Trump Takes Fight Against Harris to North Carolina Rally 

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks, as he holds a campaign rally for the first time with his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee US Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks, as he holds a campaign rally for the first time with his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee US Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Trump Takes Fight Against Harris to North Carolina Rally 

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks, as he holds a campaign rally for the first time with his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee US Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks, as he holds a campaign rally for the first time with his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee US Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US July 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Donald Trump has so far watched from the sidelines as Vice President Kamala Harris galvanized and re-energized Democrats by stepping in as their likely presidential nominee. On Wednesday, Trump gets back in the game.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will hold his first campaign rally since Harris emerged as his near-certain Democratic foe in the 2024 election. The former president will appear at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina, a state that will be an important battleground in the Nov. 5 election.

The Trump campaign has insisted that it is prepared for Harris' candidacy, arguing that she serves as a proxy for President Joe Biden on the economic and immigration policies that contributed to his sinking popularity with voters.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed the newly re-jiggered race to be in a statistical dead heat.

The poll, taken in the two days since Biden decided to stand down from reelection, showed Harris with a two-percentage-point lead over Trump, 44% to 42%. Other recent national polls have shown Trump with an advantage.

Biden, who came back to Washington after isolating at his home in Delaware with COVID, will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night to explain his reasons for dropping out of the race on Sunday after intense pressure from his party.

A person familiar with the matter said the legacy-defining speech was still being crafted on Tuesday night when Biden returned to the White House after his convalescence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he ended his reelection bid with a letter posted to social media.

On Tuesday, Trump took the unusual step of speaking to reporters on a conference call to underscore his campaign’s line of attack on the border, saying Harris was partially responsible for a record flow of migrants.

Biden put Harris in charge of working with countries in Central America to help stem the tide of migration, but she was not made responsible for border security.

"She's a radical left person, and this country doesn't want a radical left person to destroy it," Trump said on the call. "She wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants."

Harris has not called for the removal of border controls.

HARRIS ADDRESSES BLACK SORORITY

Harris on Wednesday will head to Indianapolis to speak at an event hosted by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, which was founded at Howard University, the historically Black college that Harris attended. She hopes to tap sororities' multi-generational network of Black women to deliver strong voter turnout for Democrats in November.

Harris held an energetic first rally as the likely nominee on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which hosted the Republican National Convention last week. She assailed Trump and said he would take the nation "backward."

"Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?" she asked the crowd.

Harris ticked through a list of liberal priorities, saying that if elected she would act to expand abortion access, make it easier for workers to join unions and address gun violence, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump.

Democrats will formally nominate their new ticket at next month’s convention in Chicago after an Aug. 7 virtual vote. Roy Cooper, North Carolina's Democratic governor, is considered to be on the short list to serve as Harris’ running mate.

Harris and her campaign have worked at a breakneck pace to consolidate support among Democrats in Congress and delegates across the country. Candidates who could have been potential rivals for the nomination have fallen in line and endorsed her.

Trump, coming off a triumphant week in which his party unified around his presidential bid after a failed assassination attempt two weekends ago, has had to watch as Biden's sudden departure from the race dramatically shifted the narrative and sparked a surge of attention toward Harris at his expense.

The Harris campaign said it has raised over $100 million since Sunday.



Iran Says it Has Sent Satellite Into Space

In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket. EPA
In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket. EPA
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Iran Says it Has Sent Satellite Into Space

In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket. EPA
In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket. EPA

Iran Saturday sent a research satellite into orbit with a rocket built by the Revolutionary Guard, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The report said the Chamran-1 satellite has a weight of 60 kilograms and successfully reached in 550-kilometer orbit in space. It said testing space hardware and software is the main mission of the satellite.
IRNA said land stations received signals from the satellite, too.
It said the satellite-carrier rocket Qaem-100, using solid fuel, was designed and made by the Guard aerospace division. Iran says it has 13 more satellite launches in a row.
Though Iran has long planned to send satellites into orbit, this is the first launch under reformist President Masoud Pezezhkian after his hardline predecessor Ebrahim Raisi died in a May helicopter crash.
In January, Iran said it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket.