Boy with stutter delivers moving DNC speech: ‘Joe Biden made me feel confident’ – video

Brayden Harrington, 13, spoke about how he met Joe Biden, who stuttered himself as a boy, and how the Democratic presidential nominee gave him confidence. 'He told me we were members of the same club: we stutter. It was really amazing to hear that someone like me became vice president,' Brayden said.

In the final night of the Democratic national convention, Biden outlined his plans to bring relief and solace to a country battered by the coronavirus pandemic as he accepted the nomination to challenge Donald Trump in the November election

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Joe Biden’s speech wins praise from left and right – but not from Trump

Obama campaign veterans, Hillary Clinton, and Fox News personalities hail former vice-president’s convention appearance

Democrats have largely praised Joe Biden’s speech formally accepting the party nomination as a resounding success, while Republicans have begrudgingly conceded it went well.

Biden’s speech on Thursday capped off the Democratic national convention and was largely optimistic, laying out his vision for tackling several crises facing the country.

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Biden completes a comeback for the ages with career-defining speech

Analysis: The Democratic presidential nominee’s remarks resonated with decency, gravity and passion – if not many specifics

Joe Biden stood in a school gym in Iowa fumbling for a message, generating little electricity and looking his age. His rivals were drawing bigger crowds and beat him into fourth place in the caucuses. Political pundits declared him over the hill.

That was February. Now, in August, Biden resembles an ageing heavyweight boxer who got himself in shape, climbed back into the ring, and landed a knockout punch. His closing performance at the Democratic convention on Thursday night produced the finest speech of his career, a comeback for the ages more presidential than the current US president.

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‘Light is more powerful than dark’: Joe Biden accepts presidential nomination – video

Joe Biden has vowed to unite America and lead the country to overcome “this season of darkness”, as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday evening, a long-sought moment that comes more than 30 years after he first ran for president

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‘Mika Pintz?’ Democrats mock Republicans for mispronouncing ‘Kamala’ – video

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang open the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention with a not-so-subtle dig at Republicans mispronouncing vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s first name

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Joe Biden to accept Democratic presidential nomination 33 years after first bid – DNC live

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, progressives remain critical that Republicans have been included more than young, progressive Democrats.

If I had a second for every time someone said X got more time than me I’d pool them together and give them to @JulianCastro

Honestly I’m so tired of saying this at this point: the speaking allotment does not represent the future of the Democratic Party. #DemConvention

The convention played a tribute video commemorating the life of Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s eldest son who died of brain cancer in 2015.

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Coronavirus live news: Lebanon imposes partial lockdown after Beirut blast; India nearing 3m cases

Lebanon enters partial lockdown to counter infections; pressure grows in India over rise in infections; concern over cases in Berlin schools

Spain has reported 3,650 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing its total caseload to 386,054, while three more people have died, the health ministry said on Friday.

On Thursday, cases increased by 3,349. A further 125 people have died from the virus over the past seven days.

Italy registered 947 new infections on Friday, the biggest daily Covid case rise since 14 May, when the country was still in lockdown.

The total number of cases is now up to 257,065. Nine more people have died with the virus and the death toll now stands at 35,427.

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California fires: hundreds of blazes burn amid scorching heatwave – as it happened

We are wrapping up the liveblog for the day. Thanks for staying with us.

Santa Cruz county is asking that all visitors and tourists occupying hotels, motels and vacation rentals leave the county immediately to free up space for evacuees.

The #CZULightningComplex fire has grown to 40,000 acres, officials say, with at least 20 structures damaged and 0 percent containment; @CAL_FIRE says there's "potential significant growth over the next 48 hours" https://t.co/1hzaWhE7bf pic.twitter.com/4jnuQpSirk

Santa Cruz County is asking all visitors to leave the county to free up shelter space. #CZULightningComplex pic.twitter.com/9vOm4MMyj3

The current map of evacuated areas, this is expected to expand. Please be prepared.#CZUAugustLightningComplex pic.twitter.com/GpVeArkz5J

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Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud after arrest on luxury yacht

Trump’s ex-adviser was arrested on Thursday for allegedly defrauding donors to ‘We Build the Wall’ campaign

Former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty on Thursday hours after being arrested on a luxury yacht for allegedly skimming donations from an online fundraising campaign for the president’s controversial border wall with Mexico.

Related: Steve Bannon indicted by federal prosecutors, charged with defrauding ‘We Build the Wall’ donors – live

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Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about border wall project following Bannon’s arrest – video

Donald Trump says he knows nothing about the fundraising organisation associated with Steve Bannon's arrest on charges he defrauded supporters of the president in a campaign to help build the president's signature wall along the US-Mexico border.

Bannon was arrested on Thursday for allegedly skimming donations from We Build the Wall, an online fundraising campaign for the US president’s border wall with Mexico, officials in New York said

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Trump’s bid to block release of his tax returns rejected by federal judge

Move clears way for Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, to get president’s tax returns

A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for Manhattan’s top prosecutor to get Donald Trump’s tax returns, rejecting a last-ditch attempt by his lawyers to block a subpoena issued to his accounting firm.

