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Before Harris accepts the party's presidential nomination, expect a slew of heavy hitters and celebrity appearances

This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Democratic national convention and Kamala Harris's speech, you can follow live coverage here.Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz is dropping by the Minnesota delegation's breakfast meeting in Chicago this morning, according to reports.Walz and his wife, Gwen, are expected to thank delegates at the breakfast for their support of the Harris-Walz ticket. Continue reading...

Peloton Interactive reports fourth-quarter revenue of $643.6m, exceeding analysts' expectationsPeloton Interactive reported its first sales increase in nine quarters and beat estimates, indicating that the fitness equipment maker's years-long turnaround efforts were paying off, sending its shares surging as much as 41% on Thursday.The restructuring aims to stanch a slump in sales of its high-end, at-home equipment following a boom during the pandemic as customers cut back on discretionary spending in the face of elevated interest rates and sticky inflation. Continue reading...

Amid a groundbreaking effort to credential social media stars, influencers are offering an intimate look at the event - and occasionally clashing with journalists

Satinder Pal Singh Raju sprayed with bullets' on highway in another attack targeting Khalistan advocatesA Sikh separatist leader was attacked on a California highway earlier this month in a shooting that his organization has described as an assassination attempt.Satinder Pal Singh Raju, an organizer with Sikhs for Justice and an advocate for the establishment of an independent Sikh state, Khalistan, was traveling on the Interstate 505 near Sacramento on 11 August when the truck he was in was sprayed with bullets". He survived the shooting. Continue reading...

Speech after speech has referenced the rightwing blueprint and it's clearly getting under the ex-president's skin

Imitation fruits and vegetables are the latest sophisticated' tactic for Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs into the USEveryday fruit and vegetables are some of the latest methods Mexican cartels are using to smuggle drugs into the US, recent seizures of methamphetamine suggest.Around 2 tonnes of the powerful stimulant known colloquially as crystal meth was discovered recently in packages designed to look like bright green watermelons at the San Diego, California, port of Otay Mesa, according to US Customs and Border Patrol Protection officials. Continue reading...

Animal rights group says shades such as Dead Salmon and Au Lait ignore the sentience of fish and exploitation of cowsPeta has urged the paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball to rename colours that normalise exploiting animals".Citing the colours Dead Salmon, Smoked Trout and Potted Shrimp, Peta said in a letter to Farrow & Ball's colour curator that renaming animal product-monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers". Continue reading...

Increased offer in go shop' period could derail planned $28bn merger with independent studio SkydanceParamount Global, one of Hollywood's best-known companies, has received an improved last-minute offer from a group led by the veteran media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr that could gazump its planned $28bn (21bn) merger with the independent film studio Skydance.Bronfman, a former Warner Music CEO, and his consortium of investors have sweetened a proposed offer to acquire National Amusements, the vehicle that holds the media tycoon Shari Redstone's controlling stake in Paramount, which also owns CBS, Nickelodeon and the UK's Channel 5. Continue reading...

British tech entrepreneur who sold his Autonomy software group to Hewlett-Packard and was later cleared after a long-running US fraud caseMike Lynch, who has died aged 59 in the wreck of his yacht, was sometimes described as Britain's Bill Gates". It was a huge exaggeration, but Lynch could claim two parallels with Gates: he developed world-leading technology (in his case in machinelearning or AI) and, unlike so many UK scientists, he learned how to turn it into commercial success.Such was this success that his company, Autonomy, was valued at $11bn when he sold it to Hewlett-Packard in 2011, but the fall-out from the sale would come to overshadow his technological achievements, and lead to a national debate about the circumstances in which UK citizens may be extradited to the US. Continue reading...

