SATURDAY 26 DECEMBER 2020

SAT 00:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4dzz9)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 00:06 Trending (w3ct1d1z)
Votes, viruses, victims: 2020 in disinformation

From the global pandemic to the US election, the extraordinary events of 2020 have both fuelled, and been shaped by, the online spread of falsehoods, propaganda and bizarre conspiracy theories.

Trending’s Mike Wendling and Marianna Spring, the BBC’s specialist disinformation reporter, look back at some of the most viral rumours, how they debunked them, and discover what happened next.

Producers: Jonathan Griffin and Sam Judah

Picture caption: Photo illustration of a phone showing “fake news”

Picture credit: BBC


SAT 01:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4f3qf)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 01:06 Business Matters (w172x19fnvk5p46)
China's changing economy

China is bucking a global trend and its economy is growing again. We hear from Wuhan and Shanghai, where restrictions have been lifted and companies are back in business. Also in the programme, we hear from the young generation leaving Hong Kong and those embracing change brought by a new security law. And, we ask how ready China is for the challenges of 2021. The world’s second biggest economy is spending huge amounts on green technologies and clean power. Experts give their views. We also talk to the writer Bill Hayton about how he thinks President Xi wants China to be viewed on the world stage.

Presenter Fergus Nicoll is joined by Yuan Yang, deputy Beijing bureau chief at the Financial Times and independent economist Andy Xie in Shanghai.

Picture: Students pose with a Chinese flag (Credit: Getty Images).


SAT 02:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4f7gk)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bl0c8zzwp)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 02:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r3lqy)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 02:32 Stumped (w3cszhk9)
The best of Stumped in 2020

Alison Mitchell brings you the best of Stumped in 2020.

The show features an interview with the world's top fast bowler Pat Cummins and the unlikely secrets behind a leading umpire's success.

Plus, the rise of women's cricket in Germany and an emotional Ebony Rainford-Brent calls for greater racial equality in the sport.

Photo: (L) Australia Vice Captain Pat Cummins and (R) Former England player Ebony Rainford-Brent (Credit: Getty images)


SAT 03:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4fc6p)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 03:06 The Fifth Floor (w3cszjj5)
Memorable journeys of 2020

Three journalists share stories of travels undertaken in the year of the pandemic. BBC Delhi's Neha Sharma went to Indian-administered Kashmir, a year after it was stripped of autonomy; Victoria Uwonkunda of BBC Africa covered the US election, finding voters from the African diaspora; and Olga Ivshina of BBC Russian went to Azerbaijan to meet families affected by the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Mosul after Islamic State
Iraqis recently celebrated Victory Day, which marks the day in December 2017 when the last remnants of so-called Islamic State were finally driven from the country. The toughest part of that campaign was the battle to retake Mosul, captured by IS in 2014. Two BBC journalists who reported on the fighting - Nafiseh Kohnavard of BBC Persian, and BBC Arabic's Basheer Al-Zaidi - share memories, and tell us what Mosul is like now.

In praise of borsch
Roman Lebed of BBC Ukrainian gives us his ode to borsch, the beetroot soup eaten all over Ukraine and Russia. But who made it first? Roman tells us about the battle over its origins, and shares memories of his great-grandmother's recipe, as well as revealing his own secret ingredient.


Image: Olga Ivshina in Azerbaijan
Credit: BBC


SAT 03:50 Witness History (w3cszmw1)
It's a Wonderful Life

In December 1946, the classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" had its premiere in Hollywood. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the movie's message of hope and redemption is loved by millions. Simon Watts talks to former child star, Karolyn Grimes, who played six-year-old Zuzu Bailey. The programme was first broadcast in 2015.

PHOTO: Karolyn Grimes with Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" (Getty Images)


SAT 04:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4fgyt)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 04:06 The Reith Lectures (w3ct1cyp)
From climate crisis to real prosperity

In this final lecture, Dr Mark Carney turns his attention to climate change, arguing that the roots of our environmental emergency lie in a deeper crisis of values. He suggests how we can create an ecosystem in which society’s values broaden the market’s conceptions of value. In this way, individual creativity and market dynamism can be channelled to achieve broader social goals including inclusive growth and environmental sustainability.

