for a new chapter in us history. america's ready for a better story. we are ready for a president kamala harris! america, hope is making a comeback! divers use remote—controlled vehicles to try to access a luxury yacht that sank off the coast of sicily on monday. six people are missing. and hollywood starsjennifer lopez and ben affleck are divorcing, after two years of marriage. we start this hour in the us. the former president barack obama and his wife michelle have enthusiastically backed kamala harris�*s bid for the white house on the second

day of the democratic party convention in chicago. during his keynote primetime speech, mr obama said america was ready for a new chapter with kamala harris as president and described donald trump as selfish, dangerous and weirdly obsessed with crowd size. our senior north america correspondent, gary o'donoghue, was watching. this is about as close to royalty as the democratic party gets. hello, chicago! it's good to be home. barack obama paid tribute to his former vice president, joe biden, and he warned the democrats the election would be a tight race in a closely divided country. if we work like we've never worked before, if we hold firm to our convictions, we will elect kamala harris as the next president of the united states.

both barack obama and the former first lady laid into donald trump — misogynistic, racist, whingeing, childish among the many insults. michelle obama going after him in a more directly personal way than before. see, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be black. but there was more — the punch line that sent the crowd wild. i want to know, who's going to tell him, who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking mightjust be one of those blackjobs? earlier, the convention formally adopted kamala harris as the nominee, and it was down to her husband, the current second gentleman, to tell the hall about the person as well as the politician. she findsjoy in pursuing justice. she stands up to bullies, - just like my parents taught me to.

and she likes to see - people do well, but hates when they're treated unfairly. 90 miles up the road, the nominee herself was campaigning in wisconsin — 76 days to prove to the american electorate that she is the right choice. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, chicago. we will be live later in chicago for reaction. let's get the latest on the rescue operation off the coast of sicily after that luxury yacht sank during a storm on monday. these are the live pictures from porticello — coastguard vessels have been seen heading off into the sea. the vessel is lying 50 metres down. divers are being helped by remote controlled vehicles that can operate on the seabed for far longer than the rescuers themselves. six people remain missing, but it's now thought it's no longer survivors rescuers are trying to find, but bodies — they were likely sleeping inside the cabins when the ship

was hit by a tornado—like water spout, which tossed it underwater. we'll be live with our correspondent in porticello shortly — first this report from graham satchell. cctv footage from the early hours of monday morning. through the raging storm, you can just see the lights of the luxury sailing yacht the bayesian, anchored offshore. but within minutes, as the wind intensifies, the lights disappear. this rescue operation is now entering its third day and conditions are difficult. the wreckage is more than 150ft underwater. divers are using remotely operated vehicles to help them find usable access points. still trapped inside are believed to be six missing people. the bayesian is one of the world's largest luxury sailing yachts, with the second tallest mast ever built.

it had 22 people on board when it sank — ten crew and 12 guests. one of those missing is mike lynch, described as the british bill gates. he hit the headlines when he sold his company autonomy to hewlett—packard for billions of pounds. mr lynch's18—year—old daughter hannah is also missing. they lived in suffolk. for the local community here, a feeling of immense shock. the family are well known in the local area and obviously it's just a very sad and awful thing. and the family are very fond of the local countryside, protecting the river deben valley, and have opened their house, i believe, and their gardens to the public before. yeah, very, very community—minded people. the head of morgan stanley international, jonathan bloomer, was also on board and is feared dead. we're just terribly sad for the family. we're coping the best we can, and we're just all supporting each other. he was my elder by half an hour, so it means a lot

when you lose a twin brother. 15 people survived the tragedy, including a one—year—old baby girl, seen here leaving hospital. british investigators are now in sicily, working to assess the disaster and determine what measures were taken on board to mitigate the extreme weather, but they know hopes have all but disappeared of finding anyone alive. graham satchell, bbc news. let's go live to our correspondent bethany bell who is in sicily. day three of the search, what is the latest? experts using underwater vehicles? , , . , latest? experts using underwater vehicles? , ,~ ., vehicles? this is a very challenging o eration, vehicles? this is a very challenging operation. the _ vehicles? this is a very challenging operation, the rescue _ vehicles? this is a very challenging operation, the rescue services - vehicles? this is a very challenging| operation, the rescue services have said. they have got teams of specialist divers who are used to working in small, cramped quarters. but the depth of the ship wreck is