Group says Harris campaign denying a Palestinian speaker at the Democratic convention is a terrible message'On the third night of the Democratic national convention, the group Muslim Women for Harris released a statement announcing that it was disbanding in response to the Harris-Walz campaign's refusal to allow a Palestinian person to speak on the main stage.The statement was released as members of the Uncommitted National Movement, which won 30 delegates to the convention, and their supporters held a sit-in outside of the convention. Ilhan Omar joined the demonstration for some time, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called in to the sit-in via FaceTime. The sit-in came after the anti-war group was told a Palestinian person would not be allowed to speak on the main stage - until then, whether or not such a speech would happen was up in the air. Continue reading...

Democratic nominee, who has overturned Trump's poll lead, aims to persuade voters to back her vision for the USKamala Harris will tonight face the biggest test of her political life so far when she addresses the Democratic national convention in Chicago in a bid to persuade American voters to defeat Donald Trump in November's presidential election and put her in the White House.The vice-president's rocket-fueled campaign is still barely a month old following Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from seeking re-election in the face of a disastrous debate performance and questions over his age and mental acuity. Continue reading...

Sarah Liberti says her mother's urn was accidentally given to Palmetto Goodwill in Bluffton, South CarolinaA Virginia woman is seeking help in locating her mother's ashes after they were accidentally donated to a Goodwill store in South Carolina.Sarah Liberti told WTOC that her parents were living together in Sun City Hilton Head, an age-restricted community in South Carolina, before her mother passed away. Following her mother's death, Liberti began the process of relocating her father to Virginia to live with her and hired a woman to help her move. Continue reading...

Younger generations have anointed the vice-president, but the traditional base may not relate to the pop culture termSix hours and 26 minutes after Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, a three-word tweet upended the presidential race.Kamala IS brat," singer Charli xcx tweeted. Continue reading...

What if there were geraniums? YuckConfronting my own mortality in my 30s, with silky skin and two young kids, was not something I was going to do lightly. And yet, heroically, I wrote my will.Voluntarily instigating contact with lawyers turned my stomach enough to earn me at least a year of procrastination. Sure, you don't want to unexpectedly die and leave your affairs in a shambles, but nor do you want to spend your precious time on Earth finding a lawyer and talking to them.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Walz's 17-year-old son touched DNC viewers with his emotional display during father's widely praised speech

Rodney Vicknair, who died earlier this year of cancer, was serving 14 years in prison for the crimeThe city of New Orleans was ordered by a federal jury on Wednesday to pay $1m to a teenager who was sexually assaulted by one of the city's police officers in 2020.The federal civil trial, which was brought against the city by the teenager's family on her behalf, began on Monday and lasted three days. Continue reading...

Someone who has flouted US democratic norms as flagrantly as Trump does not deserve civility or respect

One in 10 Americans identify as multiracial. Many identify with the Democrat - and see her heritage as an advantageFor Sonia Smith Kang, it hasn't come as a surprise that Kamala Harris's ethnic background has been challenged by her opponent and other members of the Republican party. It's what mixed folks have been dealing with for a long time," said Smith Kang, who is both Mexican and Black and is married to a Korean man.Since Donald Trump's false attacks on the racial identity of Kamala Harris at the National Association of Black Journalists' annual convention last month, he has purposely mispronounced her name, posted a photo of her in a traditional Indian sari and employed supporters to claim that the Democratic presidential candidate is not Black. For mixed-race voters who heard Trump state that Harris happened to turn Black", feelings of anger, frustration and annoyance instantly arose. Continue reading...

Democratic delegates say two women threw the squirmy creatures into food set out for convention guests

Donald Trump kicked off a frenzy about the issue at a June rally and Kamala Harris has hurriedly matched his promiseKristine serves gamblers playing countertop video poker screens at the center bar of Las Vegas's Ellis Island casino. She declines to share her last name for privacy reasons, but is not timid about her support for Donald Trump when asked about his campaign promise to end federal taxation on tips.I want that!" Kristine says as she fulfills cocktail waitresses' orders. Our tip compliance is too high. They take so much from our paycheck." Continue reading...

The party mounted a compelling and diverse spectacle as Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Stevie Wonder all took to the stageIf elections were decided by the party conventions, the race for the White House could have been over already.Democrats in Chicago are mounting a more compelling, energetic and diverse spectacle than Republicans in Milwaukee a month ago and drawing a bigger TV audience. Continue reading...

