BBC News Briefing

17 February, 2026

Andy has short hair and blue eyes. He is wearing glasses and an olive green shirt.

Andy McFarlane

Hello. After the death of the Reverend Jesse Jackson drew tributes from presidents past and present, we look back at how the civil rights campaigner changed the US. From Tokyo, Shaimaa Khalil reports on the unlikely effect of another political trailblazer, Sanae Takaichi, becoming Japan's first female prime minister. And scroll down for a wild video of Italians hurling oranges.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

How Jackson paved way for Obama

Jesse Jackson, pictured in 1984 against a dark green background in a large hall, had short dark hair and a moustache. He wore a grey suit over a white shirt with a brown tie. He is pictured raising a clenched fist, while talking into a collection of microphones.

Jackson built a movement with a message that centred on poor and working-class Americans. Credit: Getty Images

Former US President Barack Obama has described the Reverend Jesse Jackson as a "true giant", after the civil rights leader's death at 84. Obama said he had "stood on his shoulders" in becoming America's first black president, an occasion that had moved Jackson to tears - as captured in our picture gallery. Obama's was one of many tributes since Jackson's family announced his death on Tuesday morning, with President Donald Trump calling him a "force of nature". As Anthony Zurcher and Sam Woodhouse recall, Jackson was a protege of Martin Luther King Jr, who had made the jump from activism to mainstream politics, culminating in two White House runs.

Read our obituary

GET UP TO SPEED

No DNA matches on glove in kidnap case, police say

Found near Nancy Guthrie's home, it had seemed to match one worn by a suspect in footage from the night she went missing.

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Jeffrey Epstein, a man with grey hair wearing a bright blue polo shirt and a yellow anorak, smiling broadly as he stands in front of a private plane - a black jet with chrome detailing on the wings and around the engines, with five porthole-style windows visible on the right-hand side.

UK police assess private flights over Epstein ties

Essex Police says it is assessing information in relation to private flights into and out of London's Stansted Airport.

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A brass plaque identifies the Mission of the Sultanate of Oman, on a gatepost alongside ornate iron railings, in Geneva.

Iran says 'guiding principles' agreed with US

Tehran says more work is needed to get a deal on the dispute over its nuclear programme.

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A sleeping baby in a yellow hat lies in a hospital bed in Kyiv, under a light green blanket

How Ukraine pays for troops to freeze sperm

As Ukraine's population plummets, Sarah Rainsford reports on the start of a scheme to let soldiers freeze their eggs or sperm.

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NEWS FROM THE UK

UK passports: Dual nationals face scramble as new rules come into force.

'Soul-destroying': Young people despair at finding work as they bear brunt of unemployment at highest for nearly five years.

Reform UK: Farage appoints former Conservative ministers to key roles.

AT THE SCENE

Japan

PM stirs fandom but real test beckons

Takaichi's sensible leather bag - the Grace Delight Tote by Hamano - has become Japan's zeitgeist item. Credit: Reuters

From Our Own Correspondent: A buzz among young voters helped propel Japan's first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to her electoral landslide, turning her handbag into a symbol of professional ambition in the process. Now, she faces the tough task of reviving Japan's economy.

Shaimaa Khalil, Tokyo correspondent

The prime minister's light pink Jetstream multi-pen - available in most convenience stores here - has become hard to find. Not a limited edition. Not luxury. Just the right pen, in the right hand, at the right political moment. Such is the buzz around Sanae Takaichi. The fandom is so real it has a name: Sanakatsu. And that may be her most unexpected political achievement so far. A persona so far removed from the reserved and somewhat dull image of her predecessors.

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Takaichi has connected with younger voters in a way not seen here before. "Young people tend to be the most disconnected from politics in Japan," says Jeffrey Hall, lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies. "But Takaichi has taken on this kind of idol-like status among some." The viral moments - the hashtags, the fandom - have carried her this far. Her real test, though, will be more about people's pocketbooks and less about expensive handbags.

Listen now

Deteriorating relations: As China hits Japan where it hurts, will Takaichi give in?