It’s been a difficult year for the BBC, but there are also lots of things to be proud of:

More than one hundred people gathered outside St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in central London today as a counter-protest in response to far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s ‘Christmas’ rally later in the capital.

Incredible www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Witkoff-Putin talks lasted for 5 hours but failed to achieve anything tangible. But they could claim to be the longest so far: Feb: 3.5 hrs, according to SW Mar: Putin reportedly kept SW waiting for 8 hrs, talks rumoured to be short 11 Apr: 4.5 hrs 25 Apr: 3 hrs Aug: <3 hrs

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The High Court has refused an injunction to force two London homeowners to allow the family of Muriel McKay, who was kidnapped fifty-five years ago, to conduct a “ground-penetrating radar survey” of their shared back garden in a bid to find her body.

The temperature in the village of Oymyakon, in the Siberian region of Yakutia in Russia, has reached -50 degrees Celsius, according to local metereological officials. Oymyakon is often dubbed "the coldest place on Earth".

My latest update on chess hero Bodhana ♟️ (Thanks to Malcolm Pein) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I chatted to the BBC Global News podcast about money laundering! 👀📽️Watch it below www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C3C...

UK Defence Secretary John Healey says Britain has "military options" to respond with if the ship heads south... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🥳🥳🥳 📺 Line of Duty to return for seventh series on BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What's in store for fans under the expected ban on profit-making ticket resale? youtu.be/7zQ8ySGWhx0

A man from the Russian city of Voronezh has been fined 50,000 rubles (£470, $615) for playing a song in his car by Ukrainian singer Verka Serduchka, who is blacklisted in Russia. ('Gulyanka', which is one of Serduchka's best, IMHO). The charge: 'discrediting the Russian military'

The clean up in Monmouth has begun...our report for BBC News at 10 Camera/edit: Alex Shaw youtu.be/19j-XHySpRw

As Ulyanovsk becomes the first region to admit switching off mobile internet in areas, was the Russian communications agency preparing the public for more shutdowns? This is what they posted on social media on 8 November: the joys of living without wi-fi (on intnl wifi-free day)

Authorities Russia's Ulyanovsk Region say mobile internet in large parts of the province will stay switched off until the end of the war in Ukraine. Officials claim the restrictions were imposed by Moscow, & will only be in place near strategic sites but could include whole towns

The governor of Russia's Transbaikal Territory, in the far east of the country, has appealed to officials in Moscow for help solving fuel shortages. Alexander Osipov reportedly wrote to the Russian Prime Minister and Energy Ministry after petrol stations ran dry in several towns.

Chinese astronauts say they've held the first ever barbecue in space. The crew of the Tiangong space station are seen cooking and eating chicken wings using a specially-adapted space oven that enables smoke-free baking in a microgravity environment.

Russian authorities say Ukrainian drones caused damage to an oil-exporting facility at Tuapse, one of the largest oil terminals on the Black Sea. Officials in the Krasnodar Region said drone fragments hit a tanker & damaged port buildings. Videos posted online showed big fires

When I tried to pronounce the longest word in Russian on the BBC News channel... Тетрагидропиранилциклопентилтетрагидропиридопиридиновые

The state institute that studies the Russian language says it's discovered the longest word in Russian. The Pushkin Institute says a chemical compound described in an academic paper has 55 letters. In English, the word is tetrahydropyranylcyclopentyltetrahydropyridopyridine.

An eighteen-year-old musician from the Russian city of St Petersburg has been fined for "discrediting the armed forces" for playing a song by a blacklisted popstar. Diana Loginova was taken to court immediately after being released from a thirteen-day jail sentence for...

The speaker of Georgia's parliament has said the ruling party has filed a lawsuit to ban the country's three largest opposition parties. Shalva Papuashvili said the Georgian Dream faction has asked the constitutional court to declare the parties' activities as unconstitutional.

Japan's military will be deployed to help counter a sharp rise in bear attacks in the Akita prefecture. The regional governor had called on the army to protect residents.

Donald Trump has said the first batch of US-made missiles for Japan's F-35 planes will be delivered "this week." Mr Trump made the announcement to troops aboard an aircraft carrier (the USS George Washington) near Tokyo, after a meeting with Japan's new prime minister.

The craziest thing you'll read today... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Russian state TV channels this morning are blaming the “pro-war European elites” and western media for delaying the summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest.

A striking graphic from Russian news outlet Verstka showing the rise in criminal convictions for high treason in Russia - the 2025 figures are for January-June only...

Putin denies there has been a crisis in relations between Moscow and Baku after Russia accidentally shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 last year. “I’d call it more a crisis of emotions,” he says. How will that sound to the families of the 38 people killed in the disaster?

The Eritrean man who became the second to be removed from the UK under the govt's new scheme spoke to me as he was handed over to French police in Paris today

Reporting from Paris www.bbc.com/news/article...

A bit more on yesterday's incident with Ms Von Der Leyen's plane www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A Ukrainian drone was shot down in an area 10km from Putin's palatial residence on the Black Sea coast, acc to authorities. The crash caused a fire in three places. Earlier this month, it was revealed that another residence was being guarded by twelve (!) air-defence systems.

The Polish President, Karol Nawrocki, has vetoed a bill that would have extended support for Ukrainian refugees. Surveys suggests many Poles agree. Read my piece from earlier this year about changing attitudes towards Ukrainians in Poland 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"They think if they start crying it will go on forever" 📰 The summer camp for children of Ukraine's missing Producer: John Murphy www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🇺🇦 My report on Ukraine's summer camp for the children of the missing was the lead on BBC Radio 4's 'From Our Own Correspondent' yesterday. 📻 Listen again here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

If you missed our documentary “Waiting for my Dad - Ukraine’s Children of the Missing” you can listen again on BBC Sounds 🎶 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

"Waiting for my Dad - Ukraine's children of the missing" 📻 Listen to the documentary - our exclusive access to the first-ever summer camp for the children of Ukrainians missing in the war - on BBC Sounds! ⚡️👇 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

"Someone called Mum to say Dad had been blown up in an airstrike" 🔊 Listen again to my report for @BBCr4today on the camp for the children of Ukraine's missing. soundcloud.com/will-vernon-...