Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination as vice president during the third day of the Democratic National Convention. VOA Midwest Correspondent Kane Farabaugh has more from Chicago.
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CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday night, using his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for “bringing the joy” to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple, reason: We love this country,” Walz said as thousands of delegates hoisted vertical placards reading “Coach Walz” in red, white and blue.
Walz described his upbringing in Nebraska and teaching and coaching football in Minnesota and told the crowd, “Thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.”
“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said. In a dig at his Republican counterpart, JD Vance, he added, “I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale.”
When Walz talked about the difficulty conceiving his daughter, Hope, she made a heart with her hands and held it over her chest. His son, Gus, wept watching his dad speak and at least once shouted, “That’s my dad!”
“I haven’t given a lot of speeches like this, but I’ve given a lot of pep talks,” Walz said.
Democrats gathered at Chicago’s United Center are hoping to build on the momentum Harris has brought since taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket last month. They want to harness the Democratic exuberance that followed President Joe Biden stepping aside while also making clear to their supporters that they face a fierce battle with former President Donald Trump.
Many Americans had never heard of Walz until Harris made him her running mate. In his first weeks of campaigning, he’s charmed supporters with his background and helped to balance Harris’ coastal background as a cultural representative of Midwestern states whose voters she needs this fall.
But Walz also has faced scrutiny, including questions about embellishing his background. His wife this week clarified that she did not undergo in vitro fertilization, as Walz has repeatedly claimed, but used other fertility treatments. Republicans also have criticized Walz for a 2018 comment he made about carrying weapons in war. Though he served in the National Guard for 24 years, he did not deploy to a war zone.
Benjamin C. Ingman, one of Walz’s old high school students, introduced the man many speakers — and Harris at times — have referred to as “Coach Walz.” At Ingman’s prompting, many of Walz’s former players decked out in their red and white jerseys took the stage to help introduce him.
The Bill and Oprah show
Walz’s speech followed former President Bill Clinton who returned to a place he knows well, the Democratic National Convention stage, to denounce Donald Trump as selfish and praise Kamala Harris as focused on the needs of Americans — firing up his party with his trademark off-the-cuff flourishes.
Clinton was meant to add heft to a third DNC night headlined by vice presidential nominee Tim Walz ‘s introduction to a national audience.
“We’ve got a pretty clear choice it seems to me. Kamala Harris, for the people. And the other guy who has proved, even more than the first go-around, that he’s about me, myself and I,” Clinton said.
The nation’s 42nd president and a veteran of his party’s political convention going back decades, Clinton was once declared the “secretary of explaining stuff” by Barack Obama, whose reelection bid in 2012 was bolstered by a Clinton stemwinder at that year’s DNC.
Now 78 — the same age as Trump — Clinton’s delivery was sometimes halting, his movements slower and he mispronounced Harris’ first name twice. His left hand often shook when he wasn’t using it to grip the lectern.
Still, he delivered several memorable, homespun pronouncements including asking. “What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself. So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I’s.”
Oprah Winfrey, who long hosted her signature TV talk show from Chicago, picked up on one of Democrats’ favorite themes of late, scoffing at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance having once derided “childless cat ladies” as he argued that Americans should be having more children.
Winfrey said that if a burning house belonged to a “childless cat lady,” neighbors would still help and “try to get that cat out, too.”
“We are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery,” she said of Trump, before referencing a recent comment he made to supporters about only having to vote once more — for him — and never again.
“You’re looking at a registered independent who’s proud to vote again and again and again, because that’s what Americans do,” she said. “Voting is the best of America.”
A focus on ‘freedoms’
The night’s theme was “a fight for our freedoms,” with the programming focusing on abortion access and other rights that Democrats want to center in their campaign against Trump. Speaker after speaker argued that their party wants to defend freedoms while Republicans want to take them away.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used a prop that has become a convention staple, an oversized book meant to represent the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a sweeping set of goals to shrink government and push it to the right, if Trump wins. Polis even ripped a page from the ceremonial volume and said he was going to keep it and show it to undecided voters.
The former president has distanced himself from Project 2025, but its key authors include his former top advisers. His running mate, JD Vance, wrote the foreword for the Heritage Foundation CEO’s new book.
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the story of a woman in her state, which enacted new abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, who was forced to carry to term a child with a fatal illness, only to watch the newborn die just hours after birth.
Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general and an openly gay woman, declared, “I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi spoke about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He chaired a congressional committee that investigated the mob overrunning the Capitol, saying, “They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history.”
“Thank God they failed,” Thompson said.
Trump bashed the convention as a “charade” and noted the fact that he has been a frequent topic of conversation. He also singled out his predecessor, Obama, for a highly critical convention speech Tuesday night, saying Obama had been “nasty.”
A recognition of the Oct. 7 hostages
Democrats recognized the hostages still being held by Hamas after its October 7 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed. Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin brought some in the arena to tears as they paid tribute to their son Hersh, who was abducted in the attack.
Freeing hostages “is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Jon Goldberg-Polin said, adding that “in a competition of pain there are no winners.”
The Israel-Hamas war has split the Democratic base, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating outside the United Center and several speakers this week acknowledging civilian deaths in the Israeli offensive in Gaza. More than 40,000 people have died in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
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CHICAGO — More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched Wednesday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier and toward the arena hosting the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
The demonstration, which stayed largely peaceful, came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at a much smaller unsanctioned protest outside the Israeli Consulate.
Organizers of Wednesday’s demonstration drew on the Chicago area’s Palestinian community, one of the largest in the country, by bringing buses from suburban mosques.
Raed Shuk, 48, came with his children from the suburbs, including his 2-year-old son, who sat on Shuk’s shoulders ahead of the march. Shuk, whose parents are Palestinian, said they have come to so many rallies that his son knows the chants by heart.
“Everybody’s humanity needs to be equally addressed here and there,” he said of Gaza. “I want to help my children learn from this experience that you always like to stand up for your rights and always peacefully protest.”
The march, one of the largest anticipated demonstrations of the week, took on a festive tone at times as a drum line led marchers and a sea of Palestinian flags waved above the crowds. Some kids ate popsicles as they walked, and others were pushed in strollers or rode in wagons.
The crowd stopped outside a park that is roughly a block from the United Center and used megaphones and air horns to call out elected leaders, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, for being “complicit” in the war in Gaza. The two-term Democrat, who was under consideration as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, criticized a cease-fire resolution Chicago approved in January.
The crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters included many families and people of different faiths. Small groups of Muslims gathered in prayer at a park just ahead of the march’s kickoff, using keffiyeh as prayer rugs. Rabbis were among the leaders of the march, and a small group marched through in the crowd holding a sign that said, “Christians for Ceasefire.”
Rabbi Brant Rosen, a founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, condemned Democrats for not speaking out about the war in Gaza at the convention.
“The word Palestine is not allowed inside the Democratic National Convention. The word cease-fire has barely been uttered,” he said. “This is a Hollywood-style coronation of a candidate. They assume they are entitled to our votes, but they are not entitled to our votes.”
Earlier in the day, police escorted pro-Israel demonstrators out of a park near the United Center as the area was blocked off ahead of the march of activists heading there.
The rally near the United Center was organized by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, a Palestinian and Arab community-based organization. It was in stark contrast to the protest Tuesday night outside the Israeli Consulate. Protesters not affiliated with a coalition of more than 200 groups that have the city’s permission for demonstrations ended up in an intense standoff with Chicago police.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said those arrested Tuesday night outside the Israeli Consulate, about 3.2 kilometers from the United Center, “showed up with the intention of committing acts of violence, vandalism.” Snelling called the police response “proportionate.”
Thirty of the people detained by police were issued citations for disorderly conduct, according to Chicago police. One person was arrested on a felony charge of resisting police, while nine were charged with misdemeanors including disorderly conduct, resisting officers, battery, assault and criminal damage to property, police said.
Snelling said that two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, one for knee pain and one with a finger injury. Two officers were injured, but they refused medical attention because they did not want to leave fellow officers, Snelling said. He said three journalists were among those arrested, but he did not have details on charges.
Hatem Abudayyeh, co-founder of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, put the onus on police to keep the peace when asked about the clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police. The police “only have one responsibility here,” he said. “They have the responsibility of not infringing on our First Amendment rights.”
The Israeli Consulate has been the site of numerous demonstrations since the war in Gaza began in October, and protests during the DNC have largely focused on opposing the Israel-Hamas war.
The largest protest so far, which attracted about 3,500 people on Monday, was largely peaceful and resulted in 13 arrests, most related to a breach of security fencing. Two were arrested Sunday night during another mostly peaceful march.
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ASHEBORO, North Carolina — In his first outdoor rally since last month’s assassination attempt, Donald Trump appeared on stage in North Carolina to talk about national security as part of his weeklong trip across the country to draw attention away from Democrats and their national convention.
“Seventy-six days from now, we’re going to win this state and we’re going to win the White House,” Trump said at the North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame from behind a podium surrounded by panes of bulletproof glass that formed a protective wall across the stage.
Storage containers were stacked around the perimeter to create additional walls and block sight lines. Snipers were positioned on roofs at the venue, where old aircraft were sitting behind the podium and a large American flag was suspended from cranes.
The event, billed as being focused on national security issues, is part of Trump’s weeklong series of counterprogramming to the Democratic National Convention, which is underway in Chicago. Allies have been urging him to focus on policy instead of personal attacks as he struggles to adjust to running against Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Trump was joined Wednesday by his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who cast Harris as a candidate selected by power brokers instead of voters and lambasted her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, before Trump took the stage.
That included continuing to hammer Walz for mischaracterizing his service record as an Army National Guard member, as well as Walz’s retirement from service before his unit’s deployment to Iraq.
Trump has spent the week visiting battleground states in his busiest week of campaigning since the Republican primaries.
Reflecting the importance of North Carolina in this year’s election, the trip is Trump’s second to the state in the past week. Last Wednesday, he appeared in Asheville, North Carolina, for a speech on the economy.
Trump won North Carolina by a comfortable margin in 2016. The state delivered the former president his closest statewide margin of victory four years ago and is once again considered a key battleground in 2024.
Before Trump arrived, his plane did a flyover of the rally site. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Edna Ryan, a 68-year-old retired flight attendant and private pilot, said she was bullish on the Republican’s chances, but said: “We need to be strong because otherwise we’re going to be very sorry.”
Lisa Watts, a retired business owner from Hickory, North Carolina, who was attending her fifth Trump rally, said she’s feeling “very positive” about the race against Harris.
Watts said she doesn’t think Trump’s chances of winning are much different now from when Biden was the Democratic nominee.
“I think the Democrats are going to try to do everything they can to keep her up on that pedestal,” she said, predicting the hype around Harris will fade.
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Abuja, Nigeria — A U.S. State Department official was in Nigeria this week to meet with local and regional authorities about the responsible use of artificial intelligence in military applications.
Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability, said her two-day visit with Nigerian officials from the regional bloc ECOWAS was part of the United States’ commitment to deepen security cooperation in Africa.
The U.S. government has been working with 55 nations, including African nations, “to agree upon responsible uses of AI in the military context, using AI in a manner consistent with international laws [and] recognizing inherent human bias,” Stewart told journalists Wednesday.
“We’ve learned the hard way [that there is] inherent human bias built into the AI system … leading to maybe misinformation being provided to the decisionmaker,” she said.
The goal, she continued, “is to hear from as many countries as possible that are at the stage of working in artificial intelligence to their military to see how we can minimize the risks.”
Last year, the Global Terrorism Index report named sub-Saharan Africa an epicenter of terrorism, accounting for nearly 60% of terror-related deaths. It is unclear whether the terror groups are using AI.
Nigerian authorities have been pushing for the integration of artificial intelligence in military operations, while acknowledging that adopting AI will require Africa-specific policies.
Security analyst Kabiru Adamu of Beacon Consulting said the use of AI in military operations has advantages.
“Given the position of the U.S. in terms of its military capacity and technological advancement, it will definitely be in the position to support Nigeria’s desires, especially if it’s able to contextualize some of the peculiarities within the Nigerian security space,” Adamu said. “We can’t isolate ourselves from the international committee of nations. AI is embedded in security, so we have to do it. But we need to be cognizant of the supporting infrastructure for good technology. Power is one of them, culture.”
The founder of Global Sentinel online magazine, Senator Iroegbu, said that while AI has benefits, the technology still needs to be treated with caution.
