Harris VP pick could help in swing states; UK riots : NPR

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Today’s top stories

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce her running mate within the next few days. The duo will then embark on a whirlwind campaign tour. The three names that have gotten the most attention are Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. They will campaign in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — the seven states both Harris and former President Donald Trump are focused on. A new analysis released this morning of the electoral map shows that Harris has made up significant ground in the swing states by about two to four points.

• 🎧 “Those seven states are the whole ball game,” NPR’s Domenico Montanaro tells Up First. In the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, Trump’s lead has completely evaporated. Currently, the “blue wall” is a tossup, which is why the Harris campaign says it is their big focus. If she can win each of those, she’ll likely win the presidency, Montanaro says. Shapiro has gained a lot of attention as a vice presidential candidate because Pennsylvania has more electoral votes than the respective states of the other potential contenders. A small boost from his state could help her get over the top.
• ➡️ Who was Kamala Harris before she became VP? Five people who knew her from that time tell NPR how they remember her.

Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah are expected to launch a major attack on Israel in retaliation for two assassinations of senior leaders of militant groups last week. An attack would likely trigger a blistering response in return from Israel. The head of U.S. Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, is expected in Israel today to help coordinate defenses across the region if an attack is launched. The U.S. embassy has warned citizens to either leave Lebanon immediately or be prepared to shelter in place. The Pentagon also says that the U.S. is adding to its military presence in the Middle East in an effort to help defend Israel. The last time Iran launched rockets and drones at Israel four months ago, U.S. warplanes and missile batteries played a crucial role in shooting them down.

• 🎧 NPR’s Jane Arraf says there’s definitely apprehension in Lebanon, but no panic. The small country has had successive wars and economic crises, resulting in more Lebanese people living abroad than at home. In the country, there are almost 90,000 U.S. passport holders. The U.S. and other countries’ embassies have shared the consistent message not to count on them to evacuate people from the country.

The U.S. had a good weekend at the Paris Olympics, racking up gold medals and breaking world records from the pool to the track. Runner Noah Lyles won his 100-meter sprint by five-thousandths of a second, marking the first time in 20 years an American man has won this Olympic race. U.S. swimmers added two gold wins to the medal count and shattered two world records. Bobby Finke bested Chinese swimmer Sun Yang’s record from the 2012 games in the 1,500 freestyle and the women’s team smashed the record for the 4-by-100 meter medley set by another American team in 2019. Despite the two successes, the U.S. earned fewer gold medals for swimming this year than in years past.

• 🎧 The rest of the world is getting better and faster, NPR’s Brian Mann says. The U.S.’s biggest rival has been the Australian swimmers. Now, China and Italy are also good. In some of the races where the U.S. came in second and third, U.S. swimmers were actually setting personal best times. One athlete’s dominance hasn’t changed: America’s Katie Ledecky is now the most decorated U.S. woman athlete in Olympic history.
• ➡️ Keep up with all the latest Paris Olympics news with NPR’s coverage.

Life advice

A Target customer shops for school supplies. The average family is projected to spend $875 on back-to-school shopping in 2024, according to the National Retail Federation.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Summer is coming to a close for many kids in the U.S. heading back to grade school. American families are expected to spend an average of $875 on back-to-school supplies. With inflation, the high price tag for new clothes, laptops and pencils can be intimidating. Here are five retail expert-approved tips to reduce costs:

• 🎒 Plan around tax-free shopping dates. During the back-to-school shopping season, 17 states will have savings on school supplies, clothing, electronics and more.
• 🎒 Visit multiple stores over the course of a few weeks to ensure that you access all the different promotions.
• 🎒 Sign up for loyalty programs, check the store’s social media and become familiar with the prices of the items on your list to find the best deals.
• 🎒 Take advantage of price matching, even if you see a cheaper price on a store’s website after you’ve already checked out. Stores like Target offer retroactive price matching and will refund the difference if an item you bought goes on sale within two weeks after purchase.
• 🎒 Wholesale stores like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s can often help you save on the unit price of an item.

Behind the Story

Gao Zhi looks out the window of his home located in a small village in The Netherlands.

Jeremy Meek for NPR

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Jeremy Meek for NPR

This essay was written by Frank Langfitt, NPR’s global democracy correspondent.

Is a high-profile critic of the Chinese Communist Party a con man?

I thought I had a simple scoop. Instead, it turned into one of the most intriguing and surprising stories I’ve ever covered.

First, a little background. I spent many years reporting in China and in the UK, where — among other things — I wrote about how Chinese officials threatened critics to silence them. This is a real, growing problem around the world. Human rights activists say the Chinese Communist Party is exporting its authoritarian tactics to democracies. As a reporter who focuses on democracy, I wanted to cover that.

So, when I heard people were calling in bomb threats in the names of Chinese dissidents to get cops to arrest them, I was determined to investigate.

My key source was a young, celebrity dissident in the Netherlands named Wang Jingyu. Wang, 22, had made his name in the news media as a defiant critic and seemingly constant target of the Chinese Communist Party.

Wang told me the family of his housemate, a fellow dissident named Gao Zhi, had been accused of making bomb threats to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok and airports in Europe. Wang said the Chinese government was behind the bomb threats. Gao’s wife and daughter were trapped in Thai immigration detention. This had the makings of a gripping expose.

But when a fellow reporter and I investigated, we found a very different story than we had expected. It turned out to be a story about how the fear that the Communist Party generates can spread like a virus among its critics overseas, breeding confusion, distrust and paranoia — and how that fear can be weaponized by almost anyone and lead to catastrophe.

To find out what happened to the Gao family and how we untangled the mystery of the bomb threats, please read or listen to our story here.

3 things to know before you go

Riot police clashed with anti-immigration protesters outside of a Holiday Inn Express, which is used to house asylum seekers, in Rotherham, United Kingdom, on Sunday.

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe

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Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe

1. Widespread, violent riots led by far-right protesters have battered the U.K. for the past few days. The rallies began after three girls were killed at a dance class, triggering Islamophobic and anti-immigration sentiments. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested, dozens of officers injured and multiple buildings damaged.
2. In 2023, Frances Brissey was heading home after a family funeral when a truck crashed into her family’s van. She couldn’t move and was in immense pain, but her “highway angel” and unsung hero, Terry Reavis, rushed over, held her and provided her comfort until help arrived. Brissey says the care that was offered to her and her family changed her life.
3. Heat training, which involves controlled exposure to heat stress, could help people stay more comfortable during the extraordinarily hot summer this year and beyond as heat waves are expected to happen more frequently due to climate change.

This newsletter is edited by Suzanne Nuyen.