US election: Harris to hold first rally as likely candidate

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Trump said Netanyahu would visit him at the estate on Thursday, making the announcement in a post on his social media network.

The former president has spoken to other foreign leaders recently, including two visits to his home from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He also had a phone conversation last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On his visit to the US, Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. 

He is also set to meet Joe Biden on Thursday, for a meeting that was postponed from Tuesday because of the US president's COVID diagnosis, and attend a separate meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris the same day. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump after she emerged as the likely opponent of Donald Trump in November's presidential election.

Harris, whose campaign team says she has essentially secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump by 44% to 42% in the Reuters/Ipsos national poll conducted on Monday and Tuesday.

An earlier July 15-16 poll between the two, before US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, was tied on 44%. Trump was ahead of Harris on a July 1-2 poll, leading by one percentage point. All the polls had a 3% margin of error.

Although national surveys can indicate overall support for a presidential candidate, the reality is that only a handful of so-called swing states will effectively decide the election.

The states that tilt the balance in the US Electoral College, are the larger, more closely contested states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Polling in these states can be quite different from the nationwide picture.

Both Democratic leaders in the US Congress have given their endorsement to Kamala Harris for president.

"Now that the process has played out from the grassroots, bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint press conference with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Harris had already won the backing of most of her party to take on Donald Trump in November after US President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.

The vice president had already garnered the support of a number of Democratic state governors, some of whom were seen as potential rivals. She also had the backing of other notable figures such as former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Some holdouts had remained, however. They included Jeffries and Schumer, as well as former president Barack Obama.

Ukraine's presidential chief of staff has discussed the battlefield situation and Russian strikes with the national security adviser to US Vice President and front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris.

The Ukrainian presidency said in a statement that Andriy Yermak had a telephone conversation with Phil Gordon. 

They discussed further US support and the strengthening of Ukraine's air defenses, as well as the results of the first peace summit, the statement said.

Joe Biden and his US administration sought to strengthen Washington's ties with Africa. His decision to bow out has attracted a lot of praise, and many Africans seem excited about Kamala Harris replacing him in the race.

DW asked Africans and African Americans what they thought. Read the full article here.

US President Joe Biden said he will address the nation on Wednesday for the first time in public since dropping his re-election bid.

Biden wrote on X that his Oval Office speech will be about "what lies ahead and how I will finish the job for the American people." It is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday (0300 GMT Thursday).

The US president has been in Delaware recovering from a COVID infection, and was returning to the White House on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Biden is intensely focused on the work that remains in the next six months. 

This includes bringing peace to the Middle East and dealing with Russia's ongoing aggression.

Blinken, speaking to reporters, said that Vice President Kamala Harris has been a leading voice for US foreign policy and diplomacy.

He added that she is a very strong, effective and deeply respected voice for the United States around the world.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in light of the US Democrats' endorsement of Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate after Joe Biden dropped out, reflected on the role of women in politics.

Germany's top diplomat said that "a bit too much testosterone is sometimes flying around," and so "strong women might not do certain situations any harm — but rather good." 

Baerbock said that elections are often "only decided in the final moments," adding that a dramatic time lies ahead, "not only for the United States of America, but for us here in Europe, too."

If Harris wins in November, she will become the first female president in US history.

Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the US Secret Service, is stepping down in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

A would-be assassin nearly killed the 2024 Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

She had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to Trump.

You can read more about it by clicking here.

Racial justice group Black Lives Matter has called into question the swiftness with which the Democratic party has rushed to support Harris, calling for the nomination process to be opened to all party members.

In the US, party members engage in a state-by-state vote of their presidential candidate in a process known as primary elections. Delegates at each party's national convention then vote to officialy nominate this candidate, almost always completely honoring the outcome of the primary.

As an incumbent president, Joe Biden easily won his party's support. But Black Lives Matter is arguing the process now must be repeated, despite Democratic delegates pledging their support to Harris.

"We call for the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates," Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters news agency. "This moment calls for decisive action to protect the integrity of our democracy and the voices of Black voters."

Hollywood actor George Clooney has publicly endorsed Harris, two weeks after urging President Biden to drop out of the race in a op-ed.

"President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He's saving democracy once again. We're all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest," he said in a statement to CNN.

Clooney and his wife Amal are major donors to Democratic candidates.

The vice president is heading to the key battleground state of Wisconsin for her first solo campaign outing since President Joe Biden announced his intention not to run for reelection anymore.

While Wisconsin has leaned Democratic in recent decades, the final tally of votes has consistently seen both the Republican and Democratic parties come out within one or two points of each other. In 2016, the state went to Donald Trump.

As Harris sets out to forge her own campaign, pop star Beyonce granted her the right to use her song "Freedom" as a campaign anthem.

es/fb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)