“It limits casualties in terms of the number of soldiers that will be deployed, so you conserve your boots,” Iroegbu said. “It helps penetrate rough terrains, gather more intelligence. It’s good that there’s growing awareness of the issue of artificial intelligence, but Nigeria needs to first of all try to define its own policy and strategy with regards to artificial intelligence. More sensitization needs to be done, and more policy aspect of it needs to be developed.”
In June, African ministers unanimously endorsed landmark continental AI strategy to advance Africa’s digital future and development aspirations. And last week, the African Union approved the adoption of AI in public and private sectors in member states, including Nigeria.
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Former President Barack Obama addressed Democrats in his home city of Chicago Tuesday, saying Vice President Kamala Harris is the right choice to take on Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election this November. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
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CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention’s second night showcased a double dose of Obama firepower to validate Vice President Kamala Harris and deliver an unsparing indictment of Republican Donald Trump. The convention also served up a raucous roll call of states that was essentially one big dance party.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, ducked out of Chicago to hold a rally just up the interstate in Milwaukee, wooing voters in battleground Wisconsin. It was a recognition that, regardless of whatever good vibes may exist at the convention, Democrats expect this presidential election to be razor-close.
Here are some takeaways from the convention’s second night.
The ex-presidents club
If the Republican convention was all about Trump, the Democrats on Tuesday wanted to put Harris in a pantheon with past presidents.
The biggest validators of the night were former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. The latter linked Harris with her husband by telling the rapt crowd, “America, hope is making a comeback.”
Barack Obama, for his part, reached back to his own 2004 convention speech to tie Harris to his legacy. “I am feeling hopeful — because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where everything is possible,” he said.
It wasn’t just the Obamas making the case for the vice president. The grandsons of Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy also portrayed her as the natural heir of past Democratic leaders.
As groundbreaking as Harris’ candidacy is as the first woman of color to be her party’s nominee, these speeches by an ex-president and presidential progeny were all about linking her to a broader historical arc and evoking the excitement of Obama’s 2008 run that Harris hopes to replicate.
Diverting from the high road
The Obamas did not hold back in lacing into Trump. Michelle Obama’s well-worn adage from years past that “when they go low, we go high” no longer seemed operative.
Barack Obama called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
Michelle Obama also took a personal swipe, saying: “For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black.”
Playing off her famous line about Republicans going low, Michelle Obama suggested that Trump was going “small” and that “it’s unhealthy, and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential.”
DNC dance party
Political conventions technically happen so that delegates can nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates.
This year, the Democrats took care of that job in advance. But that didn’t stop them from holding a ceremonial do-over and turning it into a raucous dance party.
DJ Cassidy strode on stage in a bright blue double-breasted suit and spun tunes for every state as they nominated Harris and Walz. Minnesota got “1999” by native son Prince, Kansas got “Carry on Wayward Son” by, well, Kansas. “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen played as New Jersey weighed in.
Usually it was governors or state party chairs calling out the votes, but some states passed the mic to make serious points. Kate Cox, who unsuccessfully sued her home state of Texas while seeking an abortion for a non-viable fetus, announced Texas’ votes. A survivor of the 2017 Las Vegas strip gun massacre announced Nevada’s votes.
The roll call highlight was when Atlanta rapper Lil Jon strode through the United Center to the beats of “Turn Down for What,” his song with DJ Snake, and rapped his support for Harris and Walz.
Democrats are eager to highlight how Harris’ ascension has energized the party. The roll call fit that vibe.
America’s blind date with Doug Emhoff
Doug Emhoff wants America to love his wife as much as he does.
His convention speech Tuesday night focused on their love story and offered a personal glimpse meant to pull in voters, too. He dished on the deets of their first phone call, after he left her a rambling voicemail that she still makes him listen to every year on their anniversary.
“I love that laugh,” he said adoringly, a rebuttal to Trump’s criticism of Harris’ laughter.
As Harris flew back to Chicago from Milwaukee after her rally there, Air Force Two spent an extra 10 minutes in the air so she could watch her husband speak, according to an aide.
Emhoff said he “just fell in love fast” with Harris, adding that she finds “joy in pursuing justice” and “stands up to bullies.” It’s not how most husbands describe their partners, but, then, Emhoff is trying to convince voters that the woman he’s been married to for 10 years this Thursday knows how to take on Trump.
A message for Republicans: It’s OK to quit Trump
The Democrats are making a play for disaffected Trump voters — and they used one of his former White House staffers to make their case.
Stephanie Grisham worked in various roles in the Trump White House, including communications director and press secretary, allowing Democrats to argue that those who know Trump best have seen him at his worst.
“He has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth,” Grisham said. “I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer.”
Kyle Sweetser, a Trump voter from Alabama, told the convention the former president’s tariffs made life harder for construction workers like him. Republican Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, also spoke about why he’s backing Harris. Giles sees Trump’s policies as hurting cities like his.
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CHICAGO — Warning of a difficult fight ahead, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on Tuesday called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and foreboding.
“America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady declared. She then tore into Republican Donald Trump, a sharp shift from the 2016 convention speech in which she told her party, “When they go low, we go high.”
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black,” Obama said of Trump.
Her husband, the nation’s first Black president pushing for America to elect its second, called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” he charged.
The fiery messages from two of the Democratic Party’s biggest stars underscored the urgency of the moment as Harris works to stitch together a broad coalition in her bid to defeat Trump this fall. She is drawing on stars like the Obamas and other celebrities, officials from the far left to the middle, and even some Republicans to boost her campaign.
And while the theme of the night was “a bold vision for America’s future,” the disparate factions of Harris’ evolving coalition demonstrated, above all, that they are connected by a deep desire to prevent a second Trump presidency.
Just ahead of the Obamas’ remarks, Harris addressed an estimated 15,000 people in battleground Wisconsin in the arena where Republicans held their convention last month. She declared that she was running “a people-powered campaign.”
“Together we will chart a new way forward,” the vice president said in remarks that were partially broadcast to the DNC. “A future for freedom, opportunity, of optimism and faith.”
Back in Chicago, Senators Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent beloved by progressives, both praised Harris. And in an appearance perhaps intended to needle Trump, his former press secretary Stephanie Grisham — now a harsh critic of her former boss — also took the convention stage.
Trump “has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” Grisham said. “I love my country more than my party. Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people. And she has my vote.”
Still, it was not all serious on the second night of the four-day convention.
A symbolic roll call in which delegates from each state pledged their support for the Democratic nominee turned into a party atmosphere. A DJ played a mix of state-specific songs — and Atlanta native Lil Jon ran out during Georgia’s turn to his hit song with DJ Snake, “Turn Down for What,” to the delight of the thousands inside the cavernous United Center.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who will become the nation’s first gentleman if his wife wins the presidency, shared personal details about his relationship with Harris — their cooking habits, their first date and her laugh, which is often mocked by Republican critics.
“You know that laugh. I love that laugh!” Emhoff said as the crowd cheered. Later, he added, “Her empathy is her strength.”
Trump, meanwhile, was out on the campaign trail as part of his weeklong swing-state tour during the Democratic convention. He went to Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday and stood aside sheriff’s deputies as he labeled Harris the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris.
Harris, meanwhile, cast the election in dire, almost existential terms. She implored Americans not to get complacent in light of the Supreme Court decision carving out broad presidential immunity, a power she said Trump would abuse.
She has also seized on Trump’s opposition to a nationally guaranteed right to abortion.
“They seemingly don’t trust women,” she said of Trump and his Republican allies. “Well, we trust women.”
The vice president’s speech evoked some of the same themes that underlaid Biden’s case for reelection before he dropped out, casting Trump as a threat to democracy. Harris argued that Trump threatens the values and freedoms that Americans hold dear.
Someone with that record “should never again have the opportunity to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States,” Harris said. “Never again.”
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Xolo Maridueña is currently starring in the sixth and final season of the hit karate series “Cobra Kai,” which premiered on Netflix in July. But he also made waves last year when he was cast as the first Latino superhero lead in “Blue Beetle.” The actor spoke with Veronica Villafañe about the impact of these roles in his career and the need for Latino representation in Hollywood.
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CHICAGO — Thirteen people were arrested during protests on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, most of them related to a “brief breach” of security fencing “within sight and sound of the United Center,” the city’s police superintendent said Tuesday.
More protests were planned throughout the week, including one Tuesday night outside the Israeli Consulate. However, attendance at the main rally on Monday was far below estimates of organizers who had predicted more than 20,000 would show up.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Tuesday that the crowd was around 3,500 strong and that the vast majority of the protesters were peaceful.
However, some clashed with police, used pepper spray against them and threw water bottles at officers during the clash in the park where there was a breach in security fencing, Snelling said. He said officers did not use any chemical sprays.
“Our officers showed great restraint,” he said at a news conference. “We’re not going to tolerate vandalism and violence in our city. … We’re going to continue to protect the city.”
Snelling said with more protests planned, his department is prepared to de-escalate situations whenever possible.
“Again, we’re up to the challenge,” Snelling said. “The city is up to the challenge.”
The park where the most arrests were made, located a block from the convention arena, served as a destination point for a march of thousands calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Several dozen activists broke off from the main group, breached the fencing, and were pushed back by police.
Authorities said the inner security perimeter surrounding the United Center was not breached and there was no threat to those attending the convention.
On Tuesday morning, an extra line of fencing was installed at the park and the tall metal barriers were reinforced to prevent protesters from lifting and removing the panels. No police officers or protesters were in the park early Tuesday.
The 13 people arrested during Monday’s protest were detained on charges ranging from criminal trespass and resisting and obstructing an arrest, to aggravated battery of police officers, Snelling said.
At least 10 of them were arrested in connection with the fence, he said.
Snelling said he did not connect those who tore down the fence with the entirety of the march. He said the vast majority of participants were peaceful, and he praised his officers’ conduct in the moment.
The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild said two of the people arrested were hospitalized. Snelling said they were taken to the hospital to ensure they would receive medication they were taking.
Two people were also arrested on misdemeanor property damage and resisting arrest charges during a protest march Sunday night. As of Tuesday morning, 15 people had been arrested.
In downtown Chicago, security was tighter than usual — including law enforcement officers with weapons slung across their bodies — outside the office building that houses the Israeli Consulate and a major city transportation hub. Metal barricades were set up, and an officer said they were preparing for a 7 p.m. demonstration.
The consulate, located about 3.2 kilometers from the United Center, has been the site of numerous demonstrations since the war in Gaza began in October. It is in a building connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, a major commuter rail station.
Most of the largest demonstrations have been organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, which has focused on calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. But smaller protests have popped up around the city, during the convention’s welcome party at Navy Pier.
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KATHMANDU, Nepal — Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters rallied in Nepal’s capital Tuesday during the annual Pride parade, the first since gay couples were able to register same-sex marriages officially in the Himalayan nation.
The event brought together the sexual minority community and its supporters in Kathmandu during the Gai Jatra festival. A government minister, diplomats and officials participated in the rally, which began at the city’s tourist hub and went around its main streets.
“Gai Jatra festival is a festival that is a long tradition that has been carried for years, and we all are here to help preserve and continue the tradition, and as a sexual minority are doing our part to save the tradition. We also celebrate the day as a Pride parade,” said Bhumika Shrestha, a gay rights activist who was at the parade.
The Gai Jatra festival is celebrated to remember family members who have passed away during the year but has long had colorful parades that brought in sexual minorities.
After years of struggle, gay couples were able to register same-sex marriages for the first time in November 2023 following a Supreme Court order. Rights activists had long sought to amend laws and end provisions that limited marriage to heterosexual couples.
Nepal has undergone a transformation since a court decision in 2007 asked the government to make changes in favor of LGBTQ+ people. People who do not identify as female or male are now able to choose “third gender” on their passports and other government documents. The 2015 constitution also states that there can be no discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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CHICAGO — Former President Barack Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak Tuesday on the second day of the Democratic National Convention, turning the party’s attention toward Vice President Kamala Harris and her faceoff against Republican Donald Trump.
The pivot toward the presidential campaign’s final 76 days follows an opening night that was designed to give a graceful exit to the incumbent president, who was greeted with a hero’s welcome for stepping aside for Harris.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden appeared to relish the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and assail Trump. His delivery was more reminiscent of the Biden who won in 2020 than the mumbling and sometimes incoherent one-time candidate whose debate performance against Trump in June sparked the downfall of his reelection campaign.
Biden, in his remarks, repeated his 2020 theme that “we’re in a battle for the very soul of America,” and pressed the case for why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz were best prepared to wage it.
