International
Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama ally to warn about the danger of choosing Trump
Vice President Kamala Harris and the former first lady of the United States. Michelle Obama joined forces this Saturday to warn voters that “there is a lot at stake” in the November 5 elections, especially for women’s health and reproductive rights, if Donald Trump reaches the Presidency again.
In a crowded rally in Kalamazoo, in the key state of Michigan, the Democratic candidate and the former first lady raised their voices to charge against former President Donald Trump, between 2017 and 2021, and the setbacks in rights that, in her opinion, the United States has experienced.
“There is a lot at stake in this election,” Harris said, stressing that the current race for the Presidency is “en even more important” than that of 2016 or 2020.
Kamala Harris: “It is clear that Trump has become increasingly deranged”
“In the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable and more angry, and it is clear that he has become increasingly deranged,” Harris accused.
Harris also used a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted partial immunity to the former president for the case of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Imagine Donald Trump without a barrier to stop him,” he stressed.
Kamala Harris again criticized her opponent for saying that she wanted generals like those of Adolf Hitler during his tenure in the White House and threatening to use the army against those who disagree with him.
Michelle Obama follows the questions to Trump
Obama was not left behind in criticism of Trump by confessing that she is “a little angry because we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental deterioration, and his history as a convicted criminal,” when comparing the Republican candidate with Harris.
The first lady also dedicated a good space of her speech of more than 40 minutes and anteroom to Harris to list the failures of the Trump Administration in describing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic as poor, when it discredited scientists and spread false information.
A message focused on women’s reproductive rights
The rally in Michigan also served for Harris and Obama to appeal to the vote of women and warn them about the risks of allowing the Republican to return to the White House.
“I ask you from the depths of my being to take our lives seriously,” Obama said. “We need you to vote for the only candidate in this race who will protect our lives. Kamala Harris will fight to restore our reproductive freedoms and defend our health,” he added.
They invite women to vote
The former first lady challenged women to keep their vote private, regardless of the political opinions of the men in her family and told them that voting for Trump or a third-party candidate “would bring collateral damage” to their wives, sisters and daughters.
For her part, Kamala Harris recounted how the three Supreme Court members elected by the Republican in his mandate helped repeal the Roe vs Wade sentence that protected abortion nationwide.
“They did what he wanted and now one in three women in the United States lives in a state where Trump prohibits abortion, and many of them have no exceptions in cases of rape and incest,” the candidate said.
Both Harris and Obama urged voters to cast their vote in advance.
Key support in Michigan
“I think Donald Trump is a not very serious man, but the consequences of him becoming president again are brutally serious,” Harris said.
The appearance of the former first lady at this Saturday’s rally is fundamental for the Democratic campaign that seeks to consolidate itself in the so-called “blue wall”, to which Michigan belongs, a state that offers 15 electoral votes to the winner.
Michigan is one of the seven competitive states in the United States that will decide the election in ten days.
Harris has leveraged great and recognized figures in the final stretch of his campaign. This Friday he performed in Houston (Texas) with Beyoncé, and on Thursday he shared the stage with former President Barack Obama (2009-2017) in Atlanta (Georgia).
International
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
France’s Parliament is expected to approve legislation on Tuesday banning children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms, following an agreement reached Monday between lawmakers on the mechanism to enforce the measure.
The initiative is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s broader effort to strengthen online protections for minors and regulate children’s screen time before the end of his second presidential term in May 2027.
“Tomorrow, France will become the first country in Europe to establish a digital age of majority to better protect our children online,” Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff said Monday in a post on X.
If approved, the government plans to implement the restriction in September, when students return to school after the summer holidays.
The United Kingdom has already passed similar legislation restricting social media access for users under the age of 16, although that measure is scheduled to take effect in early 2027.
Both the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, and the Senate are expected to hold final votes on the legislation Tuesday after a joint committee of seven senators and seven lawmakers reached an agreement on the bill’s final wording.
Under the proposed law, children under 15 years old would be prohibited from accessing online social media services, with limited exceptions for certain platforms, including online encyclopedias.
The legislation would make France the first member of the European Union to introduce a nationwide minimum digital age for access to social media platforms, reflecting a growing international movement to strengthen online safeguards for children and teenagers.
International
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) made limited progress during the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) tasked with finalizing a key annex to the global pandemic agreement, prompting negotiators to schedule another round of talks in September.
The session, which opened on July 6 and concluded last week at WHO headquarters in Geneva, focused on drafting and negotiating the annex covering the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, a central component of the pandemic accord.
Without the completion of the PABS annex, the global pandemic agreement cannot enter into force.
The annex had originally been expected to be finalized before May 2026, but negotiations have progressed more slowly than anticipated.
In a statement, the WHO said member states “advanced negotiations” on the PABS system while acknowledging that additional discussions are required to complete a framework capable of supporting a faster, more effective and more equitable response to future pandemics.
The organization announced that an eighth round of negotiations will take place on September 14.
Despite the limited progress, delegates succeeded in streamlining the draft text and concentrating discussions on several technical issues.
According to the WHO, negotiators focused on the contractual arrangements underpinning the PABS mechanism, the laboratory networks responsible for handling and sharing pathogens and their genetic sequence data, as well as the framework for distributing the benefits generated through the sharing of those pathogens.
The PABS system is considered one of the most important elements of the future pandemic agreement, as it aims to ensure timely access to pathogens for scientific research while establishing fair mechanisms for sharing the benefits derived from vaccines, diagnostics and other medical countermeasures developed during future global health emergencies.
International
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
Iran declared on Monday that it is facing a “full-scale war” against the United States after Washington carried out another wave of overnight airstrikes, including attacks near a city that hosts one of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country must prepare for the consequences of the ongoing conflict, describing the situation as a broad military confrontation.
“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said in a statement released by the presidency. “We must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.”
The latest U.S. strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of military operations, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which announced the attacks on X.
Since hostilities resumed on July 7, U.S. air operations have expanded well beyond southern Iran, reaching central and northwestern regions of the country, according to local sources.
Local authorities reported that one person was killed and several others injured in Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Persian Gulf.
Additional casualties were reported in the nearby city of Urmia, where several people were wounded during separate strikes.
Washington said the attacks targeted military installations. However, Iranian officials accused the United States of striking populated areas, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant.
Iran also reported that the Darkhovin nuclear facility, which is still under construction, was among the sites hit during the latest attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the renewed military campaign was carried out in honor of American service members killed in recent days.
Two U.S. soldiers died on Friday during attacks on a military base in Jordan, while another service member was killed on Sunday during the controlled disposal of unexploded munitions from an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
According to U.S. figures, 17 American troops have been killed since the conflict began on February 28.
On the Iranian side, the latest official figures released on Friday reported 50 deaths and more than 500 injuries since fighting resumed earlier this month.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States on June 17, which had been intended to pave the way for peace negotiations, collapsed after hostilities resumed over the strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
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