The US under Trump has conducted large-scale military strikes in Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Trump has assented to a Russia sanctions bill that could potentially increase tariffs on India from 50% to 500% if passed. Cricket has become the latest ground for rising tensions between India and Bangladesh. And the Supreme Court has denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in what has been called the Delhi riots ‘larger conspiracy’ case, while granting bail to five others. The Wire's Jahnavi Sen discusses all of this with Professor Anuradha Chenoy, who taught at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of The Wire.

Edit notes: The trade referenced at 9:35 is $100 billion.

rom the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor to the sinking ties in India’s neighbourhood, troubling economic indicators and the rising nationalism in our movies: as 2025 draws to a close, The Wire Wrap’s year ender special brings you the highlights of this year in the news. The Wire’s senior political correspondent, Sravasti Dasgupta and deputy editor, Jahnavi Sen are joined by Sushant Singh, consulting editor, The Caravan and Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor, The Wire.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted a saffron flag in Ayodhya this week, at a ceremony to mark the end of Ram Temple construction. The Supreme Court in an advisory opinion said it cannot put a time limit on governors and the president granting assent to state Bills. Booth level officers are reporting immense pressure because of the special intensive revision of voter rolls. India has faced a test series defeat on home turf. The Wire’s Jahnavi Sen is joined by journalist and author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay and The Wire’s Editor Seema Chishti to discuss all of this.

Nitish Kumar has taken oath as chief minister for the tenth time after the NDA swept the Bihar assembly elections winning 202 out of the 243 seats. A Bangladesh court has sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity, leaving questions for India and whether it will hand her over. The UP government has moved court to drop charges against those accused in the 2015 killing of Mohammad Akhlaq. And as the Naxal threat fades with top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma's killing questions remain about the future of Adivasi development. The Wire's Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Ashutosh Bhardwaj, editor, The Wire Hindi and Maya Mirchandani, senior journalist.