State elections chief demands DNC stop using Ohio to justify virtual meeting to coronate Harris
Ohio’s top election official is demanding that Democrats stop using his state as an excuse to justify their expedited nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for president at a virtual meeting next month. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to DNC Chairman Jamie Harris on Thursday calling out party officials for deceptively claiming the Buckeye State’s ballot access deadline requires them to nominate a presidential candidate before the party convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. “I’ve seen numerous media reports and interviews within the past week in which you repeatedly cite Ohio’s August 7 ballot access deadline as justification for your committee’s intent to conduct a ‘virtual nominating convention,’” LaRose wrote to Harrison. “As you know, the Ohio General Assembly made an exception to the ballot access deadline for the 2024 presidential election, passing legislation signed by the governor that temporarily extends it to September 1, 2024.” The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday it will hold a virtual roll call vote on the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees weeks before the convention, purportedly because of a ballot-access conflict in Ohio. Harrison and other Democratic officials have insisted the early vote is necessary because of an Aug. 7 deadline under Ohio state law. DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES “Since May, MAGA Republicans in Ohio have played games with our democracy and threatened to keep Democrats off the general election ballot. Just this week, after President Biden withdrew from the race, Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson threatened litigation to challenge the Democratic nominee’s place on the ballot and disenfranchise voters,” a DNC spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The Democratic Party is undertaking an open, fair, and democratic process to select our nominee, ensure we meet all legal requirements – not just in Ohio, and move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” the spokesperson added. BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT AMID CALLS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT Under DNC rules, candidates have until July 27 to declare their candidacies with the convention and until July 30 to show they’ve met the qualifications for nomination. The earliest delegates can begin voting electronically will be Aug. 1, assuming Harris is the only candidate to declare and meet the required qualifications and delegate support threshold. Although unlikely, if more than one candidate declares and meets those requirements, a period of up to five days will be allowed for each candidate to make the case for nomination to the delegates before voting can begin. HARRIS REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM TRUMP WANTS TO ‘BAN’ ABORTION DURING FIRST CAMPAIGN RALLY SINCE BIDEN QUIT RACE Harris announced she’d locked up the nomination within 36 hours of Biden’s exit from the race, noting she’d won commitments of backing from a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates. “I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee,” she wrote in a social media post just after midnight early Tuesday morning. Contrary to what Democrats are saying, LaRose argued there is nothing in Ohio state law that would keep the eventual Democratic presidential candidate off the ballot so long as a candidate is nominated before Sept. 1. “As the state’s chief elections officer, I’ve confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ prior to your scheduled August convention dates,” LaRose wrote. “I’m confident that your attorneys are well-aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plan to replace the incumbent president without a contested convention or any kind of democratic process. It’s clever, if not completely antithetical to your party’s relentless finger wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.” LaRose concluded his letter with an assurance that so long as the Democrats nominate candidates for president and vice president before Sept. 1, they will appear on the Ohio ballot. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
First lady Jill Biden praises Olympics opening ceremony that mocked Last Supper
First lady Jill Biden had high praise for the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics this weekend, despite widespread criticism that the performance mocked the Last Supper. Biden led the U.S. delegation to the Olympics and called the opening ceremony “spectacular.” Despite the festivity, heavy rain drenched the athletes from all nations as they paraded down the river Siene on boats. Biden remarked that the U.S. would have to work hard to top Paris’ opening ceremony when the games are held in Los Angeles in 2028. “So, last night, it was just spectacular,” Biden said in a statement. “The rain did not dampen our spirits…. Every step of the way, I was thinking to myself, oh my god, oh my god. How are we going to top this?” OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY SPARKS OUTRAGE WITH DRAG QUEENS PARODYING LAST SUPPER: ‘GONE COMPLETELY WOKE’ “So, ok. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, but we have Hollywood and the magic of Hollywood that makes all dreams come true. I think we’re going to be ok.