(Photo: Outgoing Bank of England governor Mark Carney makes a keynote address at the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Credit: Tolga Akmen/Getty Images)


SAT 05:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4flpy)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bl0c90c42)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 05:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r3yzb)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 05:32 The Cultural Frontline (w3cszj9d)
Canine couture: Inside dog fashion

A new type of fashionista is taking the design world by storm but the supermodels have four legs instead of two. Reporter JP Devlin takes us inside the world of canine couture or fashion for dogs.

Which country loves to share bears and where do goats get laughs? Internet expert and writer An Xiao Mina reveals how our favourite animal memes reveal a lot about the culture of our countries.

This spring, as lockdowns were enforced across the globe, The Cultural Frontline started a project in collaboration with the British artist and producer Nick Ryan. Our aim was simple: to collect the sounds that you, our listeners, had heard wherever you were during lockdown. Now Nick Ryan returns to share some of those sounds and to also debut an extract from a new work he has created from those sonic submissions.

Have you ever wondered what a spider sounds like? Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno is fascinated by spiders. It has led him to study them, to incorporate them into his visual art and to create music with them in what he calls ‘Spider Jam Sessions.' Tomás spoke to Chi Chi about making music from the vibrations of spider webs for his latest concert.


Presented by Chi Chi Izundu

Image: Bodhi. Credit: @mensweardog


SAT 06:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4fqg2)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 06:06 Weekend (w172x7d6wthd2qs)
Explosion in Nashville

A camper van in Nashville, Tennessee has exploded, injuring three people. The blast also knocked out communications systems across the state. The camper van broadcast a warning message to leave the area, before the blast.

Also in the programme: An ongoing farming dispute in India and the $900bn US relief bill.

Joining Ben James to discuss these and other issues are: Catherine Barnard, Professor of Law and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge and Robert Fox, a British journalist and broadcaster.

(Picture: A vehicle burns near the site of an explosion in the area of Second and Commerce in Nashville, Tennessee. CREDIT: Andrew Nelles/Tennessean.com/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS.)


SAT 07:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4fv66)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 07:06 Weekend (w172x7d6wthd6gx)
Nashville explosion was 'intentional act'

An explosion has torn through the US city of Nashville. Three people are known to have been injured in the blast and possible human remains have been found in the debris. Police believe the blast was caused deliberately.

Also in the programme: South Korea faces its third wave of coronavirus infections and an analysis of a trade deal signed by the European Union and United Kingdom.

Joining Ben James to discuss these and other issues are: Catherine Barnard, Professor of Law and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge and Robert Fox, a British journalist and broadcaster.

(Picture: A vehicle burns near the site of an explosion in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit: Andrew Nelles/Tennessean.com/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS)


SAT 08:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4fyyb)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:06 Weekend (w172x7d6wthdb71)
US Coronavirus relief package under threat

Unemployment benefit payments for millions of Americans are due to end on Saturday as a result of a standoff between President Trump and Congress. It's estimated that twelve million people will lose benefits from two coronavirus relief programmes introduced earlier this year.

Also in the programme: An explosion in Nashville and A BBC's correspondent's take on how Italy has coped with the pandemic.

Joining Ben James to discuss these and other issues are: Catherine Barnard, Professor of Law and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge and Robert Fox, a British journalist and broadcaster.

(Picture: Some 14 million Americans are at risk of a lapse in payments. Credit: Getty Images)


SAT 08:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r4b6q)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 08:32 The Documentary (w3ct0w55)
The 'grandma benches' of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has over 14 million people but fewer than 20 psychiatrists.

After years of economic turmoil, unemployment and HIV, mental health is a huge challenge and doctors estimate one in four Zimbabweans battles with depression or anxiety.

Lucia is one of the 700 grandmothers in the country turning the nation around. She sits on a wooden bench using a gentle form of cognitive behavioural or talking therapy with her community.

This is one of 250 Friendship Benches set up by Zimbabwean psychiatrist Dr Dixon Chibanda, who believed that after a few weeks of simple training, grandmothers could become lay health workers for their communities.

Lucia has the time, wisdom and respect to help the people who come to her. She understands them and has direct experience of their problems.

