Teaser : Nigeria drowning in plastics

German unemployment has fallen as the country appeared to bounce back from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic. However, a second partial lockdown looks set to darken the economic outlook.

Some 885,000 Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week – the highest level since early September. The surge in coronavirus cases across the country means that many businesses are forced to lay off workers. Meanwhile, lawmakers appear to be closing in on another round of stimulus and relief funds, while hoping to head off the looming possibility of a government shutdown.

It's Christmas Day and following a year which has been harrowing for so many, we've decided to look back at the good news of 2020. We begin in Uganda, where a plastics company that specialises in recycling switched from making building materials to face shields to help hospitals. We also go to Benin, where the closure of the border with Nigeria has led to a push for more locally produced food, some of it on rooftops. And our correspondent in DR Congo looks back at how an NGO is helping Ebola survivors turn their lives around.

One of the world's biggest cities has prohibited the use of single-use plastic materials including plastic forks, straws and cups. Mexico's capital is striving to revamp its image as an eco-friendly, sustainable city.

An army of volunteers helps clean up a massive haul of plastic polluting Bali's famous Kuta beach.

The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits rose to its highest level since March, as the pandemic continues to shutter businesses across the country. In this show, we look ahead to President-elect Joe Biden's plans to protect households and boost the economy...plus French carmaker Renault's plans to pare back production and go electric.

Alarmed by the mountains of plastic waste leaching into Indonesia's waters, two best friends are taking on the environmental menace by turning crisp bags and shampoo packets into paving bricks.

Emergency services fight flames after an explosion sparked a fire at a plastics factory on the outskirts of Bangkok, killing at least one firefighter and wounding 29 people, according to officials.

Nina Gomes is no average environmentalist. With bright pink goggles and just 4 years old, she picks trash with her father from the water along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. With Nina in tow, Gomes sets out on a paddleboard into the picturesque but polluted waters of Rio's Guanabara Bay, where she grabs plastic bottles and bags and puts them in a mesh net.

With greenhouses as far as the eye can see, the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has been nicknamed the "Sea of Plastic". Intensive farming is the norm and it helps feed the European market with fruit and vegetables all year long. It also produces an estimated 33,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. Until two years ago, this waste was exported to countries such as China, Pakistan and Turkey. But now that these countries are refusing to take rubbish from rich countries, the "Sea of Plastic" is faced with the urgent challenge of recycling its own waste. Our correspondents report.

Afghanistan's Taliban government launched a programme to tackle hunger on Sunday, offering thousands of people wheat in exchange for labour.