… It’s a city where new generations of dreamers shape our culture,” she added. PARIS OLYMPIC FLAME RELAT ROUTE FEATURES 3 DRAG QUEEN TORCH BEARERS “At the end of the 2028 Games, Olympians and fans will see themselves reflected in Los Angeles,” Biden said. Several U.S. and world lawmakers denounced the Paris ceremony after drag queens and artists made a spectacle of the Leonardo DaVinci painting, the Last Supper, which depicts the last meal Jesus had with his apostles. 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS: LIVE UPDATES “Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a post on X. “The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail.” He then referred to the Bible verse John 1:15, which reads, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini posted a picture of the drag queens over another picture of the Last Supper, criticizing the act. “Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians around the world was a really bad start, dear French,” he wrote. “Seedy.” Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report
Delhi-Meerut Expressway: Traffic curbs imposed, security beefed up due to…
Two companies of PAC have been deployed at Ganga canal bridge of Muradnagar town, adjacent to Rawali road, and security has been beefed up in other areas of the district
Netanyahu responds to Hezbollah attack that killed children at soccer field: ‘This will not go unanswered’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed consequences for Hezbollah after a rocket attack killed 12 children and wounded dozens more on Saturday. Netanyahu cut short his trip in the U.S. and immediately began traveling back to Israel following Saturday’s attack. A Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in northern Israel as children on the field – located in a Druze community in northern Israel – were running toward a bomb shelter. “Citizens of Israel, like you, I was horrified. I was horrified to see the terrible images following Hezbollah’s murderous attack on Majdal Shams,” Netanyahu said in a statement in Hebrew. “Among the victims were young children playing soccer, along with other victims. Our hearts are all broken by these scenes. “We embrace the families, and we embrace the entire Druze community in this difficult moment, which is also our difficult moment,” he added. WRECKAGE OF SCHOONER THAT SANK IN 1893 FOUND IN LAKE MICHIGAN “Since I was informed of the disaster, I have been holding continuous security consultations and [began] to expedite our return to the country. I will convene the security cabinet immediately upon my arrival,” Netanyahu continued. TRUMP GREETS NETANYAHU AT MAR-A-LAGO, SAYS WORLD WAR III COULD HAPPEN IF HARRIS WINS “I can say that the State of Israel will not remain silent. We will not let this go unanswered,” he vowed. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, together with the IDF’s Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, conducted a situational assessment on the attack on Saturday. The IDF said approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing into Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. ODDS OF ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR ‘INEVITABLE,’ EXPERTS FEAR: ‘TOTALLY PESSIMISTIC’ According to Israeli Channel 12, the country’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on a TV news show, “We are approaching the moment of an all-out war in the north against Hezbollah, we will react in a disproportionate way,” he reportedly said in a translated note on X by Israeli journalists Ben Caspit and Dafna Liel. Earlier this month, Yakkov Amidror, the former national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed with Fox News Digital the likelihood of an imminent full-blown war between the Jewish state and the Lebanon-based terrorist movement Hezbollah. Saturday evening, the Biden White House issued a statement condemning the strike and reaffirming President Biden’s support for Israeli security. “We condemn this horrific attack that reportedly killed a number of teenagers and children playing soccer on a Saturday evening in the village of Majdal Shams in northern Israel. Our hearts go out to the families of those who lost loved ones today, and we are praying for a speedy recovery for those who have been injured,” the White House said. “Israel continues to face severe threats to its security, as the world saw today, and the United States will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.” Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report
Republicans say Schumer must act on voter proof of citizenship bill if Democrat ‘really cares about democracy’
Republicans have been urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to pick up a key legislative proposal that would require states to verify proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. They argue the bill is critical to ensuring election integrity in November, but it has so far stalled in the upper chamber. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, spoke to Fox News Digital about this on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis. She described election integrity as the “premiere issue” of the 2024 election cycle, noting that only five Democrats voted in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which was introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The bill aims to require states to obtain proof of citizenship – in person – when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls. “Everyone should be talking about the SAVE Act and the fact that 198 Democrats voted for non-citizen voting in our elections,” Tenney said. “Nothing interferes more with our elections and our democratic process than to allow people who have not created and given up the responsibilities of citizenship, but are receiving the benefits of citizenship. And I think that’s really important. One citizen, one vote.” 