BBC News Briefing

8 January, 2026

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

Alex Binley

Hello. The fatal shooting in Minneapolis of a woman by an ICE agent is "threatening to inflame an already contentious debate over immigration policy", writes North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher. We'll also bring you the day's developments. Staying in the US, we report from the secret California lab containing the world's most powerful computer. And finally, find out why a time capsule note brought so much joy to one man.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Two starkly opposed Americas laid bare by ICE shooting

A man in a khaki-coloured jacket with official-looking symbols on it wears a gas mask and faces a person in a khaki-coloured coat and back trousers who wears a black bike helmet and a black face mask. The person is leaning forwards.

Minnesota has become the epicentre of a growing conflict over immigration enforcement. Credit: Reuters

Minnesota officials have said they have been blocked by the FBI from investigating the death of Renee Good, after she was shot by an ICE agent. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said local authorities have "no jurisdiction" in the investigation. It is just one example of how the shooting lays "bare the sharp divides in American politics", writes Anthony Zurcher. He also notes how splits are apparent in the "starkly different" accounts federal and local officials are giving of what happened. My colleagues at BBC Verify have been looking at video that shows how the shooting unfolded. Meanwhile, protests against ICE agents are continuing in the city - you can follow live updates here - after hundreds of officials were deployed as part of the White House's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Read Anthony's analysis

GET UP TO SPEED

A person wears Arctic military camoflage gear, a helmet and is carrying a large gun. They are walking across frozen ground. They are outside and the sky is blue.

Vance criticises handling of 'critical' Greenland

Denmark and Europe have under-invested in Greenland's defences, and failed to engage with Trump's argument, Vance claimed.

More on this >

The head and shoulders of Trump can be seen. He has whiteish-blonde hair and is speaking into a microphone. He is wearing a navy blue suit and standing in front of a curtain of the same colour. He is wearing a white shirt and blue tie. The head of a man with dark hair can be seen standing behind him.

Trump: US involvement in Venezuela could last years

In an interview, the US president also did not say if or when elections would be held in Venezuela to replace the interim government.

What else he said >

A woman with black braided hair which is tied up on top of her head wears pink lipstick and a patterned shirt. She is looking ahead at the camera and standing in front of shelves containing books.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'devastated' by son's death

A family statement said that 21-month-old Nkanu Nnamdi, who the novelist had with her husband, died after a brief illness.

Read more >

A slightly blurred image captured from high up shows lots of people walking along a street in a city centre. It is dark and cars are driving in the road.

Internet blackout in Iran as protests held across country

It's the 12th night anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in a wave of unrest sparked by an economic crisis.

Follow live >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Strorm Goretti: A rare, red "danger to life" warning has been issued as a "weather bomb" hits the UK. We've got the latest.

Crash death: The families of two young men were told that the wrong teenager had survived and the other died in a car crash, a court has heard.

Abandoned baby: A newborn who was left in a carrier bag is to be adopted and will have contact with her siblings who were left in similar circumstances.

AT THE SCENE

Santa Barbara, California

Inside the sub-zero lair of the world's most powerful computer

Google's Willow quantum computer is an oil barrel-sized series of round discs connected by hundreds of black control wires descending into a bronze drum suspended a metre from the ground in a lab.

Willow took just minutes to solve a problem that would have taken the best computer in the world more than the age of the universe.

If the first quarter of this century was defined by the rise of the internet and AI, the next 25 years look set to be the start of the quantum era. Quantum computers do complex calculations at incredibly fast speeds, and experts believe they'll transform the world. As a result, they're at the heart of a race for commercial and economic supremacy, and closely guarded secrets.

Faisal Islam has black hair that is parted on the side and a black beard with some grey in it. He is looking ahead at the camera and the collar of a grey suit and white shirt can be seen.

Faisal Islam, economics editor

It looks like a golden chandelier and contains the coldest place in the known universe. What I am looking at is not just the most powerful computer in the world, but technology pivotal to financial security, Bitcoin, government secrets, the world economy and more.

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Quantum computing holds the key to which companies and countries win and lose the rest of the 21st Century. In front of me suspended a metre in the air, in a Google facility in Santa Barbara California, is Willow. Frankly, it was not what I expected.

Keep reading

Future of tech: Experts predict what technology we'll be using in 2050.

Explained: Will quantum be bigger than AI?

Price rises: Why everything from your phone to your PC may cost more in 2026.