BBC

Videos capturing the joy and emotion of families reuniting at Dublin Airport for the festive season have received thousands of views online. We speak to the team behind the cameras to find out why they wanted to share the messages of love.

Also: meet the 'bubbliest' wedding judge in Texas. Judge Adam Swartz has gone viral for his ceremonies. We visit two rare grapefruit trees serving as a memorial to a community elder, who brought them from Grenada to the UK. Plus, a new world record for the number of golden retrievers in the same place at the same time and... knock, knock... it's time for a Christmas carol. Our weekly collection of inspiring, uplifting and happy news from around the world.

Presenter: Celia Hatton. Music composed by Iona Hampson.

In February, American President Donald Trump signed an executive order which said that South African Afrikaners - descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who arrived in the 17th Century - could be admitted as refugees in the USA as they were "victims of unjust racial discrimination". President Trump’s move to prioritise the resettlement of white South African farmers reignited global controversy when he referenced what he has described as a “genocide” against white farmers. Thousands of South Africans have now applied for refugee status in the USA, and are waiting to potentially relocate there. Farmers in South Africa are predominantly white, but farmers and farm workers of all races fear theft and violent crime in the country. Claire Mawisa is a reporter for BBC Africa Eye and recently travelled to meet farmers in South Africa.

Kings, or chiefs, in Ghana don't hold much formal or political power, but they are hugely important to people and hold a lot of cultural and social influence. But there are also powerful royal women in Ghana. They've held power in certain parts of the country for a long time, but it seems their influence is now on the rise. It is a story that caught the eye of Stefania Okereke of BBC Focus on Africa.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Laura Thomas.

After months of political wrangling, parts of the long-awaited Epstein files have been released by the US Justice Department. The trove consists of thousands of documents related to the late sex-offender. Pictures include the former US President Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - Britain's former prince, musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. Being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing. The justice department did not release all existing files, and the published ones were heavily redacted, prompting frustrated reactions from survivors of Epstein's abuse.

Also: the US carries out dozens of strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria. Anti-government youth protesters in South Korea are taking cues from the American right's MAGA movement. Italy announces a fee for tourists to visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Putin vows revenge on Ukraine after an oil tanker was blown up in the Mediterranean Sea. Palestinians tell the BBC they were sexually abused in Israeli prisons. And how a lost radio play by Tennessee Williams was found more than four decades after his death, and has now been heard for the first time.

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.

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It is peak season for avalanches in the northern hemisphere and three survivors share their experiences of being cuaght up in one in the US and Pakistan while skiing and climbing.

The Australian government says it will crack down on hate speech following the deadly shooting that targeted a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach. People had come together to celebrate Hanukkah when two gunmen opened fire, killing fifteen people.

Australia’s new laws aim to target those who spread “hate, division and radicalisation". In our conversations, Jewish Australians discuss their personal experiences of antisemitism in Australia.

“You see the arson, you see the graffiti, you see the protests, you see the slogans, you see the people delegitimising Israel and its right to exist,” Sharon tells us. “And the jump is, unfortunately, not that far for people to then delegitimise the right of Jews to be in this country.”

Reports from across the world suggest that antisemitism is on the rise, particularly since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. We also bring together Jews in the US, Belgium and Germany who share their experiences of attacks on their community, and discuss what can be done about it.

Presenter: James Reynolds

Money Box takes a special look at how victims of fraud are treated by those supposed to help them in the weeks and months afterwards. How are they helped in their fight for justice by the police, their banks and the courts? Or are they all too often left struggling to deal with both the financial and mental impact on their own? We also hear how a small regional charity in the UK has partnered with police to be there for victims when the spotlight of the original crime has faded.

Parents who lost their child benefit because HMRC wrongly believed they had left the country deserved better treatment according to a senior MP. Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, made the comments after the tax office stripped payments from almost 24,000 families after it used travel data to conclude they had left the UK permanently. As we previously reported, some of those people had simply been on holiday. HMRC says it took swift action and that, where there was evidence that customers had continued UK employment, it reinstated payments automatically without any need for customer contact and those payments have been backdated.

As the Budget draws nearer how do frozen tax thresholds already impact people and how might that change on Wednesday?

Plus, if you've got significant savings in a UK bank or building society or credit union, the level of protection you’d have if one of them goes bust is to rise from £85k to £120k – how will that work?

Presenter: Felicity Hannah

Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner

Researcher: Eimear Devlin

Editor: Jess Quayle

Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 22nd November 2025)

The US justice department has released some of the so-called Epstein files - the long-awaited documents related to its investigations into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The justice department faced a legal deadline to release the files by Friday, following months of pressure on Trump from both inside and outside his party. A number of famous faces are pictured - including former US President Bill Clinton, and musicians Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Also on the programme: Two Palestinian men have told the BBC they were beaten and sexually abused by prison guards while in Israeli detention.

And we hear live from Miami ahead of the controversial boxing bout between influencer Jake Paul and former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Ukraine's position has been strengthened by a €90bn loan agreed by the EU after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets. But is it enough to keep the country going?

In Sri Lanka, the International Monetary Fund has also approved a $206 million in emergency financing to help the country rebuild after a devastating cyclone. What will taking on more debt mean for the country's future debt sustainability?

Elsewhere, the former Chair of the independent board of Ben & Jerry's ice cream independent board has told World Business Report she was forced out by the company's owners, Magnum Ice Cream, following years of tension over Ben & Jerry’s outspoken social activism.

Also, Sony has more than doubled its stake in Peanuts, bringing Snoopy and Charlie Brown under its corporate umbrella, while the creator's family keeps the remaining 20% share.

(Photo: A serviceman of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade prepares to launch a Darts middle range strike unmanned aerial vehicle towards Russian troops. Credit: December 16, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova)

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

Writer: Sarah Hehir

Director: Pip Swallow

Editor: Jeremy Howe

14th - 19th Dec

Ben Archer.... Ben Norris

David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck

Helen Archer.... Louiza Patikas

Pat Archer.... Patricia Gallimore

Tony Archer.... David Troughton

Tom Archer.... William Troughton

Chris Carter.... Wilf Scolding

Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin

Martyn Gibson.... Jon Glover

Clarrie Grundy.... Heather Bell

Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond

Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison

Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan

Tracy Horrobin.... Susie Riddell

Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye

Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly

Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey