5:51 a.m. EDT AP National News Summary

Obamas close DNC’s second night with rousing Harris endorsement and pointed warnings about Trump

CHICAGO (AP) — Warning of a difficult fight ahead, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and ominous. “America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady declared. She then tore into Republican Donald Trump, a sharp shift from the 2016 convention speech in which she told her party, “When they go low, we go high.” Barack Obama, the first Black president in U.S. history, insisted the nation is ready to elect Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage and would be the nation’s first female president.

A double dose of Obama firepower, a doting spouse and a dance party: Takeaways from Day 2 of the DNC

CHICAGO (AP) — The Democratic National Convention’s second night served up a double dose of Obama firepower for Vice President Kamala Harris. And neither Barack nor Michelle Obama held back in lacing into Republican Donald Trump. In another notable address, second gentleman Doug Emhoff proved he wants America to love his wife as much as he does. Harris and running mate Tim Walz ducked out of Chicago for the night to hold a rally just up the interstate in Milwaukee. They’re wooing voters in swing state Wisconsin, a recognition that they expect this presidential election to be razor-close.

Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with police near Chicago’s Israeli consulate on second night of DNC

CHICAGO (AP) — Multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested after clashing with police during a protest that began outside the Israeli consulate and spilled out onto the surrounding streets on the second night of the Democratic National Convention. The intense confrontations with officers began minutes into Tuesday’s demonstration. Officers called the demonstrations “an unlawful assembly” and ordered the crowd to disperse. Some demonstrators set an American flag on fire in the street as the celebratory roll call for Vice President Kamala Harris took place inside the United Center about 2 miles away. Police Superintendent Larry Snelling praised his officers’ handling of the protests, calling the response proportional.

Moscow comes under one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks but destroys them all

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities say Moscow has come under one of the largest attacks yet by Ukrainian drones since the start of fighting in 2022, and that it destroyed all of them. The Ministry of Defense says Russia downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight. Russian social media channels shared videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defense systems, which then set off car alarms. The attacks come as Ukrainian forces keep up a push into Russia’s western Kursk region. The incursion has boosted morale in Ukraine but also opened up another front in a fight where Ukrainian forces were already badly stretched.

Putin’s slow response to the Kursk attack could test the patience of some of his backers in Russia

Ukraine’s rapid military offensive into Russia’s Kursk region seems to have caught Moscow unprepared. Since Aug. 6, Kyiv’s forces have seized villages, taken hundreds of prisoners and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians in what has become the largest attack on the country since World War II. President Vladimir Putin, who has a history of responding slowly to various crises in his tenure, has so far played down the attack. But 2 1/2 years after launching a war in Ukraine to remove what he called a threat to Russia, it is his own country that seems more turbulent. It is still unclear whether Ukraine’s attack in Kursk will damage him significantly.

Blinken ends latest Mideast visit without a cease-fire, warning ‘time is of the essence’

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has ended his latest visit to the Middle East without securing a cease-fire in Gaza. He warned on Tuesday that “time is of the essence” even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. After meetings with officials in fellow mediating countries Egypt and Qatar, Blinken said that because Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps with the militant group, the focus turns to doing everything possible to “get Hamas on board.” Mediators also must ensure both sides agree to key details to put a deal in place. Blinken says the so-called bridging proposal is “very clear on the schedule and the locations of (Israeli military) withdrawals from Gaza.”

Bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashes in Iran, killing at least 28 people

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq has crashed in central Iran, killing at least 28 people. The crash happened Tuesday night in the central Iranian province of Yazd. That’s according to Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local emergency official quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency. Another 23 people suffered injuries in the crash, 14 of them serious. There had been 51 people on board at the time of the crash. The pilgrims were on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day following the death of a Shiite saint in the 7th century.

Trump campaigns to ‘make America safe again’ as Democratic convention zeroes in on his felony record

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has pledged to “make America safe again ” while campaigning in Michigan as the Democrats who gathered in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris branded him a career criminal. Trump campaigned Tuesday in Michigan as part of a battleground campaign swing designed to counter the Democratic National Convention. He stood alongside sheriff’s deputies in the city of Howell and labeled Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country. The event was billed as another way for Trump to draw contrasts with Harris. But, as with earlier events on the economy and inflation, Trump devoted much of his attention to attacking the vice president.

Fannie Lou Hamer rattled the Democratic convention with her ‘Is this America?’ speech 60 years ago

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is accepting the Democrats’ presidential nomination Thursday, exactly 60 years after another Black woman mesmerized the nation with a speech that still resonates in American politics. Fannie Lou Hamer was a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In 1964, the racially integrated group challenged seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation to the Democratic National Convention. Hamer told the credentials committee about losing her home and being beaten because of civil rights activities. One of Mississippi’s current congressman, Democrat Bennie Thompson, met Hamer in the 1960s when he was a college student. Thompson says it’s important to ensure democracy is for everybody, not just the wealthy.

Plaything or peril? Brazilian kites are endangering lives and prompting a push for a national ban

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Kites soaring through the sky are a common sight across Brazil, and are particularly popular in Rio’s low-income communities known as favelas. For most people in the world, kite flying symbolizes light-hearted fun. But in Brazil it can pose a danger when it involves kite fighting. The objective is to slash a challenger’s line, ripping the kite from the sky. That involves a razor-sharp line that has caused horrific accidents. Reports of motorcyclists having limbs severed or their throats slit are common. A bill moving through Congress that would outlaw razor-sharp lines nationwide is headed for a Senate vote. But aficionados say cutting lines can be used safely, in designated areas, rather than imposing a blanket ban.