BBC News Briefing

22 October, 2024

Jules Darmanin

Hello. In two weeks, Americans will decide whether they want to see Donald Trump back in the White House, or promote Vice-President Kamala Harris. Today we look at the two candidates' strategies to get the top job. In Mogadishu and across Somalia, Mohamed Gabobe spends some time with the alcohol smugglers who risk death to escape from poverty. We're also reporting on big rocks, Texan bites, and long-lasting friendships.

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TOP OF THE AGENDA

Harris and Trump battle for undecided voters

Donald Trump looks at the crowd during a rally. A picture of Kamala Harris is displayed in the giant screen behind him.

Polls in critical swing states are extremely close. Credit: Reuters

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With two weeks to go before election day, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump are frantically spending time and money in key parts of the US, hoping to sway the most undecided voters in battleground states. They are both touring Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia this week - swing states that could turn blue or red on 5 November and give a decisive advantage in the race for 270 electoral votes. In Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which Trump won in 2016, Harris has brought on anti-Trump conservative figures to suburban town halls. Polls lead her campaign to believe college-educated Republicans are drifting away from Trump's brand of conservatism. Trump, meanwhile, is snubbing mainstream news outlets in favour of a hyperfocused media strategy. He gave multiple wrestling-related interviews recently, hoping to reach young men who are less invested in politics.

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The latest: Nearly 17 million people have already voted, according to a tracker from the University of Florida. Our live page has more.

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Crunching numbers: My colleagues have compiled polling averages at national and state level on our poll tracking page.

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Neighbourhood watch: Canadians and Mexicans are watching on nervously, hoping the outcome of the US election won't affect them or their business across the border.

WORLD HEADLINES

Middle East: Thirteen people including a child were killed in an Israeli air strike near the main government hospital in southern Beirut, the Lebanese health ministry says. Israel has not commented on the strike.
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Chinese drills: China held a live-firing exercise from its territory closest to Taiwan one week after it launched a large-scale drill encircling the island.
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King Charles in Australia: An Aboriginal protester has been arrested at the Sydney Opera House as crowds awaited a glimpse of the King and Queen on the final day of their tour.

Robotaxi: The maker of the film Blade Runner 2049 has sued Tesla, Elon Musk and Warner Bros Discovery, alleging they used imagery from the movie without permission.
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Hard rock: A huge meteorite first discovered in 2014 caused a tsunami bigger than any in known human history and boiled the oceans, scientists have discovered.
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AT THE SCENE

Mogadishu, Somalia

Smuggling alcohol past bandits and Islamist fighters

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View from inside a car driving on a dirt road between Ethiopia and Somalia. There is faux fur on the driving wheel and on the dashboard.

Alcohol is smuggled from Ethiopia to cities in Somalia. Credit: Mohamed Gabobe/BBC

The use and distribution of alcohol is illegal in Somalia, whose laws follow the Islamic Sharia law. But it has not stopped a growing demand, particularly among young people in many parts of the country. Alcohol smugglers are risking their lives, hoping for a way out of poverty.

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Mohamed Gabobe and Layla Mahmood, BBC News

Alcohol smuggler Guled Diriye is exhausted. He has just returned from his trip transporting contraband from the Ethiopian border. The 29-year-old slumps in his chair inside a colonial-style villa battered by years of fighting in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu – a city once known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. His sandals are covered in a potent orange dust – the residue from the desert. Mr Diriye’s dark eyes droop. The bags underneath speak of sleepless nights, the hours of tension traversing the dangerous roads and negotiating checkpoints with armed men. There is also the haunting memory of a fellow smuggler who was shot dead.

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Keep reading

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Putin gather allies to defeat isolation tactic

A close-up of Vladimir Putin gesturing with his thumb and index as if to show a small quantity or size.

The Kremlin says the summit is one of the "largest-scale foreign policy events ever" in Russia. Credit: Reuters

The Russian president is welcoming more than 20 heads of state in Kazan this week at the Brics summit, including China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi. But the emerging powers don't often see eye to eye, scuppering Vladimir Putin's ambition to create an anti-Western economic front.

Here's why

Actor Gabriel Luna is posing, crossing his arms and smirking next to a mosaic for a music venue, with the word 'music' and a guitar.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Keeping Austin weird

For live music or a taco bite, actor Gabriel Luna takes us on a tour of the Texan city.

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And finally...

In the White Swan in Yorkshire, six friends sit huddled around pints of beer. The men - all now in their early 80s - have met at the pub every Thursday for decades. The habit, they say, has long since become an immoveable tradition. Read about their weekly catch-up here.

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