BBC News

Today, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has given a very broad and far reaching interview to the New Statesman which some are seeing as an attack on Starmer’s leadership.

Adam, Chris, Faisal and Alex discuss this, as well as the on going pressure on the PM. Plus, the team also pick out something we should be looking out for in 2026 in politics.

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After Donald Trump's incendiary interview this week, in which he called European leaders "weak" and questioned Ukraine's commitment to democracy, current messaging from the White House appears to be aligned with longstanding Kremlin rhetoric. So as Europe's 'coalition of the willing' assemble for a new round of talks, can they level the playing field for Ukraine in peace negotiations?

On this episode of Ukrainecast, Jamie Coomarasamy and Vitaly Shevchenko are joined by BBC Verify's Olga Robinson and Russia editor Steve Rosenberg to answer your questions. Could Ukraine really hold wartime elections? Have any western assets been frozen by Moscow? And will Russia ever pay reparations for its invasion?

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The rescue operation to get Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado out of Venezuela involved disguises, two boats through choppy seas and a flight, the man who says he led it told the BBC.

Dubbed Operation Golden Dynamite, the dangerous journey was cold, wet and long - but the "formidable" Machado didn't complain once, said Bryan Stern, a US special forces veteran and founder of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation.

Despite the risks, Machado arrived safely in Oslo, Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize just before midnight on Wednesday.

Machado had been living in hiding in her own country since Venezuela's widely disputed elections last year, and hadn't been seen in public since January. Her grown-up children, who she hadn't seen in two years, were in Oslo to greet her.

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The Trump administration has been defending its seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast.

In a dramatic video shared by the US Attorney General, armed camouflaged soldiers are shown swinging down ropes from low flying helicopters, and running along the vessel’s decks.

The US claims the tanker is used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran in an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations". The Venezuela government in response has called the seizure blatant theft, claiming Trump is after the country’s rich oil and energy resources.

In this episode, Sarah and Justin unpack how far Donald Trump is willing to go in his ongoing campaign against the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

In recent months, the US president has accused Maduro of “forcing” criminals into the US and facilitating drug smuggling, which Maduro denies. And this week, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the killing of over 80 people in US military strikes on alleged drug boats as the “Al Qaeda of our hemisphere”.

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More photos from the estate of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have been released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.

The photos include images of US President Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Steve Bannon.

There is no suggestion that these pictures imply any wrongdoing and many of those featured in them have denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

Some of the images have been seen before. With others it's unclear where and when the photos were taken or who took them.

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Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro says escalating pressure from the US comes down to one thing: Washington wants to grab the South American nation's vast oil reserves.

This week, the American military seized an oil tanker, which was allegedly carrying Venezuelan oil being shipped in violation of US sanctions, and threatened action against other ships.

The move followed a series of military strikes on Venezuelan boats, which the US alleges are drug-trafficking vessels. President Donald Trump has called on Maduro to leave office, accusing him of sending narcotics and murderers to the US.

So is it Venezuela's oil that Trump really wants? And would it actually be worth it?

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In Marseille, locals talk of a state of panic and terror gripping the city. Rival drug gangs are now using automatic weapons in their turf wars - and using teenagers too.

The number of children involved has risen sixfold in recent years. Many are forced into debt, beaten and threatened.

The city’s prosecutor called it a kind of slavery. Among the latest gang-related deaths, a fifteen year old boy was shot in the head and set on fire.

French police are carrying out what they call “bombardments” of certain areas, trying to drive the dealers out. But the trade is being amplified on social media – where drugs and gang jobs are routinely advertised.

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With the announcement that the two-child benefit cap will be scrapped in full from next April, a member of the Question Time audience in Paisley, Scotland, asked: "Is lifting the two-child benefit cap fair to taxpayers?".

Panellists discussed the matter, featuring the SNP's Stephen Flynn, Labour's Anas Sarwar, Conservative Russell Findlay, Reform UK's Lord Malcolm Offord, and journalist Angela Haggerty.

Catch up with the whole of the debate with BBC Question Time on iPlayer and Sounds now.

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US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro's government.

Speaking at the White House, President Donald Trump said the tanker was "the largest one ever seized".

Footage released by the US government showed armed soldiers boarding the vessel, which Attorney General Pam Bondi said was used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

Caracas denounced the action, calling it an act of "international piracy".

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Today, the number of people in hospital with the flu has risen by more than half this week.

Doctors say an earlier start to the flu season plus an unexpected mutation in this years primary strain has led to a lower rate of immunity amongst the general public for this time of year.

BBC health editor Hugh Pym and Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist from the UK Health Security Agency breakdown the data.

Plus, US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in an escalation of the US government’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

The news came as Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado collected her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, appearing despite a travel ban and a threat from the Venezuelan government that she would be labelled as a fugitive

BBC News presenter, Lucy Hockings and Latin America editor for BBC Online Vanessa Buschschlüter explain the situation in Venezuela and the story behind Miss Machado’s journey to Oslo.