WILMINGTON: Kamala Harris made history Wednesday (Aug 19) when she accepted the Democratic nomination for vice-president, while joining Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to condemn President Donald Trump's profound "failure" as a leader.
Harris, the first black woman on a major party's White House ticket, accused Trump of turning "our tragedies into political weapons", and urged Americans to vote for Joe Biden, "a president who will bring all of us together".
"Donald Trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods," the former California prosecutor charged in her acceptance speech.
"We're at an inflection point."
Biden, who faces Trump on Nov 3, is due to give his own acceptance speech on Thursday, closing a Democratic convention held wholly online and on television due to coronavirus safety precautions.
Shortly before Harris spoke, America's first black president, Barack Obama, delivered his own condemnation of Trump - and appeal for Biden's election.
Former president Barack Obama delivered his own condemnation of Trump - and appeal for Biden's election.. (Photo: AFP/Alyssa Pointer)
Obama said that on handing over the White House to Trump in 2017, he thought the Republican "might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care".
As a result, Trump has left America's "worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before," Obama said.
Trump responded by telling reporters that Obama had been "a terrible president".
LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE
Former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, pleaded with voters to take nothing for granted in another tight contest.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks in Pasadena, California, on Jan 17, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo)
"This can't be another woulda-coulda-shoulda election," she said.
Others on the night's program included Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who unsuccessfully challenged Biden for the nomination, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives.
Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who has become a gun control advocate after being shot and severely wounded in a 2011 assassination attempt, also spoke, along with Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting.
Young activists addressed the dangers of climate change and Hispanic immigrants made highly emotional critiques of Trump's policies that they said had torn apart their families.
Much focus was on Obama, who remains a giant force in the Democratic establishment.
Although he took a back seat during the Democratic primaries, he is now campaigning hard for Biden.
"Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back better," he said in his speech.
TRUMP'S "STORM CENTRE"
Obama spoke two days after his wife, Michelle Obama, opened the convention with a scathing takedown of Trump as "the wrong president for our country".
"He cannot meet this moment," she said.
Tuesday's lineup featured two other former presidents - 95-year-old Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, 74, who called the Trump White House "a storm centre".
Biden, 77, the former Delaware senator who served as Obama's vice president for eight years, was officially nominated on Tuesday.
Harris, the California senator whom Biden picked to be his vice president, will speak live from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden's hometown and campaign headquarters.
The nomination is the latest in a lifetime of firsts for the 55-year-old daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother who were immigrants to the United States.
Harris was the first black attorney general of California, the first woman to hold the post, and the first woman of South Asian heritage to be elected to the US Senate.
The Republican Party is to hold its virtual convention next week and nominate Trump to serve four more years.
Trump has chosen the White House South Lawn as the location for his acceptance speech - a controversial decision given that presidents are legally required to separate their campaigning from taxpayer-funded governing.
WASHINGTON: American authorities on Wednesday (Aug 19) formally notified Hong Kong that the United States has withdrawn from three bilateral deals with the semi-autonomous Chinese city on extradition and taxation.
In July, Trump signed an executive order stipulating that Hong Kong lacked the autonomy needed to justify special treatment as compared with China.
"As part of the ongoing implementation measures, we notified the Hong Kong authorities on Aug 19 of our suspension or termination of three bilateral agreements," the State Department said in a statement.
"These agreements covered the surrender of fugitive offenders, the transfer of sentenced persons, and reciprocal tax exemptions on income derived from the international operation of ships."
"These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijing's decision to impose the National Security Law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong," it said.
Beijing imposed the new national security law in response to last year's protests.
It has described the law - its contents kept secret until it was enacted on Jun 30 - as a "sword" hanging over the heads of opponents in Hong Kong.
The law officially criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.
But the broadly worded provisions outlawed certain political speech overnight, such as advocating sanctions, and greater autonomy or independence for Hong Kong.
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - United States Senator Kamala Harris gives the most important speech of her political career on Wednesday (Aug 19) when she addresses the Democratic National Convention as presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate.
The former prosecutor from California, who made history as the first black woman and Asian American on a major presidential ticket, is expected to aggressively press the case against Republican President Donald Trump's re-election on Nov 3.