Benjamin Dowling died in 2019 from injuries suffered when Terry McKirchy was babysitting him 40 years agoA former babysitter pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday for the 2019 death of a man she was accused of disabling as an infant 40 years ago and was sentenced to three years in prison, finally admitting that she hit him numerous times.Terry McKirchy, 62, accepted a plea deal for the death of Benjamin Dowling, who died at age 35 after a life of severe disabilities caused by a brain hemorrhage he suffered in 1984 when he was five months old while at McKirchy's suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. Continue reading...

Invented images of Taylor Swift fans in T-shirts supporting the former president aren't meant to be believed - he just craves the attentionA couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump decided it would be fun to accuse the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, of using AI in images showing a large crowd greeting her at an airport. Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport?" Trump furiously thumbed into his phone. There was nobody at the plane, and she AI'd it [...] She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!"Just as some animals are more equal than others, some politicians are more honest. So this week, when the former president himself posted an obviously AI-generated image of what looks like the back of Harris's head in front of an enormous communist crowd with a huge hammer and sickle unfurled above them, he presumably did not consider it election interference. Trump has also recently shared AI-generated images of himself, Elon Musk and Taylor Swift. Continue reading...

In an exclusive interview, commissioner Jessica Berman discusses the decision to become the first major US sports league to remove the draft, increasing revenue and expanding mental health support for playersEarly on Thursday, the National Women's Soccer League announced a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with its players' association. Ratified almost two years ahead of schedule, it's a landmark deal underscoring the league's commitment to innovation and player empowerment. Key elements of the agreement include increased salary minimums and a growing salary cap, expanded healthcare options and a groundbreaking shift to a fully free agency model, making the NWSL the first US professional league to abolish the draft.The timing of this agreement is strategic. With the CBA now extending to 2030 (the former CBA was set to expire in 2026), NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said that the goal of this preemptive return to the negotiating table was to lay a solid foundation for long term labor stability. While only in the second year of their immediate media rights deal - already historic for its 40-fold increase - she said sights are already set on the next set of contracts due in 2027. Continue reading...

Underneath the Super Bowl wins and coaching records and the paparazzi swooning over the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship is a different, more sinister narrativeThe hype is both manufactured and real. A new NFL season is inching closer, and the sights and smells of hope are intoxicating. No 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams has one sensational series in the first quarter of the first preseason game and Bears fans already have amnesia when it comes to the franchise's long history of underwhelming signal-callers. Maybe Williams will be the next Patrick Mahomes - he really looked like a stud.But for now, and until he stops playing quarterback at a level in a different stratosphere than everyone else, Mahomes is the unquestioned face of the NFL. And the Kansas City Chiefs, with their ticket seemingly punched to the Super Bowl on an annual basis, are the gold standard of NFL organizations. Jolly Andy Reid, once underestimated but shrewd as hell, is the coaching face of the league. And of course, Travis Kelce is the face of the NFL for Swifties new to the football or anyone who cares about celebrity gossip. Continue reading...

Students at the vice-president's alma mater express pride and hope, but say Harris still needs to earn their supportOn Tuesday, day two of the Democratic national convention in Chicago, Howard University, in Washington DC, was abuzz with students excited about alumna Kamala Harris's presidential candidacy. The Guardian spoke to several students who expressed pride that one of their own may assume the highest office, which they hoped would shine a light on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Others emphasized the need to hold Harris accountable on Gaza policy, as well as on issues that affect Black communities, such as overpolicing and high maternal death rates.I was pretty happy to not only be a Howard student, but to be Black as well," Shondo Green, a 20-year-old biology major, said about Harris's nomination. The general sentiment on campus since classes started on Monday has been uplifting - everyone is smiling, he said. There's something different about this year compared to my previous two years. There's something in the air." Continue reading...

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 picturesGood 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. Continue reading...

