Voters said Kamala Harris made them feel ‘hopeful’ when they were asked for their one-word summary of her Tuesday night debate performance.

It is the latest indicator that the US Vice President performed stronger than many expected against former President Donald Trump, and in this case won the vibe war.

When the responses for Trump were organised into a word cloud, the most prominent term was ‘annoyed’.

The details come from a Daily Mail online poll of 800 independent voters conducted by J.L. Partners on Tuesday evening (Wednesday morning in Malta).

The headline numbers revealed that 49 per cent felt that Harris performed most strongly on a night when Trump appeared to let his opponent get under his skin.
In contrast, 43 per cent said they thought Trump won the night.

But respondents were also asked a series of more detailed questions to get a sense of each candidates’ strongest moments, the one word that summed up their overall performance, and a brief description of how they made viewers’ feel.

For Harris, the most prominent terms for how viewers felt were ‘hopeful’, ‘confident’, and ‘strong’, spoiled only by the word ‘annoyed’ also appearing prominently. It suggests her promise to bring back joy to campaigning may be resonating with voters.

For Trump, ‘confident’ appeared prominently, but ‘angry’, ‘scared’, ‘worried’, and ‘confused’ were all listed in his vibe cloud.

“Kamala Harris won the battle of the vibes last night: voters felt hopeful when they listened to her, compared to annoyed for Trump,” said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners.

‘That was pretty much the Harris campaign’s strategic aim: project a positive image of their candidate who reflects change, and bait Trump into coming off as abrasive as possible.

‘Nonetheless, a good chunk of independents still felt Trump was confident and strong – just not as much as they did Harris. ‘In a razor’s edge race, that difference matters.’

The two candidates met for the first time in the ABC News debate in Philadelphia. They spent more than an hour and a half tussling over abortion, the economy and foreign policy.

Harris came with a plan to knock Trump off his stride and appeared to succeed. She generated the most viral moment of the night when she ridiculed Trump’s rallies, saying that people left early out of ‘exhaustion and boredom’.

He defended what he called the ‘most incredible rallies in the history of politics’ before pivoting to repeat an extraordinary online rumour about migrants eating pets. ‘Talk about extreme!’ Harris said, laughing.

The result was that Trump’s plan to define his opponent in viewers’ minds was sidelined for chunks of time as he defended himself or launched personal attacks.

Trump again refused to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat and at times raised his voice as he launched personal attacks at Harris. 

Both candidates can take some comfort from other parts of the night, however.

Trump did well on some of the biggest issues that will decide the 2024 election.

When viewers were asked to sum up his best moment in a word, the results were border, economy, policy, and immigration.

Harris’s word cloud was domination by the single word ‘abortion’, after she offered a clear and comprehensive policy position on an issue where Trump is clearly struggling to reconcile his personal views with pressure from religious conservatives who are crucial to his coalition.

The two candidates are locked in a tight race.

Harris had seen her stock, and her fundraising, rise after her surprise entry to the race in July. However, there are signs that her honeymoon is ending and the polls are tightening again.

The DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners election model gives Trump a 55 per cent of victory.

Roughly 67 million people watched the ‘Trump and Harris’ first presidential debate, according to Nielsen – a significant uptick from the 51 million that watched the debate between the GOP nominee and President Joe Biden in June.

Trump suggested Wednesday morning on Fox News that he isn’t likely to participate in another debate this cycle.

Harris’ campaign called for a second presidential debate soon after she wrapped up her first one with Trump on Tuesday night.

Trump initially said during a live post-debate interview on Fox News that he’d “have to think about it” and that Harris wanted a second debate “because she lost” but when host Sean Hannity pushed him on it Trump said: “Maybe if it was on a fair network.” Trump claimed that the debate with Kamala Harris was “rigged” by ABC.

A green light for Kyiv that could tip the scales of the war

The US is ready to allow Kyiv to deploy long-range missiles against targets in Russia. News medium Capitol Hill surprised with that news Tuesday by quoting from an interview with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.

“I talked to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken two days ago and he will go to Kyiv with his British counterpart from London to tell him that the country may hit Russia with ATACMS missiles.”

Reuters reports the US and British foreign ministers met President Zelensky on Wednesday on a visit interrupted by air raid warnings, unveiling new support but no breakthrough on the long-range strikes into Russia desperately sought by Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British foreign minister David Lammy, in Kyiv at a critical juncture in Ukraine’s struggle against Russia, said they talked about Ukraine’s war goals and what they could do to help.

However, Ukraine will have to use the ATACMS very sparingly. While US production has already been ramped up, stockpiles currently remain limited.

Because the United States feared escalation, until now Kyiv was only allowed to deploy US missiles that carry only 77 kilometers far. But now it is thus allowing Ukraine to deploy ATACMS with a range of 300 kilometers, which will allow Ukraine to start hitting some 245 strategic military targets deep inside Russia.

Moscow Region Governor, Andrei Vorobyov, announced on Telegram that a 46-year-old woman died after a drone struck an apartment building in Ramenskoye, a southeastern suburb of the Russian capital. He also said that three people were injured and taken to hospital.