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS OF BIDEN’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION FROM THE OVAL OFFICE “Make sure that no one’s vote is diluted, that that’s sacred, the right to vote. The most profound expression of our self-governance is that sacred right to vote,” she said. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., also criticized Schumer for not calling the bill for a vote in the Senate given there have been more than 10 million known encounters of people illegally crossing American borders during the Biden administration and another estimated 2 million known “got-a-ways” who evaded Border Patrol and escaped into the U.S. interior. “We’ve been urging Chuck Schumer to take a lot of Republican legislation up over the 118th Congress. I mean, you rewind back to last April when we passed H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act. It would have given us the ability to secure our border. It was a border security bill. And it would have, probably avoided the over 10 million people that have come into this country illegally, the over 2 million known got-a-ways that are now in this country and millions more,” said D’Esposito, who sits on the House Administration Committee, which oversees the Federal Elections Commission and got the SAVE Act to the floor to pass. “That is sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk collecting dust,” D’Esposito said. “The SAVE Act says it all. And, you know, if there’s people that are wondering and they lay in bed at night as so often I do and think to yourself, ‘Well, why do the Democrats keep allowing all these people to come into this country illegally?’ Well, the fact that nearly 200 people voted against the SAVE Act, the fact that Chuck Schumer still has yet to take it up in the Senate and probably won’t, is an indicator as to exactly why that border’s wide open.” Democrats have been scrambling after President Biden made the bombshell announcement Sunday that he was discontinuing his bid for a second term and endorsing Vice President Harris. As Harris heads out on the campaign trail for the first time since entering the race, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Congress last week, the election integrity bill has fallen to the back burner. “My senator, one of my senators, Sen. Chuck Schumer, should be taking this bill up immediately,” Tenney told Fox News Digital. “If he really cares about democracy, and he really cares about the rule of law, and he really cares about the citizens that we represent in the state of New York and across this nation. He should tell every Democrat to vote for the SAVE Act in the Senate.” Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office seeking comment, but they did not respond. Schumer, who initially held off on doing so when the charges were first brought, called on Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., to resign after being convicted in a federal corruption case, and Menendez complied on Tuesday, revealing he would resign from the upper chamber after Aug. 20. Tenney suggested that the change in balance of power could result in the SAVE Act coming to a vote after all. “That could tip the balance of power in the Senate and could maybe make Chuck Schumer recognize that a couple of vulnerable Democrats are not going to want to vote against the SAVE Act,” Tenney said. Biden had promised to veto the legislation if it passes. Doing so, Tenney argued, would be the “death knell” for the election of Democrats. “If you’re going to undermine citizens of this great country by saying that their vote is not important in a democracy, which the Democrats decry all the time, then you are going to undermine our system of government,” she said. DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES President Biden in 2021 signed Executive Order 14019, which was billed by the White House as “promoting access to voting.” But Republicans argue the order’s broad interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 essentially mobilizes the federal government apparatus to become voter registration agencies. “That executive order tasked federal agencies to become vote collection sites,” Tenney said. “I think it’s a violation of the Hatch Act, which is undermining an election as well.” Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, has been sounding the alarm about how state agencies receiving federal funding are required under Biden’s executive order to send out voter registration information to anyone who comes into contact with those agencies without any verification of citizenship. Essentially, Allen told Fox News Digital at the convention, the order “really weaponizes and federalizes the entire federal
‘Combined failure of system’: Rahul Gandhi reacts to Delhi coaching deaths
The three civil services aspirants died after the basement of the building housing a coaching centre in central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area was flooded following heavy rain, officials said.
