International
BBC World Service to cut 130 roles to save £6m in 2025/26
As part of the changes the BBC would decommission eight podcasts and radio programmes: Africa Daily, The Forum, The Cultural Frontline, The Explanation, Business Matters… and Over to You.
BBC World Service will cut a net 130 jobs, including in the UK, as it battles to save £6m in the year ahead.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced an extra £32.6m for the BBC World Service for 2025/26 in November.
But the BBC said that despite this “welcome uplift”, previous licence-fee freezes, global inflation “and the need for ongoing digital and technological upkeep have meant savings are necessary”.
It added that it is competing against international news organisations with much bigger budgets meaning “increased competition for staff, platforms and frequencies, and audiences”.
The £6m savings needed for the next financial year will largely be met by the net reduction of 130 roles.
The BBC said these will include closing posts across the BBC World Service in the UK and internationally and in BBC Monitoring, which reports and analyses news from around the world and will also see a reinvestment “in strategically important skills”.
There will also be “changes to the commissioning mix” on World Service English and a reshaping of some World Service Language teams to become more digitally-focused.
According to the National Union of Journalists, the BBC aims to meet its targets for the cuts through voluntary redundancies wherever possible.
BBC World Service English controller John Zilkha wrote in an email to staff that as part of the changes the BBC would decommission eight podcasts and radio programmes: Africa Daily, The Forum, The Cultural Frontline, The Explanation, Business Matters, the 1530 World Business Report, Pick of The World and Over to You.
Another show, Science in Action, will be closed and replaced with Inside Science. Zilkha said a new monthly audience feedback programme will be commissioned.
Jonathan Munro, global director and deputy chief executive of BBC News, said: “While the result of the latest grant-in-aid funding settlement means we are able to maintain all of our existing language services, we were clear it would not stave off difficult decisions in order to remain globally competitive and meet our savings requirements.
“These changes will ensure we operate effectively with the resource we have, creating the most impact for audiences internationally.”
The BBC said its commitment to high-quality journalism across its 42 language services is “undiminished”.
NUJ general secretary Laura Davison said the plans are “yet another blow to journalists at the BBC.
Proposals will see the loss of talented and experienced journalists committed to the unrivalled journalism produced by the World Service and relied upon by countries globally.
“The freezing of the licence fee has had a profound impact still felt acutely today; we need a commitment from government to provide long-term sustainable funding that allows the provision by teams including over 40 language services to thrive.
“It is wrong journalists are once more bearing the brunt of changes at a time when the BBC’s journalism and soft power is needed more than ever. As we support members impacted by cuts, we urge the BBC to engage meaningfully with us to do all it can to protect jobs.”
The BBC joins several UK and US broadcasters announcing job cuts in January including CNN, NBC News and London Live. Other news organisations cutting roles include the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Dotdash Meredith, Huffpost and DC Thomson.
The last round of cuts affecting journalists at the BBC was announced in October, with 185 jobs expected to go across the news and current affairs department including through the end of the interview programme Hardtalk, tech show Click and the Asian Network’s bespoke news service.
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International
Trump deletes Jesus post of himself after outcry
The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.
US President Donald Trump on Monday deleted a social media image apparently depicting him as Jesus after an outcry from religious leaders that he was being blasphemous.
AFP reported that the image posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform showed him in flowing red and white robes, touching the forehead of what appeared to be a sick man and with light shining from his hand and head.
An American flag waved in the background while various figures gazed up at the president in reverence.
The AI picture was posted late Sunday and removed Monday.Asked about the post, Trump denied that he was trying to look like Jesus Christ.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do Red Cross,” he told journalists.
“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.
The post generated an outcry from several prominent conservative Christians who are among Trump’s biggest backers.
“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” Megan Basham, a conservative journalist and commentator wrote on X.
International
Pope Leo reacts to Trump’s blasts “I have no intention to debate with Trump”
Trump said Leo is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me
President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted Pope Leo XIV over the Roman Catholic pontiff’s criticism of the U.S. war with Iran.
In reaction Monday Pope Leo XIV on Monday said, ” I no intention to debate” with Donald Trump on the US-Iran war.
“I am not a politician,” the pope told reporters aboard the papal plane as they headed to Algeria for the pontiff’s first visit to Africa.
“I have no intention to debate with (Trump). The message is the same: to promote peace”, Pope emphasised.
President said in a Truth Social post he does not “want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, and other church leaders have also at times been sharply critical of Trump’s domestic immigration policies.
Trump linked the pope’s ascension to his return to office as president.“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump said.
“He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Trump said Leo is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested,” referring to a recent meeting between the pope and President Barack Obama’s former political aide.
International
Hungarian opposition wins election landslide
Results based on 81.5% of votes counted showed the center-right, pro-EU Tisza party of Peter Magyar winning 137 seats for a crucial two-thirds majority in the 199-member parliament, defeating Orban’s Fidesz party.
Photo: President of the Tisza Party, Peter Magyar / CNBC
Hungary’s veteran nationalist leader Viktor Orban conceded defeat on Sunday after a landslide election victory by the upstart opposition Tisza party, ending Orban’s 16-year rules.
Results based on 81.5% of votes counted showed the center-right, pro-EU Tisza party of Peter Magyar winning 137 seats for a crucial two-thirds majority in the 199-member parliament, defeating Orban’s Fidesz party.
“The election results are not final yet, but the situation is understandable and clear,” Orban, 62, said at the Fidesz campaign offices.
Some of his supporters who had gathered outside cried as they watched him speak on TV screens.
“The election result is painful for us, but clear.”Election officials estimated turnout at a record of 79% or more, in an election that many Hungarians saw as a watershed moment for their country.
Tisza’s Magyar, 45, had cast the vote as a choice between “East and West,” warning voters that Orban and his confrontational stance towards Brussels would take the country further away from the European mainstream.
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