Plus: The website matching suicide partners, and the second-largest diamond ever found. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
|
| Hello. After US Vice-President Kamala Harris re-introduced herself to American voters at the Democratic National Convention, Anthony Zurcher offers his key takeaways. An investigation reveals how a website has been inviting people to pair up to take their own lives. And scroll down for a volcanic eruption, an idyllic island and an enormous diamond. | |
|
|
|
|
TOP OF THE AGENDA | Harris makes her White House pitch | | Kamala Harris promoted her middle-class roots and spoke of her background as a lawyer. Credit: Reuters. | For hours, rumours swirled that Beyoncé or Taylor Swift might add some star quality to Kamala Harris's appearance at the Democratic National Convention. But as it turned out, the US vice-president relied on a highly personal speech to formally accept the party's nomination for the White House - watch the highlights. Ms Harris pledged to lead "for all Americans" and create an "opportunity economy" if elected in November. And she called for a ceasefire in Gaza, without directly addressing protests outside the convention over US support of Israel. Republican rival Donald Trump gave a running commentary on social media, asking: "Why didn't she do something about the things of which she complains?" Our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher says Ms Harris hit the notes her campaign wanted, with only rare moments of soaring rhetoric, and broke little new ground. Read his four takeaways.
Fact-checked: Ms Harris's speech was light on policy detail - here's where she stands on key issues - but featured claims about what Donald Trump might do in the White House. BBC Verify found some to be misleading.
Listen up: Did Ms Harris pull off the biggest speech of her life? The Americast team offers its verdict.
Family matters: Americans have this week learned more about Ms Harris's husband Doug Emhoff, potentially the first US First Gentleman, while some great-nieces delivered a lesson in how to pronounce her name. Holly Honderich has more on the "blended" family. | |
|
|
|
|
WORLD HEADLINES | | Diplomatic tightrope: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Ukraine on Friday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, weeks after being criticised for meeting Russia's Vladimir Putin in Moscow. | | South Korea: Two people who were among seven killed in a fire at a hotel in the city of Bucheon died after a fire department air mattress flipped as they jumped from windows. | | Fast fashion: Chinese company Shein found two cases of child labour in its supply chain last year, causing it to temporarily suspend orders from the suppliers involved, the company has said. | | Gender discrimination: A transgender woman from Australia has won a case against a women-only social media app, after she was denied access on the basis of being male. Sofia Bettiza says it could affect countries around the world. | | Icelandic volcano: There has been sixth eruption in the space of eight months in the Reykjanes region. Aerial footage captures the spectacular results. | |
|
|
|
| Fighting for safe abortions | Across much of the Caribbean, abortions are outlawed. But clandestine procedures are prevalent. A women's health charity challenging the law in Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda, says almost three in four women in Antigua will have a termination by their mid-40s. |
|
| | Gemma Handy, for BBC News |
|
| | When Brianna fell pregnant at 19 in Dominica, as a college student with limited funds, she knew she was neither financially nor emotionally ready to become a parent. "It was a frightening situation. I had no idea where to go," she recalls. Eventually she found a private doctor willing to carry out the procedure, but at more than $600 (£465) - about an average month's salary in Dominica - the cost was steep. A nurse took pity on her and loaned her the money. |
|
| |
|
|
BEYOND THE HEADLINES | The website matching suicide partners |
|
| | | Angela Stevens's son Brett killed himself after advertising for a partner. Credit: Phil Coomes/BBC | Thousands of people around the world have posted on a pro-suicide website with a "partners thread" for people seeking someone to die with, a BBC investigation has found. We hear from relatives of people lost to double suicides - and find predators have used the site to target vulnerable women. |
|
| |
|
|
SOMETHING DIFFERENT | Golden glow | This tiny Caribbean nation is having a post-Olympics moment. | |
|
| |
|
|
And finally... | The second-largest diamond ever found - a rough 2,492-carat stone - has been unearthed in Botswana at a mine owned by Canadian firm Lucara Diamond. It's the biggest find since 1905. Take a look at the stone - and maybe don't pay too much attention to its potential tag price. | |
|
|
|
|
Football Extra | Get all the latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays to your inbox. | |
|
| |
|
|
MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | | The Essential List: The best of the BBC, handpicked by our editors, in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe. | | In History: The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. Subscribe. | | US Election Unspun: Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday. Subscribe. | |
|
|
|
Thank you, as ever, for reading. Send us suggestions for topics or areas of the world to cover in this newsletter. Tell your friends and family about it! They can sign up here. You can take a look at all our newsletters here.
By the way, you can add newsbriefing@email.bbc.com to your contacts list and, if you're on Gmail, pop the email into your “Primary” tab for uninterrupted service. Thanks for reading!
– Andy | | | | |
|
| | You've received this email because you've signed up to the BBC News Briefing newsletter.
Click here to unsubscribe
To find out how we use your data, see the BBC Privacy Policy.
BBC Studios Distribution Limited.
Registered Number: 01420028 England
Registered office: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, W12 7FA, United Kingdom | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