Stanley Burkhardt, who investigated child abuse cases and acknowledged preying on minors, recently releasedThe president of a child sexual molestation survivors' advocacy organization says children have been left at risk" after his abuser, Stanley Burkhardt, was recently released from a federal halfway house with relatively few limits on his movements.Burkhardt is a former Louisiana detective who has acknowledged preying on minors and has been investigated in connection with a series of murders. Richard Windmann said the latest opportunity at comparative freedom granted to Burkhardt - who previously investigated child abuse cases for the New Orleans police department - is abhorrent" and a repeated injury to his victims". Continue reading...

Climate goals and Gaza ceasefire top the list of expectations for millions of young and progressive votersProgressive lawmakers have presented a united front at the Democratic national convention this week, as they throw their full support behind Kamala Harris as the new presidential nominee.But even as those lawmakers talked up the genuine enthusiasm surrounding Harris's campaign, they made clear they expect her to deliver policy wins for her progressive coalition if she is elected in November. When she addresses the convention Thursday to formally accept the presidential nomination, Harris will have a chance to show that she intends to follow through on her promises. Continue reading...

As a half Kiwi, the only cultural exports I had growing up were the bloke from Crowded House and Shortland Street. How times have changedWhen I was growing up, the sum total of New Zealand's contribution to global culture was, essentially, the singer from Crowded House and Shortland Street - that's to say, middle-of-the-road music for a middle-of-the-day soap opera crowd. I probably only noticed because my father is from New Zealand - he still uses the Edmonds cookbook and memorably described the birth of my son as far out" - and since the age of about nine I have held a Kiwi passport.So it has been a particular thrill this year to look across the listings for the Edinburgh festival fringe and see that it is packed with young, exciting New Zealand talent genuinely rivalling that from Europe and America. There's Rose Matafeo, of course; star and co-writer of Starstruck, competitor in Taskmaster and voice in the forthcoming Moana 2. There's Guy Montgomery, standup and presenter of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee, which is simply clamouring for a UK television deal. Then you have standups Alice Snedden, Paul Williams, James Roque, Guy Williams and clown Trygve Wakenshaw. Continue reading...

Tim Walz accepted the VP nomination, and celebrity power continued with Stevie Wonder and John Legend performing and Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Amanda Gorman and more speaking

If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy, wrote Orwell. That applies today more than everI would like to start a petition for journalists - and everyone else - to immediately stop using the C-word. Centrist. It's an insidious word that has degraded how we think about politics and distorted how we see the world.Perhaps that statement sounds a little over the top. After all, being a centrist" sounds eminently reasonable, doesn't it? A centrist is a moderate, right? Someone who is rational and practical and takes the middle ground. Someone who isn't extreme like those crazy ideologues on the far right or far left. A centrist, logic dictates, is really what everyone should strive to be. Continue reading...

The Democratic national convention continued with a packed celebrity lineup. Oprah Winfrey garnered huge cheers when she made an unannounced appearance; Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson drew laughs by entering with a large book lampooning Project 2025; Stevie Wonder urged voters to choose 'joy over anger'; and the actor Mindy Kaling had the crowd cheering for Kamala Harris

In a huge speech, Harris's running mate won over delegates' hearts and minds - Friday Night Lights never had it so goodYou might not know it, but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this," Tim Walz said demurely towards the end of his keynote Democratic national convention address on Wednesday night.The moment wreaked of understatement. The look on his face, the way he raised his white eyebrows as if he were apologizing, the shrug of his shoulders. Even the phrase big speech". Continue reading...

We can continue to bury the bodies of murdered women. Or we can get serious about misogynistic violenceAustralia's domestic, family and sexual violence commissioner, Micaela Cronin, said this week that the scourge of violence against women and children in this country should be treated with the same degree of seriousness as terrorism.She is right. Continue reading...

This blog is closed. You can read our full story on Walz's speech here.Kamala Harris's campaign raised four times as much money last month than Donald Trump's campaign, Reuters is reporting, citing federal disclosures filed late on Tuesday.The Harris campaign told the Federal Election Commission it raised $204m in July, compared to $48m reported by Trump's main fundraising group. Continue reading...