“Because of you, we’ve had the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period,” Biden declared. And then he interjected, “I say ‘we,’ I mean ‘me and Kamala,'” sharing the credit for his most popular successes with the vice president to whom he handed over his political operation.
Harris made a brief, unannounced appearance at the convention on Monday to thank Biden for his leadership. She later joined him on stage, where the two spoke and hugged.
“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do,” she said. “We are forever grateful to you.”
The opening day ran more than an hour behind schedule and forced some planned speakers, including musician James Taylor, to be dropped from the program, which convention organizers attributed to sustained applause for speakers.
Harris will travel Tuesday to Milwaukee for a rally in the swing state of Wisconsin before returning to Chicago late in the evening.
The Harris campaign said Tuesday that it will spotlight “trusted messengers” from key battleground states over the convention’s three remaining days. They include Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Gary Peters and Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan; Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. From Arizona, Sen. Mark Kelly will speak along with John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa.
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina will be the last speaker before Harris accepts the Democratic nomination on Thursday.
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A month after announcing that he will not seek reelection, President Joe Biden addressed the Democratic National Convention Monday evening. He sought to burnish his legacy and pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s new presidential nominee. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports from the DNC in Chicago, Illinois.
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Chicago — President Joe Biden delivered his valedictory address to the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, as his decision to end his reelection bid released newfound energy within his party with Vice President Kamala Harris’ elevation to the top of the ticket.
After 52 years rising to the pinnacle of influence within his party, Biden, 81, received a hero’s welcome for the act of stepping aside for Harris, weeks after many in his party were pressuring him to drop his bid for reelection. One month after an unprecedented mid-campaign switch, the opening night of the convention in Chicago was designed to give a graceful exit to the incumbent president and slingshot Harris toward a faceoff with Republican Donald Trump, whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by Democrats as an existential threat.
A visibly emotional Biden was greeted by a more than four-minute-long ovation and chants of “Thank you, Joe.”
“America, I love you,” he replied.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden appeared to relish the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and go on the attack against Trump. His delivery was more reminiscent of the Biden who won in 2020 than the mumbling and sometimes incoherent one-time candidate whose debate performance against Trump in June sparked the downfall of his reelection campaign.
Biden, in his remarks, repeated his 2020 theme that “we’re in a battle for the very soul of America,” and pressed the case for why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz were best prepared to wage it.
“Because of you, we’ve had the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period,” Biden declared. And then he interjected, “I say ‘we,’ I mean me and Kamala,'” sharing the credit for his most popular successes with the vice president to whom he handed over his political operation.
Harris made an unannounced appearance onstage as the convention’s prime-time program began Monday evening to thank Biden for his leadership and watched his remarks from the stands.
“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do,” she said. “We are forever grateful to you.”
Biden’s speech, billed as the marquee event of the evening, was pushed into late night as the convention program lagged more than an hour behind schedule.
The president recalled the 2017 “unite the right” rally, when torch-carrying white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, an episode he cites as cementing his decision to run for president in 2020 despite his ongoing grief over the death of his son Beau Biden.
“I could not stay on the sidelines,” Biden said. “So I ran. I had no intention of running again. I’d just lost part of my soul. But I ran with a deep conviction.”
Biden celebrated the successes from his administration, including a massive boost in infrastructure spending and a cap on the price of insulin. The spending resulted in more money going to Republican-leaning states than Democratic states, he said, because “the job of the president is to deliver for all of America.”
During one of the crowd’s many chants of “thank you, Joe,” he added, “Thank you, Kamala, too.”
Not even a month ago, Democrats were riven over foreign policy, political strategy and Biden himself, who was holding on after a disastrous debate by claiming he had a better chance than any other Democrat — including Harris — of beating Trump.
On Monday, Biden insisted he did not harbor any ill will to the many voices in the arena before him who had pushed him to the exits and called on the party to unite around Harris. Accusing Trump of “bowing down” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said, “I never have and I promise you Kamala Harris will never do it.”
“She’ll be a president we can all be proud of,” he said.
First lady Jill Biden alluded to her husband’s wrenching decision to leave the race in her remarks minutes before Biden took the stage. She said she fell in love with him all over again “just weeks ago, when I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris.”
Still, there was little question that the Democratic Party would almost certainly have been in a far worse state if Biden had continued to cling to his campaign, despite growing concerns about his mental and physical acuity after struggling to complete sentences during his debate against Trump.
Democrats took turns praising Biden’s leadership and his choice in Harris to succeed him. “I’ve never known a more compassionate man than Joe Biden,” said his longtime confidant Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, who led the crowd in a “we love Joe” chant.
They tried to connect both Biden and Harris to what the party sees as the governing pair’s most popular accomplishments: leading the country out of the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing for massive investments in the country’s infrastructure, working to lower health care costs and promoting clean energy.
“Thanks to Joe and Kamala, we reduced the price of prescription drugs, repaired roads and bridges and replaced lead pipes,” said South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn, whose 2020 endorsement was critical to Biden winning that primary. He added that one of Biden’s best decisions was “selecting Kamala Harris as his vice president and endorsing her to succeed him.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was greeted with prolonged applause, saluted Harris while noting her potential to break the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” to become America’s first female president. Clinton was the Democratic nominee in 2016, but she lost that election to Trump.
“Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Clinton said, invoking a metaphor she referenced in her concession speech eight years ago. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States. When a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us.”
Clinton also saluted Biden for stepping aside, saying, “Now we are writing a new chapter in America’s story.”
Highlighting the party’s generational reach, Clinton, 76, followed New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, who endorsed Harris while delivering the first mention of the war in Gaza from the convention stage, addressing an issue that has split the party’s base ever since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s resulting offensive.
Outside the arena, thousands of protesters descended on Chicago to decry the Biden-Harris administration’s support for the Israeli war effort.
Harris “is working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bringing the hostages home,” Ocasio-Cortez said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Biden acknowledged the protests outside the convention and inside the arena as he spoke, saying, “Those protesters out in the street have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.” He reiterated his push to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire deal that would also see the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 in the attack that sparked the 10-month war.
Meanwhile, Democrats also looked to keep the focus on Trump, whose criminal convictions they mocked and who they asserted was only fighting for himself, rather than “for the people” — the night’s official theme.
