BBC

There’s a tradition among poets to write a poem to put inside the Christmas cards they send. So, the BBC World Service has commissioned one specially from the poet, dramatist and novelist, Michael Symmons Roberts whose Christian faith is important to his identity and work. But his art is not a direct expression of this, and instead he follows the poet Emily Dickinson’s instruction to ‘Tell all the truth but tell it slant’.

Michael has just become a grandfather, so feels keenly the happiness of the arrival of a cherished child, creating a parallel between his own life and the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus. For In the Studio Julian May follows Michael’s creative process as he grapples huge spiritual and personal themes – distilling them to a length which can fit on a Christmas card: a daunting but joyful task.

The programme begins with London’s Oxford Street, where consumerism triggers preparations a full three months before Christmas - and ends with the sealing of the Christmas cards before they are popped into the post box.

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)

Fallon is left shaken, and Ruairi has a Christmas conundrum.

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)

After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Australia tightened its gun laws, and has since been considered a world-leading example by gun control advocates of how to lessen the chances of mass shootings occurring.

However, the mass murder of at least 15 people in an antisemitic attack at Bondi beach on Sunday has again raised the issue of gun access, and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said he is “ready to fight” to strengthen the laws again.

On today’s show, Ariel Bogle, an investigations reporter with Guardian Australia, explains why the number of guns in Australia has been rising, and how stricter laws might be received in the country.

The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Marty Peralta

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Photo of unregistered handguns that were returned to police, near Smederevo, Serbia. Credit: Dimitrije Goll /EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The United States has released dramatic footage of its forces seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, ten days after taking control of another ship in similar circumstances. Washington says the tankers’ oil is funding narco-terrorism, while Caracas accuses the United States of theft and kidnapping.

Also: with just one Israeli hostage’s remains still held by Hamas in Gaza, Israel’s Hostages Family Forum begins winding down its operations. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has ordered a review into the police and intelligence services after the mass shooting at Bondi Beach last week. President Volodymyr Zelensky says he would support direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian teams if it unlocked prisoner swaps or paved the way for negotiations between him and Vladimir Putin. A German engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to travel to space on a Blue Origin rocket. And astronomers marvel at an unusual lemon-shaped exoplanet the size of Jupiter spotted with the James Webb Space Telescope.

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Personal tales of bravery, tragedy, daring and triumph, United in Space unveils the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – building a home among the stars – the International Space Station.

Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, former international director of the UK Space Agency, Dr Alice Bunn charts how nations put aside differences to create the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet that has been home to over 300 people from 24 different nations.

Using mission control audio, news archive and personal stories, Alice illuminates acts of epic survival, humour and selflessness that made the station a reality. She investigates why a near fatal disaster on the Russian Mir space station spurred nations to commit to the ISS. She reveals how a Moscow basement and Hollywood royalty sparked bonding between Russians and Americans. She discovers how quick thinking and plastic tape saved the station, allowing it to grow to the size of a football pitch and how one astronaut came within seconds of drowning in space.

Looking into the future, Alice explores how the legacy of the ISS will be carried on by a new generation of private space stations, which have the power to push back the boundaries of science for the good of all humanity. The reduced gravity offers enormous possibilities from creating materials impossible to create on Earth - these range from ultrafast semiconductors for use in computing, to life-saving vaccines, and most remarkably of all entire human organs for life-saving transplants.

A timely reminder of the extraordinary feats humanity can achieve when we unite and strive for a common goal.

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)

معلولیت گریبان بیش از پانزده درصد جمعیت جوامع را گرفته است. آیا چنین جمعیت بزرگی توانسته یک جنبش جهانی معلولان راه بیندازد؟ اگر نه، چرا؟

میهمان‌ها:

اسکندر آبادی، روزنامه‌نگار

فرید انصاری، فعال مدنی

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)