Dan Ronan

On the web at theschmidt.org.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan.

President Trump on Christmas Day said the U.S.

military launched what he called a powerful and deadly strikes against the Islamic State forces in Nigeria.

The Pentagon released a video alongside a statement from the president calling it an unclassified clip showing a missile being fired from a ship.

The attack came after Trump spent several weeks accusing the leadership of that West African nation of failing to stop the persecution of Christians.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S.

worked with Nigeria and claimed the mission had been approved by the country's government.

Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the cooperation included sharing intelligence and strategic coordination.

Nigeria's population is split almost evenly between Muslims and Christians, and the Boko Haram extremist group has sought to establish its version of Islamic law, claiming Muslims in some cases are not Muslim enough.

In Turkey, police detained 115 suspected members of ISIS in coordinated raids across the country over allegations of plots linked to Christmas and New Year's.

Authorities say they issued more than 130 arrest warrants after learning of the planned attacks.

The BBC's Sebastian Usher has more.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is suing the Federal Health Department over the sudden cancellation of $12 million in grants.

NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffins reports pediatricians allege the grants were canceled in retaliation for speaking out.

This is NPR.

Officials in Taiwan are monitoring the Chinese coast waters and the ships sailing in restricted waters next to some of the islands.

Such Chinese patrols are increasingly common around Taiwan, and according to a Pentagon report, some of China's efforts to erode Taiwan's control over its own waters.

NPR's Emily Fang has more.

The bodies of two members of the Iowa National Guard who were killed in a December 13th attack in Syria have been returned to their families, this during a Christmas Eve ceremony in Des Moines.