The party votes have been cast: Vice President Kamala Harris is officially the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee – making US history as the first Black woman and first Asian American from a major party to win that designation.

Harris secured the Democratic nomination on Friday afternoon, receiving the majority of votes – at least 2,350 – from her party’s delegates, just one day after voting opened. The Democratic National Committee held a livestream video hosted by Biden campaign aides and DNC chairman Jaime Harrison to mark the occasion.

“I am honoured to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States,” Harris said moments after she passed the delegate threshold during a Democratic party-sponsored livestream phone call. “Your dedication cannot be overstated. Your dedication to our country. I know we all feel this way so strongly. We love our country, we believe in the promise of America, and that’s what this campaign is about.”

Harris said she will officially accept the nomination next week, once the virtual voting period concludes on Monday. She added that she’s looking forward to the Democratic National Convention that begins August 19 in Chicago to “have an opportunity to celebrate this historic moment together.”

Harris, 59, catapulted to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential election on July 21. Harris will go on to face Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the 45th president, in November.

Harris is expected to announce a vice presidential candidate before she is scheduled to appear in Philadelphia on Tuesday with her highly anticipated running mate. Additional stops next week for the duo are planned for western Wisconsin, Detroit, Raleigh (North Carolina), Savannah (Georgia), Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The DNC imposed an August 7 deadline to virtually confirm the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees ahead of the Democratic National Convention later this month.

US President Joe Biden, has said “he couldn’t be prouder” after Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. In the two weeks since Biden ended his re-election bid, Harris has smashed fundraising records, packed arenas and erased the polling leads Trump had built over the president. “I couldn’t be prouder,” Biden posted on X after her nomination.

Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, is a leading contender to be named Kamala Harris’s running mate in the US presidential election. A congressional aide turned state representative and state attorney general, the 51-year-old father of four was elected governor in 2022.

Kamala Harris’ political operation raised more than $300 million in July, entering August with $377 million. That tally was more than double the amount raised by the Republican campaign for former President Donald Trump, which raised raised $138.7 million in July and entered August with $327 million.

‘Russian prisoner swap deal was to have included Alexei Navalny’ – WSJ

At Cologne airport on Thursday evening, a group of associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered waiting for a plane to arrive from Ankara. On board were 13 people who, until that morning, had been incarcerated in Russian prisons, including three people who had worked as Navalny’s regional coordinators in various Russian cities and been jailed for “extremism”.

After a swap in Turkey, they were now free, along with the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans, who were heading back home on a separate plane.

As the 13 disembarked from the plane in Cologne, it was a moment of joy. But there was also an undertone of wistfulness and anger over one person who was not on the plane: Navalny. After all, the contours of this deal had been drawn up with him in mind, and then, just when his freedom seemed tantalisingly within grasp, he died – or was murdered – in prison.

With the exchange complete, details can now be revealed that show just how close a swap along similar lines but including Navalny appeared to be back in February, after months of careful planning and supposed Kremlin approval.

A detailed investigation by the Wall Street Journal into the behind-the-scenes negotiations over the exchange described how its origins lay in a meeting in Geneva between the Russian and US leaders shortly after Joe Biden became president, long before Gershkovich’s arrest.

There, Vladimir Putin suggested setting up a special channel to deal with prisoner swaps, an echo of a cold war practice. Biden agreed. Eventually, it led to Russia releasing the basketball player Brittney Griner, caught at a Moscow airport with a small amount of hash oil in what appeared to be a calculated move to take an American hostage. She was swapped for Viktor Bout, one of the world’s most notorious arms dealers, who was held in US custody.

Next, Moscow turned its attention to Vadim Krasikov, an assassin who travelled to Germany on a passport that identified him as Vadim Sokolov and shot dead a Chechen exile in a park in 2019. He was arrested while removing his wig and trying to flee the scene. The Kremlin denied any connection and the assassin refused to speak under interrogation. Journalist Christo Grozev cracked the case, identifying him as Krasikov, part of an elite unit of the FSB, the Russian security service.

Grozev made a name for himself tracking down Russian spies and assassins, and grew close to Navalny after he uncovered the FSB poisoning squad that had tailed the politician for months before he was poisoned with novichok in 2020. After the attack, Navalny was evacuated to Germany, where he recovered, and then returned to Russia in early 2021. He was immediately arrested and jailed.

Grozev became one of the leading advocates for the inclusion of Navalny in a possible prisoner swap, and thought Navalny could hold the key to persuading Germany that it was worthwhile to give up Krasikov, particularly given the chance that a free Navalny might galvanise the fractured Russian opposition.

“There were so many issues to this, but to the other side of this equation was Navalny, with an actual plausible chance of him to play a role in the Russian political future in years if not months to come,” said Grozev in a telephone interview with The Guardian on Friday.

US revokes plea deal for 9/11 terrorists

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin has revoked the plea deal that prosecutors agreed to with three of the terrorists behind the 9/11 terror attacks who were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

On Friday, Austin took the lead on the case and effectively put the death penalty back on the table for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. In his order, Austin relieved the official in charge of the military commission who had signed off on the original plea deals. Austin said he acted under his authority and was assuming control of the matter.