Presenter Kim Chakanetsa hears the grandmothers are having astounding results. They have helped over 50,000 people and are breaking down the stigma around mental health. Recent clinical trials found they are more effective than conventional medical treatments.

As a result, Dixon Chibanda gets enquiries from around the world for the Friendship Bench and he’s setting them up in Malawi, Zanzibar, Kenya, Tanzania and now New York.

The World Health Organisation said more than 264 million people were suffering from depression. That was before Covid-19 brought new challenges. As people are more isolated and anxious, Dixon Chibanda explains how he is facing up to the pandemic, moving his idea online and giving the world access to a virtual Friendship Bench.

Photo: Two people talk on a 'Friendship bench' Copyright: Rainer Kwiotek


SAT 09:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4g2pg)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:06 BBC OS Conversations (w3ct19z1)
Coronavirus: Surviving the pandemic

After hearing so many incredibly moving stories since the pandemic was first declared, we’ve decided to return to some of those people who’ve been guests on the programme and hear how their lives have changed - from two residents in Wuhan, China - to the English couple who had a lockdown wedding and decided to ‘elope’ to save guests from getting the virus.

Lockdown and isolation has also left many people across the world struggling with isolation and loneliness. Two women in Canada and the United States share how they’ve been faring without human contact and how appearing on BBC OS produced the start of a blossoming friendship.

Host Nuala McGovern also talks to two chaplains who continue to offer spiritual advice to those in need. One is based in New York which, when we first spoke to her, was the worst affected city in the world. Today the chaplains share their experiences of the meaning and purpose of life and how to grasp small moments of joy.

(Photo: Lindsay van Dijk, Humanist Chaplain in NHS hospitals in the UK Credit: Edward Thompson / Twitter @_edthompson, Instagram @mredthompson )


SAT 09:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r4fyv)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 09:32 Two Minutes Past Nine (w3ct1cwv)
Two Minutes Past Nine

26/12/2020 GMT

On April 19th 1995 a 26-year-old named Timothy Mcveigh steered a yellow rental truck into downtown Oklahoma city. Inside was a two-ton homemade explosive.

The Oklahoma City Bombing killed 168 people and leaving 680 injured. Journalist Leah Sottile investigates the legacy of the attack in a series that gets into the heart of America’s far-right today.
Recorded over some of the most divisive and turbulent months in recent American political history, Two Minutes Past Nine explores and questions the changing face of far right extremism in all its chaos and conspiracism.


SAT 09:50 Over to You (w3cszf5f)
BBC World Service English controller answers your questions - part one

We are joined by the controller of BBC World Service English Mary Hockaday as she responds to listeners' comments, views and questions - both complimentary and critical. Topics include: combatting fake news, how programme topics are chosen, selecting panels, why are there so many trails and guarding the BBC’s independence.

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Produced: Howard Shannon


SAT 10:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4g6fl)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 10:06 Sportshour (w172x3c5vksz079)
The Jim Thorpe Story

This special programme explores the sad and controversial life of Jim Thorpe - the American Indian who was the star of the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, where the Swedish King famously told him 'Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world'.

Thorpe had grown up on the Sac and Fox Indian reservation in Oklahoma and then, as a teenager, was sent 1500 miles away to a boarding school in Pennsylvania whose purpose was to 'civilise' Indian children by eradicating their culture. Its motto was 'Kill the Indian and save the man'. The pupils were forced to wear military uniforms, have short hair, and were punished if they spoke their own languages. 'The last phase of the Indian wars was fought in the classroom', says one contributor.

Thorpe was saved by sport and became the school's great star at both athletics and American football. He's often described as the 'first international sporting superstar'. But in 1913 it came out that he had been paid a few dollars to play minor-league baseball and the elite amateurs who ran US athletics rushed to condemn him as a professional. He was summarily stripped of his medals. But the public were on his side and his status in America is that of a popular hero victimised by those in power.

He went on to become the first great professional football player, but he could never cope with fame and died in near poverty in 1953. His widow arranged for him to be buried in a small town in Pennsylvania which offered to build a memorial to him. They town even changed its name to 'Jim Thorpe', but his Indian tribe are pursuing a legal battle to have his remains returned to Oklahoma.

