Tim Walz accepts the VP nomination | First Thing

Tim Walz draws on his Americana background at the Democratic national convention in Chicago. Plus: a penguin movie star

Day 1 of the convention: in pictures

Good morning.

As the crowd chanted coach" and held up Coach Walz" signs, Tim Walz closed out Wednesday's Democratic convention in Chicago by accepting the Democratic party's vice-presidential nomination. The Minnesota governor garnered loud cheers in his well-received speech that drew on his rural bona fides and Americana background as a teacher and coach.

Who else spoke? Before Walz, the former president Bill Clinton and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi took the stage, as well as rising stars in the party, the Maryland governor Wes Moore and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg. The comedian Kenan Thompson and actor Mindy Kaling also spoke, but perhaps the most rousing speech was from a surprise guest, Oprah Winfrey, the Chicago-based talkshow host and political independent, who called on fellow independents to rally around the Harris-Walz ticket.

What's next? Kamala Harris will take the stage tonight in the biggest test of her political life so far: persuading American voters to defeat Donald Trump in November's presidential election and put her in the White House.

What is happening in Gaza? Palestinian health officials said on Thursday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 22 people. One strike on a house in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya killed 11 people, while another killed six, including a local journalist, in a house in al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said. Five others were killed in separate strikes in the south.