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow hoisted an oversized copy of “Project 2025” — a blueprint for a second Trump term that was put together by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank — onto the lectern and quoted from portions of it.
“So we read it,” McMorrow said. “Whatever you think it might be. It is so much worse.”
Trump, the former president, has publicly disavowed any interests in the policies outlined in Project 2025, but he has close ties to its authors and campaign aides had praised its work in the past.
Democrats kept abortion access front and center for voters, betting that the issue will propel them to success as it has in other key races since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Speakers Monday included three women whose health care suffered as a result of that decision. And the convention program included a video of Trump praising his own role in getting Roe struck down.
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CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention ‘s first night showcased speeches from the last Democrat to lose to Donald Trump and the last one to beat him.
Hillary Clinton spoke hopefully of finally breaking the “glass ceiling” to elect a female president. Joe Biden laced into Trump and directly acknowledged the concerns of protesters against the war in Gaza who demonstrated a few blocks from the convention hall.
Here are some takeaways from the first night of the convention.
Biden begins long political exit
President Joe Biden wrapped up the convention’s opening night by beginning his long political farewell with an address that both framed his own legacy and signaled he was ready to start ceding control of the party to Vice President Kamala Harris.
He took the stage to a long, raucous ovation from delegates hoisting “We love Joe” placards and told them in turn, “I love you!” After the affectionate opening, Biden spent long stretches of his 50-minute speech lacing into Trump, returning to a key theme of the reelection campaign he’s no longer running.
Biden ticked through many of his administration’s achievements, including a major public works package and climate program, and shared the credit with Harris. But the convention ran so late that Biden took the stage after prime time had ended in much of the country. That didn’t stop Biden from declaring, “America’s winning.”
Biden called Harris a “close friend” and said picking her as his running mate was the best decision he ever made. He also vowed to help get the new Democratic ticket elected, promising to be the “best volunteer” that Harris and Walz have ever seen.
He ended by telling those still listening, “I gave my best to you for 50 years.”
He had no plan to linger at the convention, though. Biden was set to fly to California’s wine country for a vacation immediately after his speech.
A surprise Harris appearance to pay tribute to Biden
The vice president made an unscheduled appearance onstage to pay tribute to Biden ahead of his own address to the convention. She told the president, “Thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do.”
On a night meant to honor the president who stepped aside to make way for Harris, the vice president added, “We are forever grateful to you.” Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, were in the stands to cheer her message.
Gaza gets little attention inside DNC hall — except from Biden
Thousands of marchers churned through Chicago’s streets protesting U.S. support for Israel during the war in Gaza. But inside the convention hall, the combustible issue went largely unmentioned until Biden got to the microphone.
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez got cheers when she praised Harris for working “tirelessly to get a cease-fire in Gaza and get the hostages home.” Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia made a brief allusion to the conflict.
A handful of delegates who ran on an “uncommitted” ticket protesting Biden’s position on the war unfurled a banner during his speech that read “Stop Arming Israel.” But it was blocked by supporters waving Biden signs before it was wrestled away and the lights over that section of the audience were shut off.
Biden himself addressed the issue head-on, saying he’d keep working to “end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security to the Middle East.”
“Those protesters out in the streets have a point,” Biden said. “A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides.”
The crowd cheered, and for a moment the war didn’t seem like it was dividing the party at all.
Clinton revives talk of breaking that ‘glass ceiling’
Clinton was greeted with wild and sustained applause that lasted for more than two minutes before she quieted the crowd. She delivered a fiery speech hoping that Harris could do what she could not –- become the first woman president by beating Trump.
Clinton evoked her 2016 concession speech by referencing all the “cracks in the glass ceiling” that she and her voters had achieved. And she painted a vision of Harris “on the other side of that glass ceiling” taking the oath of office as president.
She closed her speech with a striking desire for someone who’s stood at the pinnacle of American politics and power: “I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment. That we were here and that we were with Kamala Harris every step of the way.”
Clinton dipped into traditional political attacks in her speech, including mocking Trump’s criminal record. That led to chants of “lock him up” — mirroring the ones that Trump’s supporters directed at Clinton in 2016.
Tracing a line from Jesse Jackson to Kamala Harris
An early theme of the evening was celebrating the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights leader in Chicago and former presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988. Many Democrats credit him with blazing a trail that helped Barack Obama win the White House in 2008 and Kamala Harris become the first woman of color nominated for the presidency.
Jackson was saluted from the stage by several speakers, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and California Rep. Maxine Waters. There was a video montage of Jackson’s career and legacy that played before the 82-year-old Jackson himself came to the stage in a wheelchair, thrusting his arms skyward and grinning. Jackson has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
During the 1984 Democratic convention in San Francisco, Jackson gave a speech declaring that America is “like a quilt: Many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.” The address became known as the “Rainbow Coalition” speech, and Jackson used momentum from it to seek the Democratic nomination again in 1988.
Harris has called Jackson “one of America’s greatest patriots.”
Remember COVID? Democrats don’t want voters — or Trump — to forget
Democrats opted to shine the convention spotlight on the harrowing subject of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was a reflection of Democratic frustration at how Trump has portrayed his tenure in office as a golden age for the country, even though hundreds of thousands of Americans died of COVID-19 during the last year of his term.
There are plenty of risks for Democrats in hammering the pandemic. Even more people died of the virus during Biden’s presidency than during Trump’s, voters have shown an eagerness to move on and some preventative measures championed by Democrats — like school closures and masking — are not popular in retrospect.
Still, the lineup of early speakers focused on Trump’s performance during the pandemic. Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan recalled how her brother was the second person in Tennessee to die of the disease and how she couldn’t visit him or hold a memorial service. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a nurse, said of Trump: “He took the COVID crisis and turned it into a catastrophe. We can never ever let him be our president again.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, whose mother and stepfather died of the disease in 2020, recalled Trump’s missteps and concluded with one of the slogans of Harris’ young campaign: “We are not going back.”
Democrats one-up Republicans on labor
Trump’s convention last month featured a rare appearance from a union leader at such a GOP event: Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. That’s reflective of how Trump’s populism has cut into Democrats’ advantage with union households.
In that speech, O’Brien did not endorse Trump. But he criticized both major political parties for not doing enough to help working people.
