Charlotte Gallagher

China has long used these loans as part of its foreign relations, known worldwide as panda diplomacy. Loaning pandas when things go well, withdrawing them when relations sour. But this farewell comes against a particularly tense backdrop in the Japan-China relations, after the Japanese prime minister, Sanai Takeichi, said that Tokyo would respond militarily if China attacked Taiwan. Comments, of course, that infuriated Beijing.

Now this has cast doubt over whether Japan would be able to secure any new giant pandas once the twins leave. With Xiaoshanlele's departure, Japan will be without any giant pandas for the first time since 1972, the year it normalized diplomatic relations with China and got its first panda loan. Officials here say they have put in a new request. So far there's been no response from Beijing, as fans here wait and hope that diplomacy could avert a potential panda crisis.

That was Shaima Khalil reporting from Tokyo.

And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Charlotte Hazroy-Tajimska and the producers were Muzaffa Shakir and Steven Jensen. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.

Jos journalisti on ensimmäinen historiallinen kirja, mitä tapahtuu, jos se kirja on huono?

In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed. Hundreds killed. But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it. It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories. I'm Helena Merriman, and in a new BBC series, I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story. What did they miss the first time? The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Friday, the 19th of December, these are our main stories.

After years of legal wrangling, TikTok signs a deal to save its future in the US.

Democrats release another batch of photos from the estate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

also in this podcast.

Australia announces a scheme to buy back guns after the Bondi Beach terror attack and how researchers are using drones to investigate the health of whales.

After years of uncertainty, TikTok's future in the US may finally be secured.

The White House branded the social media app a national security threat and gave it two options –

distance itself from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, or be banned in the U.S.

Now TikTok has signed a deal to sell part of its U.S.

business to American investors, as our North America technology correspondent Lily Jamali told me.

And what do you think this says about US-China relations at the moment?

As we record this podcast, it's the eve of the deadline for when the US Justice Department is expected to release the Epstein files.

As Americans wait for those documents to drop, Democrats have made public another 68 photographs from the dead sex offender's estate, showing prominent figures, women's passports and island development plans.