proving a big challenge. we understand, we have been told that divers have a minute to get down to the wreck and then they can spend between eight to ten minutes under water before they need to spend the last minute coming up to the surface again. they are using remote controlled vehicles. they have been hampered we have been told by the fact that the boat is lying on its side and the access points are choked with debris. so it is difficult to gain access to the yacht itself. what we understand is they want today to try to get into they want today to try to get into the cabins, where some of the missing, the missing may have been sleeping. i missing, the missing may have been sleeina. , , missing, the missing may have been slee-ain. , , ., missing, the missing may have been sleeninu. , . missing, the missing may have been sleeniun. , . sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report. — sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report. it _ sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report, it is _ sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report, it is a _ sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report, it is a search _ sleeping. i suppose, as we heard in that report, it is a search for - that report, it is a search for bodies rather than survivors? the rescue services — bodies rather than survivors? tue: rescue services know bodies rather than survivors? tte: rescue services know that bodies rather than survivors? "tt2 rescue services know that with bodies rather than survivors? tt2 rescue services know that with every passing hour the chances of finding

people still alive is diminishing. however in the words of one rescue worker, neversay however in the words of one rescue worker, never say never. however in the words of one rescue worker, neversay never. so however in the words of one rescue worker, never say never. so people are working as hard as they can to locate these six missing people. in the meantime there are questions being asked as to how this happened. how it was that this particular yacht was hit and sunk this way, when other boats around about were not hit and a team of british investigators is here in sicily working with the italians to try and assess what happened. there have been questions about whether it was the mast, whether the hatches were closed. but of course the priority remains locating the missing. but the captain _ remains locating the missing. but the captain survived and i assume that the investigators will want to talk to him in quite a lot of detail as to what happened and whether they had enough notice of this water

spout and the bad weather that was in the area?— in the area? yes, i mean many nneole, in the area? yes, i mean many peeple. experts _ in the area? yes, i mean many people, experts in _ in the area? yes, i mean many people, experts in the - in the area? yes, i mean many people, experts in the field, i in the area? yes, i mean many. people, experts in the field, have described the water spout as an extreme condition, something that is very hard to plan for in a sense in terms of knowing it is going to come right then and there. people will be asking whether there were enough measures taken to mitigate such extreme weather events which of course we know can happen. but, as i say, for now, the huge, huge priority is locating the missing people, the investigations will continue, they're continuing now, but for now the focus is finding the missing. but for now the focus is finding the missinu. ., ., but for now the focus is finding the missinu. ., ~' ,, i want to bring you some breaking news from romania. this involves the

controversial british/american social media influencer andrew tate. we are hearing that he is facing new charges in addition to rape and human trafficking charges. police raided his home on wednesday and there has been a statement from the prosecution service in bucharest saying that four houses were searched on wednesday and that the new charges include sex with and trafficking in underage persons, money laundering and attempting to influence witnesses. the tate brothers who have a massive following on social media have always denied all the previous charges against them. they of course were first detained in romania back in december 2022. then they were released from house arrest in august last year. but they are not allowed to leave romania. this breaking news they're facing new charges after police searched four houses and a

statement from the authorities there include sex with and trafficking in underage persons, money laundering and attempting to influence witnesses. we will bring you more on that when we get the detail. how do you tackle illegal immigration? it's an issue for governments around the world. well here ministers are pledging an increase in return flights for failed asylum seekers, as well as 100 new intelligence officers to target people smuggling gangs. the conservatives said labour were "not serious about tackling the people smugglers or stopping the boats". let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. what are these goth plans? well when labour uot what are these goth plans? well when labour got into — what are these goth plans? well when labour got into government, _ what are these goth plans? well when labour got into government, the - labour got into government, the first thing they did in this area was scrap the rwanda scheme, that we heard about from previous conservative governments. today we

