BBC News Briefing

14 October, 2024

Andy McFarlane

Hello. As Israel fights on two fronts, it has faced its biggest attack since 7 October last year. Wyre Davies has details. From the US, we have the latest on the arrest of an armed man near a Donald Trump rally. Plus, scroll down for remarkable video of a SpaceX rocket booster returning to its launch pad and an interview with an influencer who braved a hurricane for clicks.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Deadly drone attack hits Israeli base

An Israeli soldier, photographed from behind, wears fatigues and a large backpack as he looks at a silver vehicle with a blue flashing light at the back of a queue of cars along a road at night

Some of those injured were reportedly in a canteen at the base. Credit: Getty Images

The bloodshed in the Middle East continues. A day when Lebanese authorities said Israeli air strikes had killed 51 people and injured 174 across the country ended with the deadliest attack on Israel since last year's 7 October Hamas attacks. Four soldiers were killed and more than 50 injured in a drone strike on a military base in the north on Sunday night, in what the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said was a response to the Israeli bombings. Wyre Davies, reporting from Jerusalem, said a relatively unsophisticated low-level drone was thought to have been used. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the Hamas-run health authorities said 22 people were killed on Sunday in a strike on a school-turned-shelter at a refugee camp. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said the centre was to have been used for polio vaccinations. Israel has claimed Hamas uses civilians facilities for military bases. Get the latest.

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US support: Washington is to deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and a US military crew to Israel to help bolster its air defences after a missile attack from Iran earlier this month, the Pentagon has said.

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'Forcibly entered': In the latest in a series of incidents, a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon says Israeli tanks forced their way into one of its positions early on Sunday. Israel says it was evacuating wounded soldiers.

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Empty bars and bookshops: Israeli strikes on Beirut have transformed Lebanon's buzzing capital, writes BBC World Service correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard. Here's a reminder of what's behind the conflict.

WORLD HEADLINES

Trump rally: A man arrested with a shotgun and a loaded handgun near a Donald Trump rally in California on Saturday has been released, according to police. Here's what we know about the incident.

Taiwan: China has launched new military drills off the island in what it described as "punishment" for a speech given by its president William Lai.

Christopher Columbus: The traditional view of the explorer is that he was an Italian from Genoa. But DNA analysis suggests he was probably Spanish and Jewish, scientists have claimed.

Gang violence: The decapitated bodies of five men have been found on a road in central Mexico, in an area controlled by the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Space missions: US agency Nasa is set to launch a craft to search for life on Europa - a moon orbiting Jupiter. Here's what you need to know. And, if you missed the SpaceX rocket booster returning to its launch pad in a "chopsticks manoeuvre" on Sunday, the video is impressive.

AT THE SCENE

Panna, central India

How generations dig for a fortune

Diamond miner Prakash Sharma has grey hair and a moustache. He wears a loose white shirt, surrounded by family members in loose, colourful clothing, at a mine. In the background, there is a mound of rocks, while the earth is dry with a yellowish hue

For many, diamond-hunting is a family tradition, passed down through generations. Credit: BBC Hindi

Panna, in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh, is afflicted by poverty, water scarcity and unemployment. But it's also home to most of India's diamond reserves. Once known for large and rare finds, its mines are run down, and reserves depleted. But miners remain hopeful.

Vishnukant Tiwari, BBC Hindi

"I feel sick if I don't search for diamonds. It's like a drug." Prakash Sharma, 67, speaks about diamonds with a passion that has defined his life for the past five decades. Mr Sharma is among thousands of men - young and old - who spend their days in the mines, hoping to strike rich and escape the cycle of poverty. The miners start digging through gravel in the early hours of the morning. They then wash, dry and sift through it looking for diamonds until sunset.

Keep reading

Striking it rich: In July, a debt-ridden labourer discovered a 19.22-carat diamond in Panna that eventually sold for about 8m rupees ($95,000; £73,000).

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Risking death for cash and clicks

A screenshot shows Mike Smalls Jr wearing a white vest, red tracksuit bottoms and a black baseball cap. He is sitting on bare grass under a raised section of motorway, as he clings to a black tent which is being whipped away by the wind.

After making it safely through the experience, Mr Smalls Jr said he would do it again "if the price was right". Credit: Mike Smalls Jr

While millions of Floridians fled Hurricane Milton, Mike Smalls Jr rushed towards the storm with little more than an air mattress, an umbrella and some ramen noodles. He's one of a growing number of people making money from live-streaming reckless stunts, which critics say puts emergency workers at risk. BBC Verify's Merlyn Thomas hears his response.

Watch and read

A plant-based burger has been cut in half, leaving a section showing a white bun either side of a meaty-looking patty, which sits on a salad including sliced tomatoes, lettuce and onion

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

What you eat

Do vegan diets have a problem with ultra-processed foods?

Find out

And finally...

Conkers - a game in which participants (historically schoolchildren) would thread shoelaces through horse chestnuts and take turns to swing it an opponent's equivalent - might be regarded as something of a British eccentricity. But the World Conker Championships, at a pub in England's Midlands, took things to another level. Many of the 200 competitors donned fancy dress for the tournament, although these pictures would suggest they took things seriously enough.

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– Andy

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