SCMP World·Sunday, December 21, 2025

SCMP World - Sunday, December 21, 2025

10 stories~15 min

Listen to this episode

Hear all 10 stories summarized and read aloud.

▶Play on Tera.fm

Stories Covered

Nigerian government frees 130 kidnapped Catholic schoolchildren

Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 130 kidnapped schoolchildren taken by gunmen from a Catholic school in November, a presidential spokesman said on Sunday, after 100 were freed earlier this month. “Another 130 abducted Niger state pupils released, none left in captivity,” Sunday Dare said in a post on social media. In late November, hundreds of pupils and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s boarding school in north-central Niger state though the exact number and whether all are...

Read original →

UK’s Starmer discusses Ukraine peace efforts in call with Trump

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed efforts to achieve a “just ‌and lasting end” to the war in Ukraine on Sunday with US President Donald Trump, Starmer’s Downing Street office said in a statement, after talks between officials in Florida. “The two leaders began by reflecting ⁠on the war in Ukraine,” Starmer’s office said in a readout of the call, adding they had discussed the work of the so-called Coalition of the Willing countries that have pledged to support Ukraine. “The Prime...

Read original →

Top US official defends partial release of Epstein files as Democrats cry foul

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department’s decision to release just a fraction of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the congressionally mandated deadline as necessary to protect survivors of sexual abuse by the disgraced financier. Blanche pledged that the Trump administration eventually would meet its obligation required by law. However, he stressed that the department was obliged to act with caution as it goes about making public thousands of documents that.

Read original →

Elysee Palace silver steward arrested for stealing silverware worth up to US$47,000

Three men will stand trial next year after a silver steward employed at the official residence of the French president was arrested this week for the theft of items of silverware and table service worth thousands of euros, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The Elysee Palace’s head steward reported the disappearance, with the estimated loss ranging between €15,000 and €40,000 (US$17,500-US$47,000). The Sevres Manufactory – which supplied most of the furnishings – identified several of the...

Read original →

US is pursuing a third oil tanker near Venezuela, officials say

The US Coast Guard is pursuing ‌an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters ‍on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful. “The United States Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned ⁠dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.” Another official said the tanker was under...

Read original →

Sudan war drags on as drone attack kills 10 in Darfur market

A drone attack on a busy market in Sudan’s North Darfur state killed 10 people over the weekend, first responders said, without saying who was responsible. The attack comes as fighting intensified elsewhere in the country, leading aid workers to be evacuated on Sunday from Kadugli, a besieged, famine-hit city in the south. Since April 2023, Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in a conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12...

Read original →

Trump tariffs push Swiss pharma CEO to urge price alignment with US

Roche’s Chief Executive an interview with Swiss media published on Sunday called for Switzerland to pay more for new drugs, to bring prices in line with those paid by Washington. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant’s US subsidiary Genentech figures among 14 pharmaceutical companies which have so far signed on to US President Donald Trump’s push to cut some US drug prices. Companies have been making these voluntary deals after Trump sent a letter to 17 major companies over the summer threatening...

Read original →

Macron, on UAE visit, announces new French aircraft carrier

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he had given the official go-ahead to replace his country’s flagship, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. That vessel, the only nuclear-powered carrier outside the US Navy, entered service in 2001 following more than a decade of construction. “In line with the last two military programming laws, and after a thorough and comprehensive review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft carrier,” Macron said, speaking...

Read original →

South African gun violence kills 9, wounds 10 in pub shooting

Nine people have died and at least 10 others were wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday, authorities said. The incident occurred just before 1am in the township of Bekkersdal, which is located 46 kilometres (28 miles) west of Johannesburg. It is the second mass shooting to happen in South Africa in three weeks. About 12 unknown suspects in a white minibus and a silver sedan opened fire at pub patrons at KwaNoxolo tavern, in

Read original →

Saudi Arabia’s discreet alcohol store opens doors to wealthy foreigners

Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only store that sells alcohol, allowing wealthy foreign residents to buy booze in the latest step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom’s experiment in liberalisation. There has been no official announcement of the decision, but word has got out, and long queues of cars and people can now be seen at the discreet, unmarked store in the Diplomatic Quarter of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The store opened in January 2024 for non-Muslim diplomats. The new

Read original →