This is the first time that one of the drones proved been fatal.

‘What is happening in Gaza is completely unacceptable’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commented on X following a school, that was turned into a shelter for 12,000 people, has been hit by Israeli attacks. He wrote: “Six of our colleagues from UNRTWA are among the victims. These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law must stop now.”

Over 620,000 Palestinian students deprived of right to education

The United Nations has warned that over 620,000 Palestinian students have been left with no access to education as 85 per cent of school buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed amid Israeli attacks, leaving them with no school to attend.

In addition, nearly 30,000 students and educators have been killed or injured in the war-torn enclave since the latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7 last year, said the UN.

A report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that about 625,000 students in the Gaza Strip have been denied their right to education. As of August 27, at least 9,839 students and 411 education workers in the besieged enclave had been killed by Israel’s continuing bombardment, and at least 15,394 students and 2,411 education workers had been wounded, the report said.

In July, 85 per cent of Gaza’s school buildings, or 477 out of 564, had been directly attacked or damaged, and that those buildings are in need of major renovation or complete reconstruction, the report said.

Data released by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) showed that some 6,000 Palestinian school-age children in the West Bank have also been directly affected by the current conflict.

Palestinian authorities and UN agencies said they are making efforts to provide online classes to students in the Gaza Strip despite repeated Israeli attacks, while providing offline classes in tents as much as possible.

Israel offers Yahya Sinwar safe harbour

Israel has offered to secure the safety of Hamas chief and October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar in exchange for the remaining hostages in Gaza, an Israeli official said.

Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostages and the missing, claimed a promise to ensure Sinwar’s safe exit from Gaza was put forth earlier this week in the strained cease-fire negotiations with Hamas.

“I’m ready to provide safe passage to Sinwar, his family, whoever wants to join him,” he told Bloomberg. “We want the hostages back. We want demilitarization, de-radicalization of course – a new system that will manage Gaza,” he added.

The claim comes after Hirsch made similar remarks in a CNN interview on Sunday, saying the Jewish state will “build [a] safe passage to the chief terrorist, the new Hitler, Sinwar.”

Singapore names new orchid after Pope

During a brief ceremony in the ritual of welcoming the Pope in the Parliament House of Singapore, in the presence of the President of the Republic, a new hybrid orchid, naturally white in color, was named after Pope Francis.

Speaking to the authorities of Singapore, Pope Francis highlighted “the risk that a certain pragmatism and a certain exaltation of merit entail, that is to say the unintended consequence of legitimising the exclusion of those who find themselves on the margins of the benefits of progress”.

The Pontiff hoped “that particular attention be paid to the poor, the elderly and to protecting the dignity of migrant workers”, and that efforts to improve the living conditions of citizens “continue until they fully involve all the inhabitants of Singapore”.

Hurricane Francine leaves 190,000 in Louisiana in the dark

Hurricane Francine has hit Louisiana with winds of up to 155 kilometers per hour and left at least 190,000 people in the dark.

Francine is marching towards New Orleans, where heavy rains are already underway and the hope is that it will lose strength as the hours pass.

Life expectancy to reach 140 years old

Chaim Cohen, a scientist from Israel, believes that in the future more and more people will exceed the age of 100 or even 120. It is even possible that they will live to be 140 years old. The Israeli scientist conducts research in the molecular biology of aging at Bar Ilan University.

The oldest person to date was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 5 months. No other person in the world has reached such an old age in the past 25 years.

France foiled 3 attacks against Olympic Games

French authorities stopped three plots to attack the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, the country’s counter-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Olivier Christen told the radio network Franceinfo that five suspects had been taken into custody on terrorism-related charges. The arrests occurred amid heightened security in the lead-up to and during the Games.

Authorities conducted 936 house searches so far in 2024, compared to 153 last year.

One of the suspected plots was previously announced when French police arrested an 18-year-old man of Chechnyan origin for allegedly planning to attack venues around the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne. Although the stadium is some 500 kilometers from Paris, it was used to host soccer matches during the group stage of the Olympic tournament.

Christen said another alleged plot targeted “Israeli institutions or representatives of Israel in Paris”. However, he said, “the Israeli team itself was not specifically targeted”, without providing further details about the alleged plot.

A third suspected plot involved two people from Gironde in southwest France.

The Paris Olympics was held against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russian war in Ukraine. Christen said jihadi threats dominated the foiled plots.

Arsenal blocked from wearing red against Tottenham on Sunday

Arsenal have been directed to wear their away kit when they face Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

‌The Premier League and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body responsible for refereeing games in English professional football, have told the Gunners they cannot wear their traditional red home kit, because there is too much white on the back of the shirt and that will clash with Tottenham. This means Mikel Arteta’s men will wear their new black kit for the North London derby.

It will be the first time in recent seasons either team has had to change colours.Spurs will also have to wear their away kit in the reverse fixture at the Emirates. Last season, the first North London derby of the season was played at the Emirates, with Tottenham coming twice from behind to claim a 2-2 draw.

In the reverse fixture, the Gunners went three goals up at half time, before eventually running out 3-2 winners.