BBC News Briefing

23 July, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. US Vice-President Kamala Harris appears to have secured support from a majority of the delegates who will vote for the party's presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) next month. Anthony Zurcher looks at how she might fare against Republican rival Donald Trump. From Kenya, Anne Soy and Peter Mwai examine the police's response to anti-government protesters. Finally, scientists discover how oxygen can be produced even in the darkest ocean depths.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

DNC delegates pledge support for Harris

All of Ms Harris’s leading potential rivals for the nomination have endorsed her. Credit: AFP

Kamala Harris does not need reminding of how little time there is before Americans vote on 5 November. "We have 106 days until Election Day and in that time, we have some hard work to do," she told staff at her campaign's headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday. One key task, winning enough delegates to clinch the Democratic Party's nomination after President Joe Biden quit the race, appears secured. A survey by the Associated Press said Ms Harris had received the endorsement of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of voting at the party's convention. It helped that Mr Biden rallied the troops behind her. But Ms Harris has also reinvigorated the campaign, raising more than $80m (£62m) in new donations in the 24 hours since Mr Biden’s announcement – the biggest one-day total of any candidate this election cycle.

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Questions answered: What you need to know about how the Democratic National Convention picks the presidential nominee.

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#bratsummer: The lower-case, lime green aesthetic adopted by Harris's online campaign is a nod to the trend unleashed by British pop star Charli XCX's critically acclaimed latest album.

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Can Harris defeat Trump? Recent polls show the vice-president trailing the former president slightly – but the numbers might shift as we move from a hypothetical match-up to a very real one, writes North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

WORLD HEADLINES

War in Ukraine: Russian authorities have blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on a ferry at a port near the Crimean peninsula that killed one person. Meanwhile, the EU has chastised Hungary for its position on the conflict.

Croatia mass shooting: At least six people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a care home in the spa town of Daruvar, sparking calls for stricter gun control in the Balkan country.

Police killing: Authorities in the US state of Illinois have released bodycam footage that shows the chaotic moments that led to the fatal shooting of a woman who had called 911 to report a suspected intruder at her home.

Protected bird: A contestant on US reality show Race to Survive has caused controversy in New Zealand for killing and eating a weka while filming the series, according to local media reports.

Debut author: Hollywood star Keanu Reeves is releasing his first novel. The Book of Elsewhere, written in collaboration with British sci-fi writer China Miéville, follows an immortal warrior who wants to be able to die.

AT THE SCENE

Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya protesters face police brutality

A woman cries out as she leans over the casket at Rex Masai's funeral

At least four police officers are to face prosecution for shooting and killing protesters. Credit: Getty Images

The first of dozens of deaths recorded during Kenya's anti-government protests was the killing of 30-year-old Rex Masai on 20 June. The police's brutal response to the protests has further eroded what little trust there was in the authorities. As a new series of protests is about to begin, there are concerns over how the security forces will respond.

Anne Soy, deputy Africa editor and Peter Mwai, BBC Verify

On the night he was killed, Mr Masai’s family says the doctor who pronounced him dead confirmed there was a bullet lodged in his thigh, with a wound visible on one side but no exit wound on the other. “When I got to [where he died], I asked the medics to uncover my son’s body,” his mother, Gillian Munyao, told the BBC a day after the incident. She saw where the bullet had entered his leg. After the autopsy, the family and friends of Mr Masai were shocked to learn that bullet could not be found in his body.

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BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Where alcohol laws meet labour rights

Ontario liquor store employees hold picket signs after began their first strike in Toronto

On 5 July, more than 9,000 employees of the Liquor Board of Ontario (LCBO) walked off the job. Credit: Reuters

A labour dispute has snarled summer alcohol sales in Canada's most populous province, Ontario. Workers at the provincially owned liquor retailer are on strike for the first time in their history. The battle has shone a spotlight on the province's peculiar and, some say, outdated liquor-control system.

Find out more

A man sitting in a stadium, surrounded by empty seats.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Get on your feet

You're probably sitting down for too long each day.

Here's why

And finally...

A team of scientists has discovered that marine plants aren't the sole producers of oxygen in the ocean. Where no sunlight can penetrate, oxygen appears to be produced by naturally occurring metallic “nodules” that split seawater - H2O - into hydrogen and oxygen. Those metals, the target of the controversial practice of deep-sea mining, might have more of a role to play in supporting life on the seafloor than previously thought.

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– Sofia

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