Ms Harris will likely aim to speak directly to millions of women, young Americans and voters of colour, some of the party's most important constituencies if Mr Biden is to defeat Mr Trump.
The proceedings being at 9pm ET (0100 GMT on Thursday).
Also speaking on the third night of the party convention are Mr Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump in 2016, US Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Ms Harris gained prominence for her exacting interrogations of Trump nominees, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Attorney General Bill Barr, while in the Senate.
It will also give her the opportunity to outline her biography as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica, who as a district attorney, attorney general, senator and now vice-presidential candidate, shattered gender and racial barriers.
Mr Biden was formally declared the presidential nominee in a virtual roll call on Tuesday, part of an unusual convention during which somber video remarks have replaced roaring addresses before cheering crowds because of the coronavirus.
Mr Biden, 77, selected Ms Harris, 55, for his running mate last week, adding diversity and generational balance to his campaign.
She will deliver her speech from an austere hotel ballroom in Mr Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Ms Harris provided a preview of her role as Mr Biden's No. 2 last week, when she was introduced as his vice-presidential pick and argued that the case against Mr Trump, 74, and Vice-President Mike Pence, 61, was "open and shut".
Detailing the deaths and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Ms Harris said: "This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up to the job. Our country ends up in tatters."
The first two nights of the four-day convention showcased elder statesmen and rising stars among Democrats who promised Mr Biden's election would repair a pandemic-battered America and put an end to the chaos of Mr Trump's four years in office.
In an impassioned speech on Monday, former first lady Michelle Obama called Mr Trump "the wrong president" for the US. She said he had failed to meet the moment in a country reeling from the pandemic, an economic downturn and racial injustice.
The Republican National Convention, also largely virtual, takes place next week. Mr Trump will give his acceptance speech at the White House, despite criticism that he is politicising the presidential residence.
SYDNEY: A fresh outbreak of infections in Australia's coronavirus hot zone of Victoria eased further on Wednesday (Aug 19), while the country agreed a deal to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine that it plans to roll out cost-free to citizens.
Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday.
"Should we be in a position for the trials to be successful, we would hope that this would be made available early next year. If it can be done sooner than that, great," Morrison said on Wednesday.
All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients.
"Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out," Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News.
Health authorities would also have to take into account where the highest risk of transmission is and how the vaccine works in different age groups when deciding who should get it first, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton said.
"If it does work and it's 80 to 90per cent effective, then absolutely it will be a game changer," Sutton said, although he cautioned that broad testing was still at a preliminary stage. "So we shouldn't hang our hats on a single vaccine."
AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for COVID-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the novel coronavirus.
The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britain's University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca.
Morrison said Australia was also looking for other vaccine deals, including with the University of Queensland and its partner, Australian firm CSL.
CSL estimates first doses of the University of Queensland vaccine will be available for emergency use by the middle of 2021, Chief Executive Paul Perrault told reporters on Wednesday.
CSL said its first priority would be manufacturing the UQ vaccine, but it was also in talks to help AstraZeneca manufacture its vaccine.
Morrison said Australia is also talking to its Pacific neighbours, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, about supplying vaccine.
A flare-up in infections in Australia's second most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew and shut large parts of the state's economy.
The state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave.
There were 12 deaths and 216 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from more than 700 infections two weeks ago. There were just 12 new cases in three other states.
Despite the surge in the past month, Australia has avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus.
SYDNEY: Australia should make any coronavirus vaccine compulsory for its 25 million citizens bar medical exemptions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday (Aug 19), wading into a heated ethical debate.
After reaching a deal for the country to manufacture a "promising" vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, Morrison said getting the jab should be "as mandatory as you can possibly make it".
"There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis," he told radio station 3AW in Melbourne.
Anticipating a backlash from vocal anti-vaccine activists, Morrison said the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue unchecked.
"We're talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world," he said, while stressing the government has not yet made a decision.
The Australian government estimates that up to 95 per cent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated.
"We need the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get Australia back to normal," Morrison said, after announcing the vaccine would be free to all Australians.
The country already has "no jab, no play" rules that mean kids have to receive vaccines for diseases including polio and tetanus to enrol in kindergarten or school.