Hezbollah’s stern warning shakes Israel

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah announced that the conflict with Israel had entered “a new phase” after the targeted assassinations of Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fouad Shukr, and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. In a fiery speech at Shukr’s funeral, Nasrallah declared that Israel had “crossed red lines’’ with these killings and must now brace for “rage and revenge on all the fronts supporting Gaza”. Nasrallah revealed that he had temporarily ordered Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon to curb their operations on Wednesday and Thursday. However, he warned that they would resume with increased intensity on Friday in what he called ‘a new phase’ in the conflict will make ‘Israelis weep’.

Hamas’ Haniyeh buried in Qatar as Iran vows retaliation

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was buried Friday in Qatar after his assassination that Iran blamed on Israel and vowed to avenge, raising fears the escalating tension could spiral into a fully-fledged Middle East conflict.

The US said Friday it’s ready to move resources to the region if needed. “We’ve heard the supreme leader loud and clear that he intends to avenge this killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran and that they want to conduct another attack on Israel,” US national security communications adviser John Kirby told CNN.

Amid heightening fears, Israelis have been provided with guidance on what to do in the event of attacks, while supermarkets are reporting a spike in sales for basic goods.

International calls for Israel-Hamas war ceasefire grow

The Pentagon has announced that the US will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region. The announcement was made Friday, a day after United States President Joe Biden said he’s “very concerned” that the violence in the Middle East could escalate, adding that the killing of a top Hamas leader in Iran has “not helped” efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden said he’d had a “very direct” conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. “We have the basis for a cease-fire. He should move on it and they should move on it now.”

Netanyahu has said his country was determined to win nothing less than “total victory” against Hamas. He also said that Israel hoped for a cease-fire soon and was working for one.

The assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday risks escalating the fighting into an all-out regional war, with Iran also threatening to respond after the attack on its territory. Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders over the group’s October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Venezuelan electoral council confirms Maduro’s victory

The president of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela friday published a second electoral bulletin confirming Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the presidential elections.

The government-controlled institution says the Chavista leader obtained 51.95 per cent of the vote with almost 97 per cent of the ballots counted. According to data released by the CNE, opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia came second with 43.18 per cent of the votes. The turnout was 59.97 per cent of the equivalent 12,386,669 Venezuelans entitled to participate.

In the first bulletin published on July  29 following the elections, on the basis of which the CNE proclaimed Maduro’s victory, the Chavista leader was the winner with 51.20 per cent of the votes and 80 per cent of the ballots counted.

US recognises González as Venezuela presidential election winner

The United States has recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González as the winner of the country’s recent presidential election, going against claims from long-time Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro that he won re-election.

“Electoral data overwhelmingly demonstrate the will of the Venezuelan people,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in a statement on Thursday. “Venezuelans have voted, and their votes must count.”

“In the days since the election, we have consulted widely with partners and allies around the world, and while countries have taken different approaches in responding, none have concluded that Nicolás Maduro received the most votes this election,” according to a statement from the State Department.

“Maduro’s claims to have won 51 percent of the vote lack “any credibility” because the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council refuses to release in-depth local election data, as the opposition has.

Fellow regional powers have called for transparency. “The fundamental principle of popular sovereignty should be respected based on the impartial verification of the results,” the governments of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico wrote in a joint comminque.

Paris 2024: Carini sorry for refusing to shake hands with  Khelif

Angela Carini has decided to end the controversy surrounding her shocking withdrawal from a boxing match at the Paris Olympics with a wholehearted apology to Algeria’s Imane Khelif on Friday.

The Italian 25-year-old boxer abandoned the fight only 46 seconds into the match on Thursday after receiving a heavy punch in the face from the opponent, also 25. Carini left the ring in tears, refusing to shake hands with Khelif, who had tried to offer her consolation in the meantime.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian boxing Olympian calmed the spirits, saying she was sorry about the controversy and apologised to Khelif, adding that she would “embrace her” if an opportunity presented itself.

Khelif has been diagnosed with DSD, a rare condition that can result in elevated levels of testosterone or male chromosomes in those raised as female.

However, Olympic authorities gave her the green light to compete in women’s boxing in Paris and defended her participation in the wake of the heated debate sparked by the Italian athlete’s decision to quit the match. Khelif “was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said on Friday.

Olympic Football: France, Argentina players clash after a quarter-final

France narrowly beat two-time gold medallist’s Argentina 1-0, but the game was marred by boiling tensions on the full-time whistle.

Players and staff of both sides were involved in a brawl on the pitch just moments after the referee called time on the game.

French coaching staff and players spilled onto the pitch in celebration at making an Olympic semi-final on home soil. While Argentina coaches and substitutes were also seen running onto the playing surface. There was clear pushing and shoving as a group of Argentine players confronted France’s star Enzo Millot.

There was suggestion that France midfielder Millot had celebrated his nation’s victory over-zealously in the faces of Argentine players, sparking an angry reaction. Millot was reportedly shown a redcard after the full-time whistle for his participation in the scramble, despite being on the bench for the last five minutes of the game.

Other Quarter-final results: Morocco v USA 4-0; Japan v Spain 0-3; and Egypt v Paraguay 1-1 (Egypt won 5-4 on penalties). Semi-finals on Monday: 6pm: Morocco v Spain; 9pm: France v. Egypt

Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/ Reuters