US district judge Victor Marrero’s ruling echoes his prior decision in the case, which was upheld by the US supreme court last month. The high court returned the case to Marrero so Trump’s lawyers could get another chance to challenge the subpoena issued by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.

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Kamala Harris’s DNC speech claimed a new moment for progressive Democrats

Harris spoke about structural racism, injustice in healthcare and being a ‘proud black woman’ – fresh words for the presidential stage

The first note that Kamala Harris sounded in her first speech as the Democrats’ official vice-presidential nominee was not about Donald Trump, or Joe Biden, or the crossroads to which the country has arrived.

Instead Harris began her acceptance speech at the party’s national convention Wednesday by looking backwards, to the black women activists who fought historically for the right to vote and then for “a seat at the table”.

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Kamala Harris makes history, Barack Obama slams Trump: day three at the DNC – video highlights

Kamala Harris officially accepted her vice-presidential nomination on the third day of the Democratic national convention. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, joined her on stage alongside Joe Biden and his wife, Jill. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Gabrielle Giffords were among the many figures who condemned Donald Trump's presidency and pledged their support for the Biden-Harris ticket

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Covid cases top 5.5m as Joe Biden prepares for big DNC night – US politics live

David Smith in Washington has an analysis piece for us this morning on that blistering Barack Obama speech last night.

In 2020, Obama was back in the city where the US constitution was drafted and signed. But this time he stood alone at a lectern in the Museum of the American Revolution. Usually presidents go into bat for their own legacy, but the message was that the legacy of George Washington and other founding fathers is now at stake.

Obama’s speeches are often lauded for their poetry but this time his language was cold and muscular, using the word “democracy” 18 times. The man who made famous the slogan “Hope and change” had found that the first of those is not always enough. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” he said. For a long time the 44th president has declined to use Trump’s name. No more.

Related: Obama's stark message: America must save itself from Trump | Analysis

Associated Press are reporting that the New Mexico city of Las Cruces has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the family of Mexican American man who was choked to death by a police officer.

The settlement calls for the city, 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of the US-Mexico border, to pay the family of Antonio Valenzuela within 30 days and promises the local government will embark on various police reforms. Financial terms of the settlement were not previously disclosed.

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I’m Deaf. When mask-wearing came along, I had to rebuild my world

Masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate –hearing people need to be more open to communicating in different ways with strangers

Since mask-wearing began, my world has disappeared. I was born partially deaf, and masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate.

I’m not alone. Over 460 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss according to the World Health Organization. So how are people who are d/Deaf (lower case refers to the physical condition of deafness, capital D refers to the Deaf community) or hard of hearing surviving mask mandates?

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Shooting survivor Gabby Giffords delivers moving speech at DNC – video

Former US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords provided the most emotional moment of the third night of the Democratic national convention. 

Giffords, who sustained brain damage after she was shot at an event with constituents in 2011, spoke during a segment on gun control. She said: 'Today, I struggle with speech but I have not lost my voice. America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words.'

A spokesperson for Giffords said she spent 'countless hours' practising the speech, the longest she has delivered since the shooting

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Kamala Harris reflects on vice-presidential nomination at DNC – video

Kamala Harris made US history as she became the first black woman and first Asian American to join a major party’s presidential ticket. On the third night of the Democratic national convention, she urged voters to reject the divisive and destructive leadership of Donald Trump, calling him a president who 'turns our tragedies into political weapons'

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Clinton urges Americans to vote so ‘Trump can’t steal’ the election – video

Hillary Clinton returned to the Democratic national convention and issued a stark warning about the 2020 election. The 2016 Democratic nominee said she had met many Americans who have told her they wish they could go back to 2016 and vote differently, or just vote. 'This can’t be another woulda-coulda-shoulda election,' Clinton said.

The former secretary of state, who lost the electoral college but won the popular vote in 2016, also reminded voters: 'Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take it from me. We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory'

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Barack Obama’s fiery DNC speech in full – video

Barack Obama delivered a powerful message calling for voters to protect American democracy during the third night of the Democratic national convention.  The former president argued that Donald Trump’s potential re-election posed an existential threat to the country’s democratic values and institutions, and he implored voters to 'embrace your own responsibility as citizens'

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Obama’s stark message: America must save itself from Trump | Analysis

Analysis: The former president issued an unprecedented attack on his successor as he urged voters to rescue their democracy

Just four years ago, amid balloons, confetti, dry ice smoke and giant TV screens, Donald Trump struck an authoritarian tone as he accepted the nomination at the Republican national convention before a frenzied crowd. It prompted warnings of the impending death of democracy, and the end of America’s gloriously chequered 244-year journey. But no one really believed it.

However, Barack Obama is now clearly taking the fall of Rome theory seriously. No former US president has criticised his successor at a party convention as he did on Wednesday night, and none has warned that his successor “will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win”.

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