But debate still rages about whether those rules impinge on personal freedoms, and hardline anti-vaxxers flood online forums with conspiracy theories and misinformation about the risks.
The coronavirus pandemic - which has killed more than 400 Australians - has coincided with a sharp uptick in online misinformation, speculation and opposition to vaccines - something experts have dubbed an "infodemic".
No effective vaccine for coronavirus has yet been released, although Morrison said he was optimistic one could be developed by early next year, with manufacturing taking just a few months more.
"As soon as we get the recipe we'll be making it," he said.
WASHINGTON: Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden for president on Tuesday (Aug 18), with elder statesmen and rising stars promising he would repair a pandemic-devastated America and end the chaos of Republican President Donald Trump.
The convention's second night, under the theme "Leadership Matters", aimed to make the case that Biden would represent a return to normalcy.
"At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre," former US President Bill Clinton said in a prerecorded video.
"Instead, it's a storm centre. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes - his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame."
With the four-day convention largely virtual due to the coronavirus, delegates from around the country cast votes remotely to confirm Biden as the nominee.
In clips from around the country, Democrats of all stripes explained why they were supporting Biden while putting their own state-specific spin on the proceedings, from a calamari appetiser in Rhode Island to a herd of cattle in Montana.
Following his home state of Delaware, which went last in his honor, Biden appeared live for the first time at a Delaware school, where his wife, Jill, was set to deliver the night's headline address later in the evening.
"Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart," said Biden, who will deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday. "It means the world to me and my family."
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate Senator Kamala Harris are seen on screen at virtual 2020 Democratic Convention hosted from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The programme started by showcasing some of the party's rising politicians. But rather than a single keynote speech that could be a star-making turn, as it was for then-state Senator Barack Obama in 2004, the programme featured 17 stars in a video address, including Stacey Abrams, the one-time Georgia gubernatorial nominee whom Biden once considered for a running mate.
"America faces a triple threat: A public health catastrophe, and economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality," Abrams said.
"So our choice is clear: A steady experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he's done before, or a man who only knows how to deny and distract."
REPUBLICANS SPEAK
As they did on Monday's opening night, Democrats featured a handful of Republicans who have crossed party lines to praise Biden, 77, over Trump, 74, ahead of the Nov 3 election.
Cindy McCain, widow of Republican Senator John McCain, was scheduled to appear in a video talking about her husband's long friendship with Biden, according to a preview posted online. Trump clashed with McCain, who was the Republican nominee for president in 2008, and the president criticised McCain even after his 2018 death.
Republican former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired four-star general who endorsed Biden in June, was one of several national security officials due to speak on the Democrat's behalf.
"Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family," he said.
“He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. He will make it his job to know when anyone dares to threaten us. He will stand up to our adversaries with strength and experience. They will know he means business.”
Democratic former Secretary of State John Kerry said of Trump: "When this president goes overseas, it isn’t a goodwill mission, it’s a blooper reel. He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at."
Biden's vice presidential pick, Senator Kamala Harris, will headline Wednesday night's programme along with Obama.
Without the cheering crowds at the in-person gathering originally planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, TV viewership on Monday was down from 2016. But an additional 10.2 million people watched on digital platforms, the Biden campaign said, for a total audience of nearly 30 million.
Aiming to draw attention away from Biden, Trump, trailing in opinion polls, held a campaign rally in Arizona, a hotly contested battleground state that can swing to either party and play a decisive role in the election.
The convention was being held amid worries about the safety of in-person voting. Democrats have pushed mail-in ballots as an alternative and pressured the head of the US Postal Service, a top Trump donor, to suspend cost cuts that delayed mail deliveries.
Bowing to that pressure, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy put off the cost-cutting measures until after the election.
Hours before his speech, the president said a massive shift to mail-in voting could cause so many problems officials might have to hold another election, a far-fetched possibility given that a national US election "re-do" has never occurred and Trump lacks the authority to order one.
Other Democratic speakers on Tuesday included US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading liberal figure known as AOC.
The Republican National Convention, also largely virtual, takes place next week. Trump will give his acceptance speech at the White House, despite criticism he is politicising the presidential residence.
