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Here’s what you can’t see on TV [Video]

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, there are more than just the political addresses you see on TV.Weve been on site all week to catch what the broadcast cameras arent covering.When people tune in for the DNC, its usually to hear the speeches. With at least three presidents giving remarks and even a handful of high-power celebrities, youd be forgiven for missing some of the more personal causes on display at the event. Messages and missions like this one from Soul Children of Chicago choir, who brought down the house during the National Anthem on night one.We represent Chicago and Illinois to say that everything that you may have heard about the youth in our city, Soul Children represents the positive in our city, Soul Children of Chicago Choir Director Walt Whitman Jr. said.Before going to the big show each night, thousands of delegates and attendees from across the country head to McCormick Place Convention Center.Democratic party members gather at caucus and council meetings, discussing and determining the partys platform. Sometimes, the stars are still for these more policy-focused moments, like vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. The Minnesota Governor made several surprise appearances at meetings throughout the week. The Dempalooza Expo is open to both delegates and the public. Its a mix of vendors, political action groups, a coconut club and even some former presidents’ shoes.This year’s unique offering for delegates is free neighborhood tours sponsored by Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.The tours head to historic neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago to give policymakers a look at an authentic side of the city they may not otherwise get.The tours are headed up by viral TikTok start and urban historian Sherman Dilla Thomas.I want to help shape and change the narrative of Chicago. I want people who came to Chicago to see that they can be safe and they can have a good time outside of the downtown footprint, Thomas said.Delegates then head off to the United Center for the evening, where things have felt more like a concert than a roll call vote.Here, party members from each state do their best to show off what makes their delegation so unique, whether thats by leaning into online trends or showing off some personal flair unique to their state. Even if that means a little more red than usual, especially for delegates from Kansas who chose to wear Kansas City Chiefs jerseys during the ceremonial vote.The party culminates tonight with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her partys nomination as the closer.

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Sphen, one half of world-famous gay ‘penguin power couple,’ dies at age 11 [Video]

Sphen, an Australian gentoo penguin who became an unlikely global symbol for equality, has died from apparent natural causes at age 11, the aquarium in Sydney where he resided said Thursday.Sphen rose to global fame in 2018 when he partnered with fellow male gentoo penguin Magic after the two were spotted waddling around and swimming together before breeding season.The same-sex penguin power couple known as Sphengic inspired millions with their unshakeable bond and heartwarming family. Together they raised two chicks: Lara, 6, and Clancy, 4.To help Magic, aged 8, process the tragic loss, aquarium staff took him to see Sphen so that he could understand why his partner wouldnt return, the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium said in a statement.He immediately started singing, which was beautifully reciprocated by the colony.Richard Dilly, the aquariums general manager said: The loss of Sphen is heartbreaking to the penguin colony, the team and everyone who has been inspired or positively impacted by Sphen and Magics story.We want to take this opportunity to reflect and celebrate Sphens life, remembering what an icon he was, he added.Sphen lived a full life for a gentoo penguin, a species with an average life span of roughly 12 to 13 years.He and Magic shared an inseparable bond the two were often seen together outside of the breeding season, a rarity for their species.The teams focus is now on Magic, who will soon prepare for his first breeding season without Sphen, Dilly said.The pair inspired a Mardi Gras float, featured in the Netflix series Atypical and have been included in the education curriculum in New South Wales, their Australian home state. Countless books and movies also touch on their love story, the aquarium said.In 2018, Sphen and Magic became parents after they were entrusted to hatch a backup egg given to them by another penguin couple, who had laid two eggs.Its common for gentoo penguins to lay two eggs each breeding season, but the sub-Antarctic penguins usually only have the resources to incubate and raise a single egg, so the backup chick may not survive.Not in this case. On October 19, 2018, an adorable 91-gram penguin chick named Lara was born to the doting parents. In 2020, the Sphengic family became four after Clancy joined the fold.Sphen and Magic are not the only same-sex penguin couple to successfully hatch an egg. Couples in New York and Spain have also become parents.Sphen not only helped in the championing of equality. Through the couples fame, the aquarium was able to raise awareness and money for important causes including conservation, plastic pollution, climate change and the need to protect wild penguins, Sea Life said.Tributes from fans poured in on the aquariums website.Resting in peace I hope little guy, what a wonder to the world you were with your beautiful Magic, wrote Vivienne.RIP to a champion, wrote Vicki. Love shows no boundaries.

