brought to an end in Syria, as the country commemorates the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. A UN independent commission of inquiry commended the steps taken by Syria's new leadership to address the crimes and abuses of the Assad era. But it said violent incidents in the past year had ra...