Krasivanova Twig

The Global Jigsaw looks at the world through the lens of its media.

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I'm Krasivanova Twig from the Global Jigsaw podcast from the BBC, where we are talking Persian poetry in politics.

With its abundance of lovers and wine, Persian poetry sits uneasily with Iran's theocratic rulers.

Hi, I'm Ankur Desai, and in the early hours of Friday, the 12th of December, these are our main stories.

Donald Trump heaps more pressure against Venezuela, including sanctions against shipping companies and the family of President Nicolas Maduro.

President Zelensky says the fate of land in eastern Ukraine is still a key point of disagreement with Washington over how to end Russia's full-scale invasion.

Also in this podcast, Disney and OpenAI announced a $1 billion deal to allow AI to create short videos of Disney's famous characters from Mickey Mouse to Darth Vader.

The best thing we can do is educate ourselves to try to figure out all the possible revenue streams that can come from AI and just lean into it.

Many football fans react with anger at the cost of tickets for next year's men's World Cup finals.

And cameras attached to killer whales have captured extraordinary footage of whales swimming and foraging with dolphins and catching fish together.

The United States has imposed new sanctions on relatives of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, as well as a businessman close to him and six shipping companies.

The White House says the tanker, its forces seized in the Caribbean on Wednesday, is being taken to a port in the US where the oil it was carrying will be seized.

The White House press secretary, Caroline Levitt, was repeatedly asked about the issue at a news briefing.

The sea ship is owned by a Russian businessman who is himself the subject of sanctions.

President Putin has given his support to Mr Maduro in the face of what Venezuela called growing external pressure.

Our State Department correspondent Tom Bateman reports.

Well, let's hear more about the impact on Venezuela and what we've heard from President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Ioni Wells is our South America correspondent.

I think the seizure is likely to add to that pressure that has been building on the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, because oil is one of the main revenue producers for Venezuela.