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Democrats convene, Ukraine digs in and John Lewis stands tall

 
Today's politics story

Democrats begin DNC united behind Harris, split on Gaza

What happened
Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz arrived in Chicago on Sunday for the Democratic National Convention, where they will be ceremonially nominated for president and vice president, respectively. Before flying into the Windy City, Harris and Walz took a short campaign bus tour through swing-state Pennsylvania.

Who said what
The Democratic National Convention will open with President Joe Biden "speaking in prime time as he passes the torch" to Harris, Axios said. Democrats will celebrate Biden's accomplishments "as he in turn makes the case for the Harris presidency," the Chicago Sun-Times said. But "even as feel-good displays of joy and confidence are set to dominate" the DNC, The New York Times said, Israel's war in Gaza is "bitterly dividing the Democratic establishment from its left flank," and protests are expected inside and outside the convention center.

"I very much consider us the underdog," Harris told reporters in Pennsylvania. Nominees usually get a polling bump from their conventions, but Harris "stole Donald Trump's Republican convention bounce" and she's entering the DNC "not just with momentum, but with a slight advantage over Trump nationally and in most key battleground states," Politico said. Trump is "still well within striking distance," but "historically, voters' preferences are typically all-but-solidified at the conclusion of the conventions."

What next?
Along with Biden's keynote address, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is speaking Monday night. Tuesday's lineup includes former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, and former President Bill Clinton will speak before Walz on Wednesday. Harris is scheduled to give her acceptance speech Thursday night.

 
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Today's international story

Ukraine blasts bridges, digs in to hold Kursk gains

What happened
Ukraine said Sunday it had destroyed a second key bridge in Russia's Kursk region as Kyiv works to solidify gains two weeks into its surprise incursion into Russian territory. Russia had used both bridges over the Seim River to resupply its forces.

Who said what
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that Ukraine's "primary task in defensive operations" was now to "destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions," including "creating a buffer zone" in Kursk to prevent cross-border attacks.

This was the "first time Zelenskyy clearly stated the aim of the operation," The Associated Press said. Ukraine appears to have "multiple goals with the assault," CNN said, "from boosting morale after a torrid few months to stretching Russia's resources" and improving Kyiv's negotiating position.

What next?
The Kursk incursion has "humiliated Russia's military and demonstrated Ukraine's resilience, but has not altered the fundamental situation in a long, grinding war of attrition," The Washington Post said. The "good news" for Ukraine is that Russia is transferring troops from the frontline to fight in Kursk, the BBC said. "The bad news is that Russian advances" in eastern Ukraine "are not slowing."

 
 
Today's CULTURE Story

John Lewis statue replaces Confederate monument

What happened
Workers installed a 12-foot-tall bronze statue of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Georgia, on Friday. The statue of the civil rights icon, who represented the area in Congress for decades, replaces a Confederate monument that stood in the spot for 112 years, until June 2020.

Who said what
The Daughters of the Confederacy erected a 30-foot-tall obelisk outside the courthouse in 1908 as part of its promotion of the "Lost Cause narrative of the Civil War, which downplays or ignores the role of slavery as the war's cause," The New York Times said. It was "one of at least 230 Confederate symbols to be removed, relocated or renamed" amid a push by racial justice advocates following the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

Basil Barrington Watson, the Jamaica-born artist who sculpted the Lewis statue and was there as it was installed, told The Associated Press "it's exciting to see it going up and exciting for the city because of what he represents and what it's replacing."

What next?
The John Lewis statue will be officially unveiled on Aug. 24.

 
 

It's not all bad

Inspired by the Pixar flick "Monsters, Inc.," Louisiana high schooler Gyeongyun Lily Min created a system that converts sound waves from shrieking sports fans into electricity for stadiums. In the movie, the titular monsters power their world with children's screams. Min took this idea and built a scale model of an arena that successfully generated small amounts of electricity using the piezoelectric effect. While the initial results were modest, she believes that with more advanced equipment, the technology could significantly reduce energy consumption in large venues.

 
 
Under the radar

The A23a iceberg is four times the size of New York City. It broke from the Antarctic coastline in the 1980s but got stuck to the floor of the Weddell Sea. There it stayed until 2020, when it freed itself and began drifting. Now, the "megaberg is in its spinning era," said the British Antarctic Survey on X. A23a entered the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which would normally cause the berg to move faster. However, it has instead got caught up in a Taylor column, a type of vortex. 

"It's basically just sitting there, spinning around, and it will very slowly melt as long as it stays there," Alex Brearley, the head of the Open Oceans research group at the British Antarctic Survey, told The New York Times. While A23a breaking off into the sea is not necessarily a concern, the Antarctic is seeing the effects of climate change, and that is worrisome. The "increasing rate of iceberg calving in Antarctica raises concerns about the stability of ice shelves and the potential for accelerated sea-level rise," said Earth.com. 

Icebergs can also greatly affect marine ecosystems, serving both as creator and destroyer. An iceberg like A23a can shed nutrients it "accumulated from Antarctica" and stir up "deep water, possibly sparking a plankton bloom in its wake," NPR said, and such an iceberg can also "scrape and scour the seafloor in shallow waters," wrecking the ecosystem.

 
 
On this day

August 19, 1946

Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was born in Hope, Arkansas. Clinton would serve as the governor of Arkansas twice before being elected president in 1992. During Clinton's two terms as president, the U.S. saw periods of economic prosperity, but he was also impeached over allegations of perjury regarding an extramarital affair.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

The Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago today, and the party faces "tension among unity," the Chicago Tribune says on Monday's front page. There are "faint echoes of chaotic '68 convention" as President Joe Biden "prepares to pass the baton" to Kamala Harris, The Washington Post says. The "once-cautious Harris is now the Democrats' driving force," The Wall Street Journal says. As "the world's eyes turn to Chicago," The New York Times says, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) "is happy to host." The Windy City is "ready for convention spotlight," the Chicago Sun-Times says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Hot wings

A former food service director for a Chicago-area school district was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings. The wings were supposed to go into meal kits for students during the early days of the pandemic, but prosecutors say they were instead pilfered by Vera Liddell, who ultimately stole 11,000 cases over two years. She was caught when an audit found that food costs were $300,000 over budget, Sky News said.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images; Ed Ram / For The Washington Post via Getty Images; Ron Harris / AP Photo; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images