Harris's running mate emphasizes coach background and takes swipe at JD Vance in Democratic convention speechMinnesota governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic party's vice-presidential nomination by emphasizing his rural bonafides and Americana background as a teacher and coach in a more sweeping speech than the unassuming midwesterner has given before.You might not know it, but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this," Walz said as he closed out Wednesday's Democratic convention in Chicago. But I have given a lot of pep talks." Continue reading...

Vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz headlines the third day of the Democratic national convention, using his past as a high school football coach to pull out a sporting metaphor to describe the party's place in the election campaign: 'It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal, but we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field, and boy do we have the right team ... Kamala Harris is ready.' In a heartwarming moment, Walz's son, Gus, could be seen crying in the stands, mouthing 'that's my dad', as Walz spoke on his personal experience with fertility treatments and hit out at Republicans, telling them to 'mind your own damn business' on IVF care.

Ex-House speaker calls Biden's term one of most successful presidencies of modern times' at Democratic conventionDemocrats rose to their feet when Nancy Pelosi walked on stage at the United Center in Chicago for the Democratic national convention. They applauded, and then applauded louder. Pelosi waved before quieting the room.The former House speaker began by expressing her gratitude to Joe Biden, calling his term one of the most successful presidencies of modern times". even though she had pushed subtly but forcefully for the president to step aside.Tim Walz rallies Democrats: We're gonna leave it on the field'Watch speeches from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Josh ShapiroOprah Winfrey takes swipe at Vance's childless cat lady' comment in surprise appearanceHere are the rising stars and politicians to watch this weekWhat to know about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Continue reading...

Harris's VP pick pitches supporters as Stevie Wonder, Pete Buttigieg and prominent Republicans back party's ticketThe third night of the Democratic national convention featured a surprise speech from Oprah Winfrey, along with scheduled remarks from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Tim Walz and other major party figures, many emphasizing the joy" of Kamala Harris's campaign.Here are some key takeaways:Tim Walz rallies Democrats: We're gonna leave it on the field'Watch speeches from Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Josh ShapiroOprah Winfrey in surprise speechHere are the rising stars and politicians to watch this weekWhat to know about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Continue reading...

With a ringing endorsement of Kamala Harris, star's speech made an appeal to independent and undecided voters at the Democratic convention

Oprah Winfrey has made an unscheduled appearance at the Democratic convention, strolling on stage to deafening cheers. The media mogul's message was one of inclusion and unity and notably included a swipe at Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, who has criticised women who don't have children. Oprah told the crowd: When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion ... We just try to do the best we can to save them,' adding, 'and if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out, too'

Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary under Joe Biden - who is widely seen as having presidential ambitions - tore into JD Vance for saying childless people have no stake in their country, on the third day of the Democratic national convention. 'You know, senator, when I deployed to Afghanistan, I didn't have kids,' Buttigieg said. 'Then, many of the men and women who tied the wire with me didn't have kids either, but let me tell you, our commitment to the future of this country was pretty damn physical'

A soft-spoken Bill Clinton made his first major speech of the 2024 presidential election cycle, landing several jabs at the Republican nominee Donald Trump. Clinton appeared frail on the podium and spoke at a slow pace, but he delighted the crowd when he said: 'I'm still younger than Donald Trump.' He also laid out the case for Kamala Harris, calling her the 'president of joy'

Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor who was a contender to be Kamala Harris's running mate, spoke on the third night of the Democratic national convention in Chicago, taking Donald Trump and the GOP to task over their tendency to say that they're fighting for the freedom of Americans. 'It's not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed to read. And it's not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies. And, hear me on this, it sure as hell isn't freedom to say you can go vote, but he gets to pick the winner. That's not freedom,' Shapiro said

Tim Walz and Bill Clinton headline the third night, with Oprah Winfrey also addressed the crowd. Here's a look at the other noteworthy speakers