Joe Biden has promised to be "an ally of the light, not the darkness" after accepting the Democratic Party's nomination to be its candidate for this November's US presidential election . The former vice-president, 77, used his acceptance speech at the party's virtual national convention to attack his rival, Republican President Donald Trump, who he accused of unleashing "too much anger, too much fear, too much division". Mr Biden called on people to unite and "overcome this season of darkness", adding that the election is "life-changing" and will "determine what America is going to look like for a long, long time".

Mr Biden also criticised the president for not having a plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Saying his first action if elected to the White House would be to get the virus under control, Mr Biden added he would introduce a national mask mandate and promised the American people would get the "honest unvarnished truth" about the virus. 

Opinion polls suggest Mr Biden has a healthy lead over Mr Trump, but with 75 days to go until Americans vote, the Republican incumbent still has time to turn things around. 

The Trump campaign has reacted to Mr Biden's nomination by accusing him of being a "pawn of the radical leftists", adding that the party's ideas come from "socialist extremists" with its policies to raise taxes, give permits to undocumented workers, kill energy jobs and be anti-police in nature. We've written about Mr Biden's policies and those of Mr Trump. 

Did Mr Biden make a convincing case to be the next president of the United States? Our North America reporter Anthony Zurcher gives his verdict here.

We've also profiled Joe Biden and have put together a really simple guide to the US election.

Thousands of British holidaymakers are facing a scramble to get home to avoid quarantine after Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago were removed from the safe travel list.  People returning from those countries will have to isolate for 14 days if they are not back by 04:00 BST on Saturday. But passengers coming back from Portugal no longer face any quarantine restrictions . The Portuguese government has welcomed the move, saying it resulted from "intense bilateral work".

The consumer group Which? said the change in Portugal's quarantine status had probably come too late for the beleaguered travel industry, adding that holiday companies needed more government support.

For British holidaymakers in Croatia the race is now on to get home before Saturday morning. Diane Barwick told the BBC that she had responded to rumours that the country was going to be added to the quarantine list by booking an early flight home. But the Tucker family from Cambridge criticised the move and said the government should consider other options such as testing returning travellers for coronavirus at UK airports.

We've got more on the quarantine rules for UK travellers here, including which countries are deemed safe for Britons to visit.
 

An air ambulance has left Germany to collect Russian political activist Alexei Navalny , who is in a coma in Siberia after falling ill. His supporters say he was poisoned, possibly by a substance which was put in his tea. Posts on social media appear to show Mr Navalny in pain on the flight, while a photograph purports to show him drinking from a cup at a Tomsk airport cafe. The German charity Cinema for Peace said it planned to fly Mr Navalny to hospital in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said her country can give the medical assistance he needs. But it is being reported that a Russian doctor who is treating Mr Navalny has said he is currently too sick to be moved.

Mr Navalny is a long-standing critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has served several jail terms. He attempted to stand in the country's 2018 presidential election but was barred as a candidate having been convicted of fraud - a case he says was politically motivated. You can read more about Mr Navalny here.
 

There's a mix of stories making the front pages of Friday's papers, including the jailing of Hashem Abedi, brother of the Manchester arena suicide bomber Salman. Abedi was sentenced to a term of at least 55 years. The Daily Mail says it has tracked down Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who it reports is currently holidaying in a remote cottage on the Scottish coast. The paper accuses him of failing to express "a word of sympathy" for pupils who have been caught up in the row over grades for A-levels and GCSEs. Elsewhere, the Guardian reports that officials in Birmingham have warned the public to act now to avoid a local lockdown in the city after a sharp rise in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus. And the Daily Mirror reports that the head of BBC News has suggested TV bulletins could become obsolete as more people get their current affairs on phones and the iPlayer. Find out what else is making headlines in our paper review.
 

US actress Lili Reinhart, star of teen drama Riverdale, says her new film is not "another teen romance". Reinhart plays Grace in the Amazon movie Chemical Hearts, and say the film is important because it shows heartbreak from the male perspective. She also welcomes Disney creating its first bisexual character in The Owl House - having come out as bi herself in June. 

In the 1990s, Somerset farmer Charles Carson bought a camcorder and started making films on his farm. The unusual home videos have been rediscovered in an attic and now, several years after his death, Mr Carson is to star in a documentary about his life.

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