Photo: American athlete Jim Thorpe (1888 -1953) at an athletics meeting at the Parc Pommery in Reims, France, 23rd July 1912. Thorpe is competing in the 110 yards Hurdles. BRA-75991. (Photo by Branger/Roger Viollet via Getty Images)


SAT 11:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4gb5q)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bl0c912lv)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 11:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r4pg3)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 11:32 The Documentary (w3ct1d0b)
Warrior elephant guardians

In a remote part of Northern Kenya, former Samburu warriors are elephant keepers, rescuing and raising baby elephants in what’s thought to be Africa’s first community owned and run elephant sanctuary.

At Reteti Elephant Sanctuary they rescue baby elephants that have been injured, orphaned or abandoned. They look after them, rehabilitate them and release them back to the wild. It is transforming the way local communities relate to elephants, in a way that benefits both humans and animals. The sanctuary has brought employment, revenue and a sense of pride. Reteti is on community owned land and it is managed by community members. The local people are now protecting the animals they live alongside.

Now the sanctuary is starting to employ women from the community as keepers too, who bring their own set of skills to the work.

The elephants are also proving an unexpected catalyst for peace, bringing tribes together from all over Northern Kenya, that normally fight over land and resources. Now they are finding ways to work together in peace, to protect the elephants.

(Photo: A baby elephant saying hello to one of the keepers. Credit: Michael Kaloki)


SAT 12:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4gfxv)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 12:06 Music Life (w3csz6tz)
'Swans ruined our recording' with Ólafur Arnalds and Agnes Obel

Are you happy working alone? Does location affect your music? What happens after the album is done? This is what Icelandic composer, producer and king of the ambient Ólafur Arnalds will be asking the group in this episode of Music Life. He’s just released his new record Some Kind of Peace, has scored for film and TV, and has carried the Icelandic sound further around the world than it’s been before.

Dustin O'Halloran forms one half of A Winged Victory For The Sullen and is an American pianist and composer. They released their latest project last year with The Undivided Five, whilst Dustin has been busy writing music for films including Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and TV show Transparent. He now lives in Iceland.

Hania Rani is a composer and pianist based between Warsaw and Berlin. She released her debut solo record Esja last year, in which she said, “No hiding behind collaborations anymore. For the very first time, [it’s] just me, as I am.”

And finally Danish singer, composer and pianist Agnes Obel has been a superstar in the chamber music world for some time. She cemented her popularity with 2013’s Aventine album, and her most recent project was this year’s Myopia.


SAT 13:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4gknz)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 13:06 Newshour (w172x2z3gzn4r9k)
Explosions kill at least two people in Kabul

A series of explosions have triggered panic in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and killed at least two security personnel. Kabul has witnessed several bomb and rocket attacks in recent weeks targeting security forces, politicians, and activists.

Also in the programme: a promising antibody therapy that could, possibly, offer emergency protection against Covid-19; and one of the most notorious spies of the Cold War, George Blake, is reported to have died in Russia.

(Photo: Afghan men look out from a damaged window of an apartment overlooking the site of an explosion, in Kabul. Credit: EPA).


SAT 14:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4gpf3)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 14:06 Sportsworld (w172x3lkv47572f)
Live Sporting Action

Sportsworld brings you live Premier League commentary as Fulham take on Southampton at Craven Cottage. We’ll keep you up to date with the other 15:00 match as Villa play Crystal Palace.

Lee James is joined by former Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson, Tottenham goalkeeper Becky Spencer and Reading and Ghana defender Andy Yiadom to discuss all the big talking points.

We’ll have reaction to the day’s early game between Leicester City and Manchester United – and we’ll look ahead to the rest of the day’s action with Manchester City and Everton both in action.

Elsewhere, we’ll bring you the latest from a busy weekend of men’s Test cricket with Australia playing India and South Africa taking on Sri Lanka – and we’ll have a round-up of the Christmas Day NBA games.

Plus there’s another chance to listen to Benchwarmer - a Sportsworld podcast where we celebrate the athletes who rarely step foot on the pitch - only ever cross the white line to bring on drinks - and some who are able to lead the race but never reach the finishing line. It's the tales of the substitutes, the 12th players, the bib wearers and the pace setters. Lee James chats to England cricketer Jack Leach, former Netherlands and Tottenham keeper Michel Vorm and Olympic 800m runner Jenny Meadows.

