BBC

On Christmas Day 2025, the US carried out missile strikes on suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria. They came after President Trump said he would intervene to protect Christians amid controversial claims of a “Christian genocide” in the country. The Nigerian government rejects such claims, saying both Muslim and Christian communities have been affected by insecurity in the country. Alex Last visits Plateau state in central Nigeria one area where ethnic and sectarian violence that has been the focus of US concern, to hear from both sides and meet those trying to bring peace.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

The Trump administration ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to step up the removal of undocumented migrants more than six weeks ago, triggering large scale protests across the US. Rahul Tandon speaks to business owners who say staff are too frightened to come into work.

In France, the government moves a step closer to banning social media for children under 15s.

And as a deadly winter storm batters the US and Canada, a farmer explains how he keeps his animals safe in extreme conditions.

[Photo: Protests in Minneapolis. Credit:CRAIG LASSIG/EPA/Shutterstock]

After another US citizen is killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis - will a change of tone from the White House alter the public mood?

We'll speak to the former head of US Customs and Border Protection. Also on the programme: a turbulent 36-hours in British politics as Suella Braverman defects and Andy Burnham is blocked.

So is it a double win for Reform UK?

The Israeli military says it has retrieved the body of the last hostage in Gaza, paving the way for the next phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan to get under way. Ran Gvili, a policeman, was one of 251 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed.

Also on the programme: The White House has sharply criticised what it called "hostile" Democrats for the unrest in Minneapolis ; and scientists have gained a new insight into a mind-bending part of the universe- dark matter.

(Photo: Israeli women hold a cutout picture of Israeli police officer, Ran Gvili, in Tel Aviv on the 26th of January, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Moti Milrod)

There are problems and tasks so hard and complicated that it would take today’s most powerful supercomputers millions of years to crack them. But in the next decade, we may well have quantum computers which could solve such problems in seconds.

Professor Sir Peter Knight is a British pioneer in the realms of quantum optics and quantum information science. During his three decades as a researcher at Imperial College London, he has advanced our understanding of the physics which underpins how quantum computers work.

Quantum optics was a new field of physics at the start of Peter Knight’s career in the early 1970s and he tells Jim Al-Khalili about the excitement and opportunities for a young scientist at the birth of a new scientific discipline. He also talks about the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. Since his retirement in 2010, Peter Knight has been the driving force behind this £1 billion government-funded endeavour which has positioned the UK as a world leader in the development and commercialisation of quantum computing and other revolutionary quantum inventions.

Akram offers a suggestion, and there's a complication at the Rewilding.

The Trump administration is facing a growing backlash over its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after another US citizen was shot dead by federal agents on Saturday - the second such case in a month. The former president Bill Clinton has urged Americans to stand up and speak out, with President Barack Obama warning core US values "are increasingly under assault." Some Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for a full investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti.

Also: the Israeli military says it has retrieved the remains of the last hostage from Gaza, a key condition of the agreement to end the war with Hamas. Israel's Supreme court hears a case brought by foreign journalists demanding free access to Gaza. European ministers say a new pact on clean energy development in the North Sea will help them break dependence on fossil fuels from Russia and other petro-states. Why gold prices have surges to record highs. The field research in Mexico that tells us how spider monkeys share knowledge on how to find the ripest fruit. And we mark 100 years since inventor John Logie Baird publicly demonstrated the first proper television set.

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.

Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.

Get in touch: [email protected]

US President Donald Trump says his administration is now “reviewing” Saturday’s shooting in Minneapolis, where 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot dead by ICE agents during a protest. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Trump also indicated he would eventually remove the agents from the Minnesotan city, but no timeline was given. BBC Verify takes us through the shooting of Mr Pretti step-by-step.

Also on the programme: China’s top general has been accused of bribery and leaking nuclear secrets to the US, and a lost portrait of the Scottish poet Robert Burns has been found after 200 years.

(Photo: President Donald Trump climbs a staircase during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Credit: Laurent Gillieron/EPA/Shutterstock)

Ten European countries bordering or close to the North Sea, including Germany, France, the UK and Norway, have pledged $11.3 billion to expand offshore wind capacity by 2030. They describe it as a historic deal that will wean Europe off dependency on Russian energy.

Plus, France starts debating a ban on social media for under-15s in the wake of a similar move in Australia.

And India and the EU are poised to conclude a trade deal.

Cocoa farmers in Ghana are disgruntled over delayed payments from the state regulator - COCOBOD. The farmers say the delay is endangering investments for the next farming season. Ghana, which is the world's second largest cocoa producer, changed the system through which farmers receive their payments in an attempt to reduce reliance on debt.

And we hear from Giel Malual and John Kuei - the two South Sudanese men who have just completed a walk across the length of mainland UK to raise awareness about the war in Sudan, and mobilise donations to build schools for young refugees displaced by the conflict.

Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna

Producers: Bella Twine, Keikantse Shumba, Chiamaka Dike, Blessing Aderogba and Patricia Whitehorne

Technical Producer: Maxwell Onyango

Senior Producer: Charles Gitonga

Editors: Samuel Murunga and Maryam Abdalla