BBC News Briefing

26 November, 2025

BREAKING NEWS

Two National Guardsmen have been killed in a shooting in Washington DC, West Virginia's governor has said. The incident happened just blocks from the White House. Police have said a suspect has been taken into custody. Follow live updates here.

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

Alex Binley

Hello. Dozens of people have died and scores are missing after a fire tore through a high-rise development in Hong Kong. We'll bring you the latest developments. We hear from Greenlandic parents calling for their children's return after they were taken into care following a test they say was biased against them. And finally, take a look at a rare, and arguably ugly, plant not seen for 13 years.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Death toll rises as firefighters work to bring Hong Kong blaze under control

Flames and huge plumes of smoke billow up into the night sky from several high-rise apartment blocks. Other tower blocks are seen behind them.

In the early hours of Thursday, around 800 firefighters were working to bring the blaze under control. Credit: Yan Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

The death toll from a major fire that is engulfing apartment blocks in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong currently stands at 36, with 279 people unaccounted for, amid reports that some are trapped. Video shows the night sky lit-up by the flames, believed to have spread quickly through bamboo scaffolding surrounding the towers. One eyewitness the BBC spoke to told of how he saw a body being removed. "It's a disaster," Thomas Liu said as he described feeling the heat coming from the blaze and told how the air was "heavy" with smoke. You can read more from witnesses here, and learn everything we know so far here.

Latest updates

GET UP TO SPEED

An image shows Donald Trump giving a speech. He is stood behind a lectern with a microphone and is gesticulating with his hand. He is wearing a black coat, white shirt and red tie

Election interference case against Trump dropped

The Georgia state charges were part of the last criminal case against the president stemming from the 2020 election.

Read more >

A man with short black hair stands behind two microphones and appears unsure. Only his head and shoulders can be seen and he is wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt

Mystery over Spain flood leader's hour in car park

Carlos Mazón is under scrutiny over a period of several hours he spent with a journalist when deadly floods hit Valencia.

What we know >

A person in a red T-shirt and black shorts stands on a rock which overhangs a vast valley. Rocky mountains covered in trees can be seen in the background.

US to charge tourists $100 to access national parks

The price hike will come in from 2026 and aims to put "American families first". US citizens will not see fees increase.

What to know >

Three bowls of food sit on a table. A woman's hands hold a fork and a spoon and she appears to be about to take some from one of the dishes.

NYC 'dine-and-dash diva' arrested over unpaid meals

The self-styled food influencer would reportedly dress expensively and arrive at restaurants with a camera and lighting.

More on this >

AT THE SCENE

Denmark

Our babies were taken after 'biased' parenting test

A woman with black hair that is tied back is wearing a grey jumper and lying down. She is cradling a newborn baby, who's covered in a white crochet blanket.

Keira is only allowed to see Zammi, who is in foster care, once a week for an hour.

Greenlandic parents in Denmark are 5.6 times more likely to have their children taken into care than their Danish counterparts. Involved in these decisions were parental competency tests, but following decades of criticism, their use on Greenlandic families is now banned. The government said it will review 300 cases in which children were taken from their families but not adopted.

Sofia Bettiza and Woody Morris, BBC Global Health Reporter and BBC World Service

When Keira's daughter was born last November, she was given two hours with her before the baby was taken into care. "Right when she came out, I started counting the minutes," Keira recalls. When the moment came for Zammi to be taken from her arms, Keira says she sobbed uncontrollably, whispering "sorry" to her baby. "It felt like a part of my soul died."

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Keira is now preparing for Zammi's first birthday in her absence. She still has a cot next to her bed. "I will not stop fighting for my children," she says. "If I don't finish this fight, it will be my children's fight in the future."

Keep reading

Contraception scandal: In September, Denmark's PM apologised for a campaign that saw Inuit women fitted with birth control devices.

Bebiane's story: When Bebiane was struggling to get pregnant, she was horrified to find out she had a contraceptive coil she didn't know about.

Experiment apology: In 1951, 22 Greenlandic children were sent to Denmark to learn Danish, but many never saw their families again.