BBC News Briefing

25 November, 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 said he hopes to meet with his counterparts from Ukraine and Russia "soon" but only when a deal to end the war is "final" or in its "final stages". Special correspondent Fergal Keane meets a young Gazan boy who travelled to Jordan to receive medical treatment after losing his leg. And no this isn't a joke - find out why two turkeys spent the night in a luxury hotel.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Ukraine supports US peace plan but Kremlin says it has not seen new draft

Zelensky and Trump sit next to each other on yellow chairs in front of a gold and marble fireplace. Zelensky wears a black suit and shirt and has short brown hair and a beard. Trump has whitish hair and is wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie.

Zelensky and Trump have met several times for talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock

A "common understanding" had been reached with the US on a draft peace deal aimed at ending the war with Russia, Ukraine has said. No proposed deal has yet been signed off, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to meet Trump to discuss "sensitive points", with his administration aiming for a meeting before the end of the month. Trump said he hoped to meet with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin "soon" but only when a deal had been reached or is close. He added he had instructed his officials to meet with both sides. The Kremlin previously said Russia had not yet been consulted on the new draft deal - warning it may not accept any amendments to last week's plan, which was widely seen as favourable to Moscow.

GET UP TO SPEED

A close up shot of Bolsonaro's face. He has brown hair that is grey around the temples, bushy eyebrowns and is looking straight ahead.

Bolsonaro starts 27-year sentence for coup plot

Brazil's ex-president was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election.

More on the case >

Macron wears a navy blue suit and tie and a white shirt. He has short brown hair and blue eyes and is surrounded by men in camouflage uniforms.

Macron to present French national service plan

Details are scant, but according to French media the scheme would be voluntary, remunerated and last 10 months.

Read more >

A medical van with two people in hazmat suits is parked outside a green Buddhist temple with a brown and gold roof.

Cremation stopped as knocks heard from coffin

The head of the temple in Bangkok was startled to see the woman "opening her eyes" as the coffin opened, it was reported.

What happened >

A close-up image shows the face of an older man who is wearing glasses with a thin black frame, and a black hat. The collar of a grey suit and black shirt can be seen.

Inconvenient Indian writer has no indigenous roots

Thomas King, who focused on indigenous stories, said he feels "ripped in half" after learning he is not part Cherokee.

More on this >

AT THE SCENE

Jordan

Gaza child amputee had musical instrument taken by Israeli forces

A boy with short black hair sits on the floor and a woman dressed all in black, wearing a black headscarf is holding a prosthetic leg up to what is left of his left leg. The boy wears a blue and grey T-shirt and blue shorts with boats on.

Abdelrahman was fitted with a prosthetic leg and received physiotherapy in Jordan.

From Our Own Correspondent: Fergal Keane has been following the story of Abdelrahman, an 11-year-old from Gaza who lost his leg following an Israeli airstrike next to a school where he was sheltering with his mother and sister. An earlier bombing on their home had killed his father.

Fergal Keane is outside and wears a black coat with a high collar. He has longish grey hair which is being blown to the side in the wind, and a beard.

Fergal Keane, special correspondent

I met Abdelrahman again several weeks after his arrival in Jordan. Doctors had fitted him with a prosthetic leg. We spoke in a hospital room where he was practising playing an oud – a lute-like instrument. A Jordanian colleague had given it to him in the hope it might calm the trauma he lived with. He spoke of going back to Gaza when he had finished his physiotherapy. “Our home is there,” he said. “We lived there, and we will die there.”

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A few weeks later the family returned. As they were crossing into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces searched the vehicle in which they were travelling. They saw the Oud – and they took it from Abdelrahman, along with some foodstuffs. Israel said returnees "are not permitted to bring in their personal luggage equipment that has not been approved as essential humanitarian aid, and without prior coordination".

Listen to the full story

Take a look: A Popemobile belonging to the late Pope Francis has been turned into a mobile medical clinic for children in Gaza.

Food kitchens: Israel is allowing more food into Gaza, but aid workers say vital ingredients needed to improve people's diets are still missing.

Gaza militias: In recent months, a patchwork of armed groups have emerged to fight Hamas in Gaza. These are some of them.

Two people in a canoe sail the Santiago River on a sunny day in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. Thick greenery lines the river banks.

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