are getting more detail about how they plan to deal illegal immigration. we have a couple of measures and also a kind of new target. the measures one as you mentioned is hiring 100 new intelligence officers into the national crime agency to investigate people smuggling gangs. keir starmer�*s slogan was to smash the gangs. the other measure is about re—opening a couple of old immigration detention centres. that will mean about 300 more people can be held in detention before being removed. and there is a new target, yvette cooper saying she wants people to be removed at a faster rate than they have. the government hasn't put a number on that, but that seems to suggest they want to

remove about 14,4 hundred people who are here illegally over the next six months. ., ., months. reaction from the conservatives? _ months. reaction from the conservatives? they're - months. reaction from the - conservatives? they're welcoming months. reaction from the _ conservatives? they're welcoming the cou n le conservatives? they're welcoming the cou-le of conservatives? they're welcoming the couple of measures _ conservatives? they're welcoming the couple of measures i _ conservatives? they're welcoming the couple of measures i mentioned, - conservatives? they're welcoming the couple of measures i mentioned, theyj couple of measures i mentioned, they say more resource and detention capacity is welcome. but james cleverley says that it doesn't go far enough. he says this plan does not scratch the surface and is not nearly ambitious enough. thank you. thank you. let's speak to danny shaw. he was a senior adviser to yvette cooper during her time as shadow home secretary. she is now promising to reach "the highest rate of removals" since theresa may's premiership. that does seem to be a modest step? it is a very modest target, because the number of removals overall last

year was around about the same as in 2018. so i think there will be some ramping up required, but i'm sure that the home office won't have set this target without realising that it could be achieved, because the last thing they want to do is start a set targets and aims where they then fall short. because that is what happened with the previous government and they want to avoid those mistakes. tt government and they want to avoid those mistakes.— those mistakes. if they want to remove more _ those mistakes. if they want to remove more people, - those mistakes. if they want to remove more people, don't- those mistakes. if they want to l remove more people, don't they those mistakes. if they want to - remove more people, don't they need agreements with the countries that they need to be sent back to and how likely that is when the countries include places like afghanistan and syria? include places like afghanistan and s ria? , , ., ., syria? the first thing they have to do is to make _ syria? the first thing they have to do is to make decisions _ syria? the first thing they have to do is to make decisions about - do is to make decisions about whether people have the right to be in the uk and the previous government basically stopped processing asylum cases, so there was a backlog of around 100,000 people awaiting initial decisions on

their asylum claim. the first thing you have to do is start to process cases, make decisions if people have the right to be here, they should stay, if they don't you should seek to remove them. that is the first thing. then you have to increase the number of people working on returns, the government are putting 300 extra people into that unit and i'm sure more will follow. the third thing you have to do is to seek agreements with countries where it has been traditionally difficult to return them and that requires diplomacy. that requires negotiation. that requires diplomats and civil servants and officials from the uk going to those countries, having conversations, reaching agreements on returns. there are some countries who are willing to give you know... who are willing to take people. to go back. there are others who are not. in some of those countries we have people coming to the uk on visas. if you want people to come on

visas, you have to be prepared to accept people who have no right to be here, who should be going back there. , ., ., ., , there. does one of the agreements not need there. does one of the agreements rrot need to — there. does one of the agreements rrot need to be _ there. does one of the agreements not need to be with _ there. does one of the agreements not need to be with the _ there. does one of the agreements not need to be with the french. - there. does one of the agreementsj not need to be with the french. we have thousands of people crossing the channel and many say they could claim asylum in france and don't? well, there are many different ways that need to be gone through in order to reduce the number of small boat crossings. 0ne order to reduce the number of small boat crossings. one of them is to have a functioning asylum system and step up the number of removals from the uk. we need to have safe routes, so people can come to the uk legally, ratherthan so people can come to the uk legally, rather than use illegal means. and the other two planks of this are smashing the gangs through increasing co—operation with the authorities abroad and increasing the number of investigators working on the criminal networks. and