Democrats didn’t invite O’Brien to their convention, but they countered with a half-dozen other union leaders onstage Monday. And then Shawn Fain, head of the United Auto Workers, led a blistering chant of “Trump’s a scab!” while wearing a red T-shirt emblazoned with those words.
Fain noted that Biden visited a UAW picket line last year and, when autoworkers struck in 2019, Harris, not Trump, walked the picket lines. “Donald Trump is all talk and Kamala Harris walks the walk,” Fain said.
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washington — U.S. intelligence officials said Monday that they were confident that Iran was responsible for the hack of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, casting the cyber intrusion as part of a brazen and broader effort by Tehran to interfere in American politics and undermine faith in democratic institutions.
Although the Trump campaign and private-sector cybersecurity investigators had previously said Iran was behind the hacking attempts, it was the first time the U.S. government had assigned blame for the attack.
The joint statement from the FBI and other federal agencies also indicated that Iran was responsible for attempts to hack Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, saying hackers had “sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaign of both political parties.”
The goal of the hacking and other activities, federal officials said, was not only to sow discord but also to shape the outcome of elections that Iran perceives to be “particularly consequential in terms of the impact they could have on its national security interests.”
“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns,” said the statement, which in addition to the FBI was also released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The statement largely confirms the findings of private companies like Microsoft, which earlier this month issued a report detailing foreign agents’ attempts to interfere in this year’s election, and Google, which separately said that an Iranian group linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard has tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and Trump since May.
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york, pennsylvania — As Democrats kicked off their convention in Chicago, Donald Trump sought Monday to regain his footing after weeks of adjusting to Vice President Kamala Harris as his rival.
The former president and GOP nominee spoke at a factory in Pennsylvania, the first in a string of stops aimed at undercutting the Democratic celebration. He is holding daily events in battleground states tied to subjects on which Republicans think they hold an advantage, including the economy, crime and safety, national security and the border.
“Kamala Harris is an economy wrecker and a country destroyer,” Trump told factory workers and supporters gathered at Precision Custom Components, a company that makes components for military and nuclear use.
This will be Trump’s busiest week of campaigning since the winter, when he faced a large field of challengers in the Republican primary. And his focus on policy in battleground states reflects the concerns of Trump allies, who have urged him to try to broaden his appeal with swing voters as they grow more nervous about Harris’ competitiveness.
Personal attacks
In the weeks since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, Trump has appeared at times in denial and has launched a series of deeply personal attacks on Harris. He has lied about her crowds by claiming images of them were generated by artificial intelligence, talked about her looks, and played on racist tropes by questioning her racial identity as she runs to become the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to reach the Oval Office.
The outbursts have raised concerns among allies that Trump is damaging his chance in what they believe is a winnable race.
“If you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election,” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” echoing others’ concerns.
Graham said he wanted Trump to focus on his plans for the economy and the U.S.-Mexico border. “Policy is the key to the White House,” he said.
Some supporters at his rallies agree with that advice.
“He needs to quit talking about Biden other than Harris piggybacking on those policies,” said Kory Jeno, 53, of Swannanoa, North Carolina, who was waiting to see Trump speak last week in nearby Asheville. “He needs to keep the conversation on the issues and what he’s going to do for Americans instead of running off on tangents where he’s just bashing her and that sort of thing.”
Trump “needs to stop the personal attacks,” said Mary Ray, 75, who advised him to “be discreet when you’re talking.”
Asked whether she was thinking about Trump’s most incendiary personal attacks — calling Harris a “nasty woman” and questioning how she discusses her biracial heritage — Ray furrowed her brow and pursed her lips.
“It hurts him with other voters,” Ray said.
Others have urged him to ramp up his schedule and to pivot away from rallies, where large crowds of his most ardent supporters cheer on his most incendiary rhetoric.
“The big rallies are fine, but I like him when he goes to a restaurant or just talks to anybody off the street,” said Bruce Fields, 70, who works in commercial real estate in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “When he is talking to ordinary people, it adds a personal touch.”
Medal message
But even at events billed as policy speeches, Trump often gets sidetracked and undercuts his own message.
The challenge for Republicans was on display last week, when Trump invited reporters to his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, to talk about the economy. As he stood before an assortment of grocery store items, Trump largely stuck to his intended message, talking about rising prices and blaming Biden and Harris for enacting policies that he said had caused them.
But later that night, he gave Democrats new fodder when he hosted an event about antisemitism with billionaire Republican donor Miriam Adelson. He said receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, was “much better” than receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor, because recipients of the nation’s highest military honor are often badly injured or dead.
On Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump repeatedly swerved from a message focused on the economy to personal attacks against Harris, including a declaration that he is “much better looking” than she is.
On Monday, he largely stuck to his prepared remarks as he slammed Harris’ approach to the economy and energy and pledged major new investments in power plants and energy infrastructure if he wins, including small nuclear plants.
Still, he veered into the personal, attacking Harris’ father, a Stanford University economics professor born in Jamaica, as a “Marxist,” and calling her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a “whack job.”
“Between his movement and her laugh, there’s a lot of craziness,” he said.
Reset denied
Trump aides deny they are engaged in any kind of effort to reset the campaign, even as they bring in new hires, including veterans of Trump’s 2016 and 2020 runs for the White House.
The former president’s advisers remain bullish about his chances. They insist that Harris and Democrats are caught up in a fleeting moment of excitement with their new nominee and are confident voters will sour on the vice president as they learn more about her past comments and positions.
They intend to spend the race’s final stretch painting her as a liberal extremist and contrasting the candidates’ differing approaches on the economy, crime and immigration.
Some polls show Harris performing better than Biden in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, though most still suggest a tight race.
About half of U.S. adults — 48% — have a very or somewhat favorable view of Harris, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s somewhat better than the 41% of adults who say they have a favorable opinion of Trump.
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chicago — Protesters rallied outside the Democratic National Convention on its opening day Monday, saying they were determined to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza and other issues. Chicago officials said they were committed to keeping the demonstrations peaceful.
Protesters said their plans have not changed since President Joe Biden left the race and the party quickly rallied behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who will formally accept the Democratic nomination this week. Activists said they were ready to amplify their progressive message before the nation’s top Democratic leaders.
“We have to play our part in the belly of the beast to stop the genocide, to end U.S. aid to Israel and stand with Palestine,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, which includes hundreds of organizations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said authorities were well prepared. “The city of Chicago is really good at things like this,” he told a news conference. “We are ready.”