Photo: Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo & Ruben Loftus-Cheek form part of a defensive wall. (Credit: Reuters )


SAT 18:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4h5dm)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:06 The Newsroom (w172x7bl0c91xtr)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 18:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r5jp0)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 18:32 Mayday (w3ct1cxc)
On 11 November 2019 James Le Mesurier was found dead in a street in Istanbul. He was the latest casualty in a very unusual war – one fought not on the battlefield, but online.

Le Mesurier was a mysterious figure with a taste for the finer things who served in the British Army in several of the world’s hotspots before focusing his energies on war-ravaged Syria from 2014. He co-founded the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defence force who filmed themselves pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble of bombed out buildings.

Soon, the White Helmets - and Le Mesurier - found themselves at the centre of a global race to control the narrative in the Syrian War. In this investigative series Mayday, presenter Chloe Hadjimatheou talks to the people who knew James, including his widow Emma, his ex-wife and former army colleagues, as well as those on the ground in Syria still working as White Helmets today in an effort to piece together James’ story and that of the White Helmets. She speaks to some of the White Helmet’s detractors and follows up accusations about the organisation to try and understand the truth surrounding them.

Chloe Hadjimatheou says: “Making this series has been an extraordinary experience, as listeners will discover. It started out being an investigation into the story of a man with an astonishing life and a mysterious death but it ended up taking me on a bizarre journey down rabbit holes of misinformation. Ultimately this is a story about how truth functions in modern warfare.”


SAT 18:50 Sporting Witness (w3cszh60)
The yachting rescue that gripped the world

British sailor Pete Goss was taking part in the Vendee Globe single-handed round-the-world yacht race in 1996 when he received a distress call from another participant. French sailor Raphael Dinelli was 160 miles away in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica – but Pete Goss went back through hurricane force winds to rescue him.

Photo: Vendee Globe round-the-world race yacht "Aqua Quorum" carrying rescued French sailor Raphael Dinelli and British sailor Peter Goss off the southern coast of Tasmania 07 January. (Photo credit STR/AFP via Getty Images)


SAT 19:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4h94r)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 19:06 The Evidence (w3ct0xk5)
Coronavirus: The Evidence

Hopes and fears for Covid-19 vaccines

Less than a year in, and the first vaccines are already being rolled out, with many more in the pipeline. It is an unprecedented scientific response to the global pandemic and researchers around the world have provided the first hope against one of the most formidable challenges facing humanity in a century.

Claudia Hammond and her expert panel of guests consider the scale of this herculean effort and answer listeners' questions about vaccine safety, trust, immunity and long term protection.

The World Health Organisation has repeatedly said that no-one is safe until we are all safe, so the threat of vaccine nationalism and the purchase of millions of the first vaccine doses by rich countries is something that is concerning everybody worried about equitable vaccine distribution.

How will the COVAX facility, which is designed to boost vaccine purchasing power for the world's poorest countries, fare in the face of nationalistic purchasing - and will surplus doses be shared so that all seven point five billion of us can get protection?

And, finally, the scale of the threat from vaccine hesitancy. Any vaccine is only as good as the numbers of people who will take it to achieve herd immunity. The numbers of those suspicious about a potential Covid-19 vaccine have grown over the course of the pandemic, causing real concern for governments around the world. How can people be reassured that vaccines are safe?

This month, Claudia's guests include Professor Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor college of Medicine in Houston and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development in the USA, Professor Helen Rees, founder and executive director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Kalipso Chalkidou, Professor of Practice in Global Health at Imperial College, London and Director of Global Health Policy at the Centre for Global Development and Dr Ève Dubé, a medical anthropologist from the Institute of Public Health in Quebec, Canada.

Produced by: Fiona Hill, Samara Linton and Maria Simons
Editor: Deborah Cohen
Technical Support: Tim Heffer and Giles Aspen

Picture: Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics Open In Surrey, UK, Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images


SAT 20:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4hdww)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 20:06 The Arts Hour (w3cszk3y)
Virtually On Tour in Rome

The Arts Hour is ‘virtually’ on tour in Rome, with presenter Nikki Bedi and a live audience, to celebrate Italian performance artists who have risen to the challenges of Covid-19 this year.

