Episodes

3h ago

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)

19h ago

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)

1d ago

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)

1d ago

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

2d ago

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)

2d ago

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)

3d ago

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).

3d ago

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)

4d ago

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

4d ago

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 month in the Philippines; and why next year King's College, Cambridge, will have a new choir - of girls. (Photo: Handout photograph of a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur. Credit: MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via Reuters/File Photo)

5d ago

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 Jewish community. Also in the programme: The scourge of forced marriages in Kazakhstan; Donald Trump files his multi-billion dollar law-suit against the BBC; and 250 years after her birth, we'll look at why Jane Austen still means so much around the world. (Photo shows an Israeli flag among candles at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on 16 December 2025. Credit: Hollie Adams/Reuters)

5d ago

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 programme: Investigations continue into the fatal attack on people marking the Jewish festival of Hannukah at Bondi Beach. We bring the latest updates from Australia; and following the election of right winger Jose Antonio Kast to the Chilean presidency, we explore that lasting legacy of cold war dictator Augusto Pinochet. (Picture: Director Rob Reiner and his son Nick Reiner attend AOL Build Presents: "Being Charlie" at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016 in New York. Credit: Rommel Demano/Getty Images)

6d ago

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 humanity" Also in the programme: Ukraine's President Zelensky comes under more pressure to compromise at peace talks in Berlin, Chile elects a far-right leader who is an admirer of the dictator, Augusto Pinochet, and police in Los Angeles investigate the suspected murder of the celebrated Hollywood director, Rob Reiner. (Photo shows Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Australia on 15 December 2025. Credit: Steven Markham/EPA)

6d ago

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 the 2018 Parkland shooting in Florida as a child is on campus when the latest gun attack takes place at Brown University; and the palm tree that's taken sixty years to flower. (Photo: Candles burn following the attack on a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 15, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Flavio Brancaleone)

Dec 9

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 powerful Iran-back militias in Iraq, designated a terrorist organisation by the US and others. In this special edition of the Newshour podcast she speaks to Tim Franks about her ordeal and how she is determined to continue her work on the region. This interview contains some graphic testimony that listeners could find distressing

Nov 23

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that President Trump's 28 point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was drawn up by the US -- contradicting senators who said he told them it was a Russian "wish list". We look into that suggestion. Also in the programme: What do the bandits kidnapping schoolchildren in Nigeria really want? How a celebrated Argentinian writer discovered that her nanny was a KGB agent; and the BBC's climate correspondent shares some reflections as the COP climate talks come to an end. (Photo: Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a high-rise residential building in Ternopil, western Ukraine, 21 November 2025. Credit: Maxym Marusenko EPA/Shutterstock)

Aug 12

Amid the devastation in Gaza, remarkable stories of hope and resilience do emerge. Sixteen-year-old Sama Nijm, a gifted violinist from Gaza, is using music to bring comfort and healing to the youngest victims of the conflict. Some of the children have lost their parents, and in some cases, their limbs or arms. BBC Newsday's Charlene Rodrigues spoke to Sama, and began by asking her what inspired her to become a violin teacher in the midst of war.

Jun 10

Nine people have been killed and many injured in a school shooting in the southern Austrian city of Graz. The shooter also killed himself, and has been identified as a former pupil. Also, Donald Trump sends in the Marines as the president's crackdown on undocumented migrants clashes with California's policy as a Sanctuary State, Syria's jailers under President Assad speak to the BBC anonymously about what they did and those who suffered, plus good news for biodiversity and precious coral reefs in the Zanzibar archipelago, as two new Marine Protected Areas are announced. (IMAGE: General view of the Dreierschutzengasse high school following a shooting in Graz, Austria, 10 June 2025 / CREDIT: Antonio Bat /EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)