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Global News Podcast

Zelensky welcomes EU's $105 billion loan for Ukraine

19 Dec 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.696 Pete Ross

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

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6.055 - 30.351 Sana Mostanen

No fluff, no guessing. When CFA Charterholder is on that resume, it means something real. Intensive study, tough exams, relentless drive, true grit, a strong network. Hiring managers get it instantly. The CFA Charter is more than letters after a name. It's proof of discipline, resilience, and integrity under pressure. It shows who you are before you even walk in the room.

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30.992 - 39.59 Sana Mostanen

Explore what the Charterholder advantage looks like at cfainstitute.org. A scam exploiting vulnerable families with sick children.

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39.931 - 42.695 Pete Ross

I would have done anything to get the medicine for Khalil.

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43.055 - 46.501 Sana Mostanen

The child is directed on camera to plead for help.

46.521 - 62.505 Pete Ross

I want to be a normal kid. I want to go to school. They were going to upload it to social media. Millions of dollars pour in, but the families never receive the money. He told us it wasn't successful. As I understood it, the video just didn't make any money.

62.565 - 65.509 Unknown

They used to raise funds for their own benefit.

67.835 - 73.343 Sana Mostanen

World of Secrets, the child cancer scam from the BBC World Service.

73.363 - 105.466 Pete Ross

Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Pete Ross and at 1600 GMT on Friday the 19th of December, these are our main stories. Ukraine's war effort receives a $100 billion boost from the European Union. President Putin says Russia is ready to end the conflict in Ukraine, but only on his terms.

Chapter 2: How has the EU's $105 billion loan impacted Ukraine's war effort?

552.727 - 564.229 Unknown

In the past, of course, America was Russia's enemy number one. That has changed after Donald Trump was re-elected. It's Europe that has taken that place.

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564.87 - 578.476 Pete Ross

The presenter, one of the two presenters of this event, asked Vladimir Putin about Donald Trump's lawsuit against the BBC. And Vladimir Putin, initially, he said, oh, it's a family affair.

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Chapter 3: What did President Putin say about the West and Ukraine?

578.517 - 593.62 Pete Ross

Let them sort it out between themselves. And then he said, well, of course, Donald Trump is right. And the Russian president also spoke at length about how the West is trying to bring Russia down, how the West disrespects Russia.

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594.08 - 597.966 Unknown

And he kept addressing our correspondent, Steve Rosenberg.

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598.407 - 606.103 Pete Ross

But Vladimir Putin said, as long as you respect us, and our interests, we are ready to work with you.

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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike?

606.804 - 626.456 Pete Ross

Vitaly Shevchenko, who is speaking with Alex Ritson. For more on Ukraine and what the extra EU money will mean for the country, you can go on YouTube and search for BBC News. TikTok has reached a deal to sell its operation in the United States, allowing the country's 170 million registered users to continue using the app.

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626.476 - 645.041 Pete Ross

If the deal clears the requisite regulatory hurdles, it brings to an end years of efforts by Washington to force Chinese company ByteDance to sell its US operations over national security concerns. Our technology editor is Zoe Kleinman. This feels like it's been going on for such a long time, doesn't it? And actually, that's because it has.

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645.082 - 667.255 Pete Ross

I think we're looking at nearly a year now of are they or aren't they going to sell TikTok? Is it or is it not going to be banned in the US? So today we've heard the news that ByteDance, that's the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is selling 80% of US assets to a combination of people, three investors, Oracle, Silverlux and MGX, which is actually based in Abu Dhabi.

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667.235 - 689.371 Pete Ross

And there will also be some involvement from Affiliates of ByteDance's investors. And ByteDance itself will keep 20% of the assets as well. So lots of people involved in this new deal. Seven members on a board who will have to be mostly American. US people's data, US TikTok user data is going to be stored locally in the US.

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689.391 - 707.772 Pete Ross

And it will also be used to drive that algorithm, which means that hopefully, I think the plan is that US TikTok users will see content that hasn't been manipulated elsewhere, which of course, is one of the big fears about this platform, you know, whether or not there's any Chinese involvement in what American people are seeing.

707.752 - 716.382 Pete Ross

Still some Chinese ownership, though, as you say, and of course, it's still part of a wider Chinese-owned platform. Does it really lessen the security concerns?

Chapter 5: How is Finland addressing the challenge of nuclear waste disposal?

716.963 - 736.667 Pete Ross

So TikTok would dispute that it's Chinese-owned. It says it has global investors and, you know, it would definitely put up a fight, I think, and challenge that assumption. That said, it is very clear that ByteDance is a Chinese company and all that goes along with that. There has been so much talk about the security issues.

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736.687 - 756.777 Pete Ross

Of course, that was behind the whole idea of banning it in the first place, which was brought in by the previous US President Joe Biden. It is still banned on official government devices in several countries, including the US and also here in the UK. We'll have to see whether this deal is enough to appease that. I think that would be a big signal from the White House, wouldn't it, if...

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756.757 - 772.873 Pete Ross

they said, okay, you know, TikTok is now allowed back on government devices again. It's going to take some time, of course, for this to all happen. But I think those who had those concerns are going to say, well, actually, we haven't really seen any evidence that anything's changed as of yet.

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773.253 - 795.091 Pete Ross

And TikTok, of course, would say that it had already been fragmenting US user data and keeping it separate precisely to try to allay these fears. So, I think in terms of is it the silver bullet? Is TikTok suddenly forgiven? We'll have to wait and see. Zoe Clyman talking to Alex Ritson. How do you safely dispose of radioactive nuclear waste?

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795.392 - 812.722 Pete Ross

That's the tough environmental problem facing many countries looking to scale up nuclear power operations. Finland is already further ahead than most. Last year it became the first country in the world to finish a deep underground facility, where spent nuclear fuel will be locked away for thousands of years.

813.423 - 830.944 Pete Ross

Our science correspondent Victoria Gill has been to the site to discover how the process works. As we drive northwest from Helsinki, what strikes me about the scenery, apart from lots of trees, is dense grey rock. Some of the main road is cut through the granite.

831.425 - 847.952 Pete Ross

It's beneath that dense bedrock that some of the most hazardous material produced by humanity, highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel, will be buried in a place called Onkolo, which is where we're headed. Disposal holes are drilled in the tunnels using a purpose-built boring machine.

848.303 - 867.215 Pete Ross

At ground level, above the tunnels, is a visitor's centre with an exhibition explaining the whole containment and permanent disposal process. In that time when we started, we were not the first in the world. Sana Mostanen is a geologist and project manager for POSIVA, the company that operates Onkolo. How has Finland got here before anybody else did?

867.797 - 878.53 Sana Mostanen

Well, that's a good question. Maybe we are stubborn or whatever, but gradually other countries have had their own problems and we are now the first ones in the world.

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