Singer, songwriter and producer Carl Brave performs live and explains how his sound has changed during lockdown.

Internationally renowned street artist Alice Pasquini talks about painting new murals on the walls of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital with a backdrop of empty streets and ambulance sirens.

Movie star Riccardo Scamarcio reveals the new project he has planned in lockdown and his approach to playing Caravaggio opposite Isabelle Huppert in his latest role.

Stand-up comedy from Edoardo Ferrario draws attention to the Italian obsession with food and missing home when travelling.

Opera star Carmen Giannattasio sings a traditional Italian Christmas carol and describes how her body changes physically when she performs for a real audience.

Theatre performer Martina Badiluzzi tells us how she wrote short stories about her neighbours in Rome, in the spring, and then dramatized them for intimate theatre productions.

And filmmaker Laura Luchetti, takes a break from shooting on the streets of Rome and Bologna to discuss the future of film production.


SAT 21:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4hjn0)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 21:06 Newshour (w172x2z3gzn5q8l)
Covid-19: Unemployment benefits run out for millions of Americans

The US President-elect Joe Biden has warned that there will be devastating consequences if President Trump continues to delay signing a Covid-19 economic relief bill overwhelmingly passed by Congress.

Millions of Americans face going without unemployment benefits after today because of a stand-off between Mr Trump and Congress over a 900 billion dollar stimulus bill.

Also on the programme: We look at the Central African Republic as a bid by at least 6 opposition candidates to have Sunday's general election postponed has been rejected; and a look at the life of Soviet double agent George Blake who has just died aged 98.

(Picture: US job fair, Credit: Getty Images)


SAT 22:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4hnd4)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:06 The Newsroom (w172x79rkmpd3cz)
The world's Newsroom brings you global events as they happen


SAT 22:20 Sports News (w172x3fn5rm2dbt)
BBC Sport brings you all the latest stories and results from around the world.


SAT 22:30 BBC News Summary (w172x5q1g5r60nj)
The latest two minute news summary from BBC World Service.


SAT 22:32 Heart and Soul (w3ct1d0y)
To Santa from Shanghai

In the far north of Finland, 6km south of the Artic Circle, the town of Rovaniemi is the “official home" of Santa Claus - the location where any letter addressed to Santa (over 500,000 every year) will arrive.

St Nicholas may have roots in 3rd Century Turkey - but this one-time logging town is now the centre of a vast Santa industry. In 2019, more than half a million people came to Rovaniemi’s Santa Village – including 60,000 from China. Dignitaries such as Chinese President Xi Jinping have also made a pilgrimage to the home of the world’s most identifiable, pan-cultural, pan-faith icon.

This year, though, things are different. Santa’s village lies eerily quiet due to Covid-19. All focus – and hope – lies on his official Post Office, and the letters that continue to stream through the door from children – and adults – across the world. Producer Steven Rajam tells the story of the global Santa tourism boom, the myths, fantasies and traditions that Santa represents across different cultures.

Contributors include writer on Christmas and biographer of Santa Claus, Gerry Bowler; historian Martin Johnes; expert on China and religion, Fenggang Yang; travel agency chief Chao Tang; and supervisor at Santa’s official post office, Katja Tervonen, who details how the hundreds of letters received every year give a unique insight into the thoughts and emotions of children around the world.

(Photo: Driver POV of sleigh ride in thick snow and bright sunshine in Rovaniemi. Credit: Lars Ley)


SAT 23:00 BBC News (w172x5p70g4hs48)
The latest five minute news bulletin from BBC World Service.


SAT 23:06 Business Weekly (w3ct0spp)
Pandemic disrupts global supply chains

This week the roads running to the ports in the South East of England turned into a lorry park when continental Europe blocked arrivals from the UK– so Business Weekly takes look at trade and the travails of the global shipping industry. How has this vital sector fared during the pandemic?
As France bans discrimination against regional accents we’ll ask whether the way you talk really affects your job pospects.
The Chief Executive of the Royal Albert Hall tells us how this historical London venue is coping without box office sales - and we'll hear from the entrepreneurs who set up new businesses in the middle of a pandemic.

Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Clare Williamson.

(Image: Lorries parked at Manston airpot while port of Dover closed, Credit: Getty Images)