Global News Podcast

EU approves $100bn loan to Ukraine

43 snips
Apr 22, 2026
Jessica Parker, BBC Europe correspondent in Kyiv, follows the EU’s huge Ukraine loan after Hungary drops its veto. Sebastian Usher, BBC Middle East analyst, looks at Iranian gunfire near the Strait of Hormuz. Barbara Plett-Usher, BBC Africa correspondent, unpacks a report on Colombian mercenaries in Sudan. Jake Kwon, BBC Seoul correspondent, covers fraud claims tied to the man behind BTS.
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INSIGHT

How Oil Repairs Unlocked EU Money For Ukraine

  • The EU’s $100 billion loan became possible only after Hungary lifted its veto, showing how battlefield infrastructure and bloc politics can directly shape wartime finance.
  • Jessica Parker says repairs to the Druzhba pipeline resumed Russian oil flows to Hungary, and Kyiv calls the loan a matter of life and death for 2026 and 2027.
INSIGHT

Iran Uses Shipping Attacks To Test The Ceasefire

  • Iranian gunfire at ships in the Strait of Hormuz signals Tehran will answer US pressure at sea while avoiding immediate full escalation.
  • Sebastian Usher says both sides are playing chicken as Trump keeps a ceasefire but maintains a blockade and Iran delays talks.
ANECDOTE

What Tehran Shoppers Said About War And Inflation

  • Lyse Doucet’s street interviews in Tehran show exhaustion with sanctions, inflation and endless nuclear diplomacy rather than confidence in any ceasefire.
  • One shopper says bread costs tripled in months, while an architect who returned from Berlin says the biggest missing thing is freedom.
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