finally, in my view, there has to be an agreement with the french and the eu so if people come to the uk illegally on a small boat they're returned. you know, the sight of a ferry taking people back to france, who have crossed the channel in a small boat will quickly bring an end to small boat crossings. now, getting agreement with the french and with the eu is going to be very, very difficult. it may take many, many months of negotiations. it may be it has to be wrapped in into a wider security deal, but that should be something the government is seeking and it is a vital part of reducing the number of small boat crossings, in my view.— around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's go back to chicago and barack and michelle obama have told the democratic party convention that america is ready for a new chapter, with kamala harris as president. 0n the second day of the event in chicago, mr obama attacked the republican candidate, donald trump, as "weird", and "stale". let's speak to cbs correspondent caroline cummings. how have the 0bama's gone down? both in the hall and outside? good morninu , both in the hall and outside? good morning. nicky- — both in the hall and outside? good morning, nicky. so, _ both in the hall and outside? (132212 morning, nicky. so, people were ecstatic to hear the 0bamas speak, they stole the show and gave a compelling speech to get a sense of hope. michelle obama said, america, hope, making a come back. they tried to inspire the audience and draw a contrast between president trump and kamala harris. but very well

received speech by democrats. these two are some of most beloved people in the party for democrats. so very well received here in chicago. you mention it. _ well received here in chicago. you mention it, they _ well received here in chicago. you mention it, they did make some personal attacks on donald trump? yes, they did. namely michelle obama specifically, but also former president barack obama talked about how he criticised donald trump for caring about conspiracy theories and being obsessed with crowd size. they sharpened their attack on donald trump, who is now the republican nominee for the third time. barack obama also _ nominee for the third time. barack obama also saying _ nominee for the third time. barack obama also saying it _ nominee for the third time. barack obama also saying it would - nominee for the third time. barack obama also saying it would be - nominee for the third time. barack obama also saying it would be like nominee for the third time. barack. obama also saying it would be like a bad movie sequel. but kamala harris wasn't actually there? yes. bad movie sequel. but kamala harris wasn't actually there?— wasn't actually there? yes, that's ri u ht, wasn't actually there? yes, that's riuht, she wasn't actually there? yes, that's right. she was — wasn't actually there? yes, that's right, she was not _ wasn't actually there? yes, that's right, she was not here _ wasn't actually there? yes, that's right, she was not here last - wasn't actually there? yes, that's| right, she was not here last night. because she was actually about two

hours' north of chicago millwaukee. wisconsin is an important state, because we have the electoral college. both campaigns, the trump and harris campaign have focussed on wisconsin and other battlegrounds. she made some time for that campaign stop, but she did address the convention from there. they broadcast that rally for a bit here in the convention hall. but she was there with governor tim wals, who will address the convention to accept his vice presidential nomination.— accept his vice presidential nomination. ., ,, ., ., nomination. thank you. caroline mentioning _ nomination. thank you. caroline mentioning that _ nomination. thank you. caroline mentioning that speech - nomination. thank you. caroline mentioning that speech by - nomination. thank you. caroline mentioning that speech by tim l nomination. thank you. caroline - mentioning that speech by tim wals, we will have that live on bbc news. to the middle east now. america's top diplomat has said there was no more time could be wasted in reaching

a gaza ceasefire deal, as he wrapped up his latest tour to the region. he said hamas needed to agree to the bridging proposal for a ceasefire so that both sides could proceed to the implementation of a peace deal. mr blinken reaffirmed that the us would not agree to any long—term occupation of gaza by israeli troops. his comment followed reports that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu continued to speak of an ongoing israeli troop presence on the border between gaza and egypt. let's speak to our correspondentjon donnison who's injerusalem. it seems the americans have been anger by these reported comments by binyamin netanyahu. what is he reported to have said?— binyamin netanyahu. what is he reported to have said? there is a lot of frustration _ reported to have said? there is a lot of frustration i _ reported to have said? there is a lot of frustration i think - reported to have said? there is a lot of frustration i think from - reported to have said? there is a lot of frustration i think from the | lot of frustration i think from the americans. basically, binyamin netanyahu was meeting with some of the families of the hostages who are being held in gaza yesterday and he

is reported to have said that he didn't think that there would eventually be a deal and he's also reported to have said that he convinced the americans that there needed to be some sort of israeli presence remaining in gaza in key strategic points, crucially along the board rder with egypt. something that hamas and also egypt don't think is acceptable. this of course came after antony blinken met with binyamin netanyahu on monday and told us in a press conference that binyamin netanyahu had accepted and accepted and supported the so—called bridging proposal. the feeling from the americans that is binyamin netanyahu is maybe saying one thing to them and a different thing to his audience in israel. we had a senior

