Tera FMTera FM
← Back to Tera.fm
SCMP World·Tuesday, December 30, 2025

SCMP World - Tuesday, December 30, 2025

10 stories~15 min

Listen to this episode

Hear all 10 stories summarized and read aloud.

▶Play on Tera.fm

Stories Covered

01

French far-right leader Le Pen to attend Brigitte Bardot’s funeral, Macron will not

France’s three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is to attend the funeral next week of 1950s and 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot, a member of her team said on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron – who on Sunday hailed Bardot as a “legend” – would however not attend her funeral, a source in his office said. Bardot, who died aged 91 on Sunday, drew criticism in her later years for her anti-immigration views and for supporting the far-right. She was several times convicted in court for hate.

Read original →
02

Oil tankers still arriving in Venezuela despite US blockade, data shows

At least two oil tankers have made their way to Venezuela in recent days and others are navigating towards the country, a sign of ‍state-run oil and natural gas company PDVSA’s effort to expand floating storage and keep selling crude even as a US blockade has reduced exports to a minimum. US President Donald Trump this month announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in or out of Venezuelan waters as part of a strategy to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US move has...

Read original →
03

Poland urges EU to probe TikTok over AI-generated content suspected to come from Russia

Poland has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted AI-generated content ‌including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said on Tuesday, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation. A TikTok profile showing videos of young women dressed in Polish national colours and calling for Poland to leave the EU has gained popularity in recent weeks. The ⁠profile has now disappeared from the platform. “The disclosed content.

Read original →
04

Robbers steal US$35 million in cash, gold and jewellery from German bank

Robbers used a large drill to break into a German savings bank’s vault room and steal cash, gold and jewellery worth some €30 million (US$35 million), police said on Tuesday. The robbery in the western city of Gelsenkirchen saw the thieves break into more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes, they said. While the criminals remained at large, hundreds of distressed bank customers massed outside the branch on Tuesday demanding information but were kept at bay by police. According to police, the robbers..

Read original →
05

France pushes back plastic cup ban by four years, amid industry pressure and green backlash

The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives. The ban was meant to start on January 1, but the ministry for ecological transition said that results from a recent review into the “technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups” justified pushing back the deadline. It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of “progress made in replacing single-use plastic...

Read original →
06

UAE to withdraw forces from Yemen after Saudi ultimatum over Mukalla air strike

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it was pulling out its remaining ‌forces in Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for UAE forces to leave the country within 24 hours, in a major crisis between the two Gulf powers and oil producers. Hours earlier, Saudi-led coalition forces had attacked the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla. The air strike on what Riyadh said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment was the most significant escalation to date in a widening rift between the two Gulf...

Read original →
07

Israel to ban Medecins Sans Frontieres, aid groups from Gaza in 2026 over new vetting rules

Israel on Tuesday said it will suspend over two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organisations working in Gaza. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organisations that will be banned on January 1 did not meet new requirements for sharing staff, funding and operations information. It accused Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of the largest health organisations operating in Gaza, of failing to clarify the.

Read original →
08

Eurostar to resume services after Channel Tunnel power glitch sparks travel chaos

Eurostar said on Tuesday it was restarting services suspended earlier over a power supply problem in the Channel Tunnel, as passengers travelling in the busy run-up to New Year faced massive disruption. Travellers were left scrambling to find alternatives after the operator postponed all services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. “As the Channel Tunnel has partially reopened we will start to resume services,” Eurostar said in a statement on its website midafternoon. A spokesperson..

Read original →
09

Russia’s Medvedev claims ‘Grim Reaper’ coming for Zelensky in vile threat to Ukraine leader

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with imminent death in a text peppered with insults on Telegram. Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council and is known for his invective against Ukraine and its allies, referred to the Christmas address of Zelensky, saying he had wished death upon “a person” – presumably Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. “It is clear to everyone that he wishes death not only on ‘one person’,

Read original →
10

If Trump wants a deal with China, he must rein in US allies in Asia

US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a grand deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping are being undercut by American allies’ self-interested amplification of the “China threat”. This year’s Nanking massacre memorial was particularly poignant in light of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s controversial remarks on Taiwan. Beijing warned that any attempt to challenge the post-war international order or undermine established historical truths would be “doomed to failure”. Meanwhile, Singaporean

Read original →

Tera.fm - AI-powered internet radio