BBC News Briefing

22 December, 2025

Alex has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is smiling and wearing a black turtleneck

Alex Binley

Hello. US President Donald Trump has reignited the row with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the vast Arctic island he has said he would like to annex. As Australia marked the one-week anniversary of the Bondi attack on Sunday, many people in the country are questioning whether its famously tough gun control laws go far enough. And finally, two new Banksy artworks have appeared on the streets of the UK's capital.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

New Trump envoy says he will serve to make Greenland part of US

An image shows Trump standing behind a black, presidential lectern/ He is wearing a blueish-black suit, white shirt and aubergine-coloured tie. He is smiling and has his hand on the back of the man standing next to him. The other man is also smiling and wearing a light blue suit, white shirt and yellow tie. He has short brown hair. A painting showing a horse can be seen behind them, as well as a shelf of books.

Landry has previously said America needs 'to ensure that Greenland joins the United States'. Credit: Getty Images

Denmark has warned the US to "respect its sovereignty" after President Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry special envoy to Greenland, calling the island "essential" to America's national security. Watch as diplomatic correspondent James Landale explains why. Envoys are informal appointments and don't have to be approved by the host country. Landry said his role as governor would not be affected. The appointment shows that "Trump's ambition to control Greenland remains undimmed", James writes. "The significance of this appointment is both the US presumption that Greenland is separate to Denmark and the new appointee's assertion that he will help the island become part of the US."

More from James

GET UP TO SPEED

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NEWS FROM THE UK

Chris Rea: The singer, famous for hits including Driving Home for Christmas, has died aged 74. The BBC's Emma Petrie looks back on his life.

Charged: A husband and five other men have been charged with a string of sexual offences against his ex-wife over a 13-year period.

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AT THE SCENE

Sydney, Australia

Australia was seen as a world leader in gun control - Bondi has exposed a more complicated reality

A man wearing a grey suit is seen from above. He is putting a rifle into a huge pile of guns.

Hundreds of thousands of guns were handed in across Australia during the 1996 government buyback scheme. Credit: Reuters

On another Sunday afternoon, this time in April 1996, a gunman armed with semi-automatic rifles killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania. In the wake of the massacre, Australia brought in some of the world's strictest gun laws. Almost 30 years later, the deaths of 15 people in an attack at Bondi Beach has left many calling for restrictions to be tightened further.

Lana Lam, online reporter

As the country's deadliest modern-day mass shooting was unfolding an hour's drive away, leading gun control advocate Roland Browne was holding a meeting at his home to lobby for a ban on the exact type of firearm the Port Arthur gunman was using.

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Almost three decades later, Mr Browne, 66, was again at home in Hobart when he received news of the shooting at Bondi. "It's sickening and I'm bitterly disappointed in our political system whereby the voices for tighter gun laws and public health aren't listened to until there's a major event like this," he says. "It's sad that it takes such a tragedy to get people to wake up and listen."

Keep reading

Watch: The BBC's Phil Mercer reports from an event held to mark one week since the deadly Bondi attack which was attended by thousands.

Chant ban: The state in which Bondi sits plans to ban the phrase "globalise the intifada" as part of a crackdown on "hateful" slogans.

Tighter restrictions: Australia's government has announced a gun buyback scheme and a limit on how many firearms a person can have.

A pair of hands are holding a passport open at a page covered in stamps