The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the nation, and buses were bringing activists from all over the country. Organizers said they hoped the turnout for Monday’s march and rally would be at least 20,000 people.
Taylor Cook, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, traveled from Atlanta for the march. Cook said the group was pushing all Democrats to call for an end to aid to Israel, with a particular focus on Harris.
“We’re saying to Kamala, she has been complicit in this. People think it’s just Joe Biden, but she is vice president,” Cook said. “So, we’re saying, you need to stop if you want our vote.”
Medea Benjamin, 71, who traveled to Chicago from Washington, D.C., with a women-led group of protesters calling for peace, said she was shocked that the Biden administration recently approved an additional $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel.
“There’s an incredible discrepancy in what people are calling for in this country and what the administration is doing,” she said, speaking ahead of a rally in Union Park. “We’re so disgusted by this.”
Activists say they learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. They expect bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago.
Both sides of Gaza fight
Pro-Palestinian supporters descended on the park, west of the Loop business district, for a rally. They planned to march a short distance to a site near the United Center, where the convention is taking place.
Around 40 pro-Israel supporters walked around the park during the rally. The pro-Israel counterprotesters, who mainly remained silent while waving Israeli flags, were accompanied by about 20 police officers on bicycles. Although tensions flared at times, there were no physical altercations.
Josh Weiner, co-founder of Chicago Jewish Alliance who walked with the pro-Israel group, said their intent was to “make our presence felt.”
Weiner said the group applied for permits that were not approved by the city.
“The pro-Palestine protesters have gotten multiple permits, including a march, which seems to be a little bit weighted on one side,” Weiner said.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling praised police and march organizers for a peaceful Sunday night protest calling for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights and an end to the war in Gaza. Chicago police said two people were arrested on misdemeanor charges of resisting police and damaging property.
“Listen, it’s this simple. The Chicago Police Department is here to protect everyone in this city,” Snelling said. “What we will not tolerate is intimidation. We will not tolerate violence.”
Protester issues include climate change, abortion rights and racial equality, to name a few, but many agree that pressing for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war is the top message of the demonstrations. They have likened it to the Vietnam War of their generation.
Chicago, which has hosted more political conventions than any other U.S. city, has been unable to escape comparisons to the infamous 1968 convention where police and anti-Vietnam War protesters violently clashed on live television.
Some businesses boarded up their windows as a precaution, and county courts said they would open more space in case of mass arrests. Chicago police say officers have undergone extensive training on constitutional policing and de-escalation tactics.
Coalition activists and the city have been at odds over the location of the protests and other logistics. A judge sided with the city over an approximately 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) march route, which organizers argue isn’t big enough for the expected crowds. Abudayyeh said the coalition would continue to push for a much longer route.
Not a single speaker or spectator showed up by early afternoon to a speakers’ stage offered by city officials near the United Center. Eight groups with progressive agendas had signed up for 45-minute speaking slots Monday. On other days, some conservative groups, including the Illinois Policy Institute, have plans to speak.
Also Monday, the Philadelphia-based Poor People’s Army, which advocates for economic justice, planned to set up at Humboldt Park on the city’s northwest side to feature events with third-party presidential candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West, plus a 3-mile (5-kilometer) march.
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Nairobi, Kenya — Overcrowding in African hospitals is blamed on the scarcity of health facilities and doctors, especially in rural areas.
According to the United Nations, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people in Africa, a continent that bears 25% of the global disease burden. But with the number of mobile phone users on the rise, some technological innovations are helping to bridge the doctor-patient gap and expand health care coverage.
Yaw Asamoah is head of MedPharma Care in Ghana. The company has developed an app that allows patients to connect face-to-face with doctors and pharmacies online so they can get medicine in their homes.
He says the system improves patients’ experiences when they seek health care services.
“That’s where MedPharma care comes in to see how we can digitize the whole idea of health care bringing telemedicine — making it possible for people either [to] have e-consultation, e-prescription, get their medicine delivered to them wherever they are, either at the office or at home… do their diagnostic remotely,” Asamoah said.
The World Health Organization says 57 countries are suffering from a critical shortage of health personnel, 36 of them in Africa.
The 2001 Abuja Declaration requires that African Union countries allocate 15% of their annual budgets to health, a requirement most governments have yet to fulfill.
Funding and infrastructure issues have blocked millions of Africans’ access to quality health care, but experts say digital tools could improve access to services in hard-to-reach areas that lack doctors.
Mountaga Keita is a Guinean-born businessman who invented three portable diagnostic terminals which can monitor a patient’s temperature, blood pressure, heart function and conduct ultrasounds.
“The benefit of that is the ease it brings to doctors and patients instead of clogging hospitals,” Keita said. “Now the doctors or nurses can get to the patient collected data and send the data in a very secure manner to the hospitals, and people can analyze and bring it back to the patient.”
Keita has so far deployed 40 kits to different hospitals in Guinea.
According Keita, the diagnostic terminals have attracted the attention of other countries like Gabon, which has requested six machines. He is in talks with the governments of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Senegal to supply the kits there.
Keita said his technology can help solve the doctor-to-patient ratio problem and save patients money.
“With this kind of technology, all the vital signs of a patient, forward it in a very secure manner, encrypted to a specialist who is in Tunisia, who is in Kenya, who is in Tokyo, Paris to interpret and bring the result,” he said. “Then we know if we are supposed to spend that 45,000 euros to evacuate … or if we can locally cure the person.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has grown expansively and gained attention in Africa.
Asamoah said telemedicine provides access to many doctors who specialize in different diseases, easing the burden on health care facilities.
“In a normal circumstance, if you went to a clinic in Ghana, you wanted to talk to a specialized consultant, you might probably not get either because they don’t have, they haven’t booked you, or they are not available,” he said. “But telemedicine can make it possible for you to make your appointment and talk to any doctor.”
McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, analyzed the impact of digital health tools in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa and found that the tools could reduce the continent’s total health care costs by 15% by 2030.
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Some bosses might want all their workers back in the office, but a clear majority of U.S. workers crave the flexibility of remote or hybrid jobs. And studies have found that such work, if managed well, will not harm a company’s culture or capability to innovate. But some companies concerned about productivity are using software to monitor employees working from home. Maxim Adams has the story. Camera: Aleksandr Bergan
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