official yesterday saying that such statements from binyamin netanyahu were not constructive to wards reaching a deal. figs were not constructive to wards reaching a deal.— reaching a deal. as mr blinken achieved anything _ reaching a deal. as mr blinken achieved anything during - reaching a deal. as mr blinken achieved anything during his . reaching a deal. as mr blinken i achieved anything during his tour there and is there any optimism for there and is there any optimism for the talks that are due to resume later this is week? t the talks that are due to resume later this is week?— later this is week? i think on monday he _ later this is week? i think on monday he felt _ later this is week? i think on monday he felt that - later this is week? i think on monday he felt that he - later this is week? i think on monday he felt that he had l later this is week? i think on i monday he felt that he had got later this is week? i think on - monday he felt that he had got what he came for in israel and he said that he had got this commitment from binyamin netanyahu that the israelis accepted the deal. but we have only really heard mr blinken said that. we haven't heard binyamin netanyahu say the same thing. and of course these talks are due to resume tomorrow in egypt, two days of talks tomorrow in egypt, two days of talks to try and push this ceasefire and hostage release deal through. but

hamas are not taking part. they have said any suggestion of progress is an illusion. you never know, we don't know what is being discussed privately and both sides are posturing a little in public. but you don't get any sense of optimism and urgency from the key players in the region. that is binyamin netanyahu and the leader of gaza, yahya sinwar. netanyahu and the leader of gaza, yahya sinwar-_ netanyahu and the leader of gaza, yahya sinwar. netanyahu and the leader of gaza, yah a sinwar. ., ,, ., . ,, ., yahya sinwar. thank you. now back to the live pictures _ yahya sinwar. thank you. now back to the live pictures from _ yahya sinwar. thank you. now back to the live pictures from sicily. _ that is as that search for six missing people after that yacht sunk on monday now into its third day. divers being helped by remote—operated vehicles. we will have the latest. stay with us on bbc news. hello, it is going to feel more like

autumn than august over the next couple of days, particularly across the northern half of the uk, where we are going to see some heavy bursts of rain. wednesday turning very wet. and there will be some strong winds. it is because of this frontal system pushing in from the west, thickening up the cloud, bringing rain from the word go in parts of northern ireland and western scotland. eastern scotland staying the day with some brightness. northern england, parts of north wales, clouding over. some patchy rain here. to the south of that through the midlands to the south of england, it should stay largely dry with some sunshine. the winds will be picking up, gusts of 50mph by the end of the day in western scotland. where the rain will be hammering down through the afternoon. top temperatures 15 in glasgow. 22 in london. and then through wednesday night the rain keeps on coming on the western side of scotland, some places could see

100 millimetres, giving the risk of flooding and disruption with gales around western coasts through wednesday into thursday. mild start to thursday morning, 14 to 15 in a few places. through thursday we will see this system, this cold front, pushing southwards and eastwards. some rain with that. the rain i think tending to fizzle as that front moves south and east. but it is accompanied by some strong winds. behind the front some sunshine. but some scattered showers. some could be on the heavy side. temperatures 14 to 22 degrees. then we as we move through thursday night we could see another system and another deep area of... low pressure developing that could bring strong winds to north wales, the north midlands and northern england. that will sweep away on friday. sunny spells, but

also a few hefty showers in western scotland and northern ireland. the weather continuing in that very unsettled way. into the week, some uncertainty about the detail, but further showers or longer spell of rain. between that some spells of sunshine.

this is bbc news, the headlines... barack and michelle obama give ethusiastic endorsements of kamala harris in her bid for the white house, calling for a new chapter in us history. america's ready for a better story. we are ready for a president kamala harris! america, hope is making a comeback! divers use remote—controlled vehicles to try to access a luxury yacht that sank off sicily on monday. six people are missing. and bennifer is no more. hollywood starsjennifer lopez and ben affleck are divorcing, after two years of marriage. rules for travellers going to the european union from non—member countries will be changing over the next 18 months. a new seven—euro visa waiver is being introduced and will cover

people from more than 60 non—eu nations, including the uk.