One week in against Trump, Harris touts ‘record-breaking’ fundraising haul
Sunday marks one week since President Biden’s political landscape-altering announcement that he was suspending his re-election rematch against former President Trump and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee. And early Sunday morning, the Harris campaign showcased that the vice president has hauled in a stunning $200 million in fundraising in just under a week since Biden bowed out. In a release, the campaign touted what they called a “record-shattering haul” and noted that two-thirds of the contributions came from first-time donors, which they argued was “further proof of the tremendous grassroots support for the Vice President.” SUNDAY MARKS 100 DAYS UNTIL THE NOVEMBER ELECTION Biden made his move last weekend amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump. The embattled president’s immediate backing of Vice President Kamala Harris last Sunday ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention. ICING ON THE DEMOCRATS’ 2024 CAKE — THE OBAMAS ENDORSE HARRIS Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on Friday became the final major party leaders to endorse the vice president. The Harris campaign has been spotlighting their surge in fundraising over the past week. The haul includes money raised by the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees. On Monday the Harris campaign spotlighted that they hauled in $81 million in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement. 2024 SHOWDOWN: TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO TRY AND DEFINE HARRIS The one-day haul easily topped the nearly $53 million former President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced that they brought in nearly two months ago through their online digital fundraising platform in the first 24 hours after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City. The Biden campaign and the DNC enjoyed a fundraising lead over Trump and the RNC this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC, $331 million to $264 million, during the April-June second quarter of 2024 fundraising. The Trump campaign tells Fox News that they “continue to have robust fundraising” and that they’ve “demonstrated a level of fundraising that we’re satisfied with.” The Trump campaign highlights that their fundraising efforts are “doing what we need to do.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Delhi IAS coaching centre tragedy: Police arrests owner, coordinator after basement flooding claims lives of 3 students
Earlier today, the police identified the victims of the coaching centre incident as Shreya Yadav, a native of Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana; and Nivin Dalwin, a resident of Kerala’s Ernakulam, DCP Central M Harshavardhan told ANI.
Delhi tragedy: Who were 3 UPSC students killed in flooding at IAS coaching centre in Rajender Nagar?
The incident occurred around 7 pm when the Delhi fire department received a distress call about waterlogging at the Rao IAS Study Centre and nearby Karol Bagh area
Kamala Harris to attend Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s funeral in Texas
Vice President Kamala Harris is slated to attend the funeral service for her “dear friend,” the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, in Houston later this week. The “Celebration of Life” is scheduled for Thursday at Fallbrook Church, according to Jackson Lee’s office. Other elected officials in the U.S. and abroad are also expected to attend the service, according to Fox 26. Jackson Lee died on July 19 at the age of 74 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her husband, Elwyn Lee, and her two children, Jason and Erica. REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE HAS PASSED AWAY AFTER BATTLE WITH PANCREATIC CANCER She also previously battled breast cancer, having been diagnosed in 2011, before announcing the following year she was cancer free. The congresswoman had represented Texas’ 18th congressional district for 30 years. Prior to her time in Congress, Jackson Lee served as a judge before she was elected to an at-large Houston City Council seat in 1989. Last year, she ran an unsuccessful campaign for Houston mayor, losing by a wide margin to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, also a Democrat, before announcing she would seek re-election to Congress. Harris said after Jackson Lee’s death that the congresswoman was a “tenacious advocate for justice and a tireless fighter for the people of Houston and the people of America.” The vice president also remembered her as a “dear friend for many years, and a fellow member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.” REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE SAYS SHE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH PANCREATIC CANCER “As a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I had the opportunity to work closely with her on many issues and to observe her leadership firsthand. She was relentless — one of our nation’s fiercest, smartest, and most strategic leaders in the way she thought about how to make progress happen,” Harris said in a July 20 statement. “There was never a trite or trivial conversation with the Congresswoman. She was always fighting for the people of Houston and the people of America.” Jackson Lee, Harris’ statement said, was “first and foremost, a leader dedicated to serving the people of her beloved city.” “Congresswoman Jackson Lee was also a national leader,” Harris’ statement added. “As a champion for women’s rights, she played a vital role in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, landmark legislation that improved the lives of millions of women and girls across the country. She also authored the law that made Juneteenth a national holiday, a law I was proud to co-sponsor as a United States Senator. She saw what could be — a nation that is more equal, more fair, and more free — and she dedicated her life to realizing that vision.” This is the vice president’s third visit to Texas in the last month and second since she became the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, including a trip to Houston last week. Harris visited Houston’s Emergency Operations Center on Wednesday to receive a briefing on the recovery efforts following Hurricane Beryl. The next day, she delivered remarks at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th national convention. Earlier this month, she was in Dallas to give a speech at an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. convention.