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Thousands in Gaza forced to flee again after Israeli evacuation orders [Video]

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are having to flee yet again after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders which experts warn are encroaching further on aid routes and humanitarian zones.People were seen in video walking or on donkey carts as they left areas near the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah. Some were in private cars, loaded with their belongings, including mattresses and blankets, water and gas bottles. The streets appear littered with leaflets dropped by the IDF reiterating the order to evacuate.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also ordered evacuations for parts of the southern city of Khan Younis, as well as the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.Many residents now on the move have had to evacuate time and time again leaving them in a constant state of displacement, uncertainty and fear that there is nowhere left to flee.Evacuees leaving Deir al-Balah on Wednesday described the overwhelming sense of fear, sorrow and uncertainty.There is bombardment, shooting, and quadcopters since this morning in the east of Deir al-Balah, so we are forced to flee. People go to the unknown. They have no idea, said one evacuee, Muhammad Awad.There are no longer places to go. There was only Deir al-Balah, and now they are asking us to evacuate Deir al-Balah, one elderly man told CNN. I am afraid that tomorrow they will confine all of us on the seashore of Deir al-Balah, then exterminate all of us.After so many displacements, we no longer have the strength to evacuate yet another time, he added.One woman on a cart, Um Alaa, said it was the fourth time she has had to evacuate since October last year. We dont know where to go. We are going to look for a spot away from this dangerous place, she said. The whole of Gaza has become dangerous.Um Ismail, a woman with small children, said people were defenseless. Why are they fighting us? she said. We are not Hamas, we are simply people staying put in our homes. They displaced us not once, but 10 times. Why? What have we done?Abu Muhammad Hajjaj, a resident of Gaza City who had previously been displaced, lamented the lack of resources. Without money for a car, or even a tent to live in, we dont know where to go, he told CNN.People are crying and complaining of everything: disease, hunger, poverty, lack of hygiene, lack of medicine. You search in all of Gaza for paracetamol for a headache and you cant find it, he said.Steadily shrinkingNearly 84% of the enclave has been placed under evacuation orders since the start of the war, according to the United Nations main agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief, UNWRA.All the while, the Israel-designated humanitarian zone has been steadily shrinking. In the past month alone, the IDF has reduced this zone by 38% with the remaining space making up just over a tenth of Gazas total area, according to a CNN analysis.Areas that were (in) the humanitarian zone are now the frontline, said Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for UNWRA. Gazans are never more than a few blocks away from the frontline now, she told the UNs news service.The evacuation orders have complicated aid efforts, too. The UNs humanitarian agency OCHA reported that parts of a major road, crucial for humanitarian missions going from south to north, were caught up in the evacuations for Deir al-Balah.It is now nearly impossible for aid workers to travel along the route, preventing the delivery of critically needed supplies, the UN reported.Among those fleeing are staff from the international non-profit Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders.The continuous forced displacement of people is inhumane, MSF project coordinator Jacob Granger said in a statement on Wednesday. People have no belongings left, nowhere left to go. There is no room to put tents up. The overcrowding, severe lack of water, and minimal sanitation services are fueling the spread of diseases.The UN estimated in July that up to 1.9 million people in the strip have been displaced, almost the entire population of 2.1 million Gazans.Last week, the enclaves Health Ministry estimated that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas. That figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but the ministry said most of the dead are women and children.Israel said last month that it had killed more than 17,000 combatants in Gaza since the start of the war. CNN cannot independently verify the ministrys numbers.Ceasefire talksThroughout the evacuations, U.S. and Israeli leaders have continued discussing a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal with President Joe Biden speaking with his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, the White House said.It comes at a critical moment after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that it may be the last opportunity for a deal.CIA Director Bill Burns and other senior negotiators are expected to return to Cairo for further high-level talks this weekend.A major sticking point is the future of the Philadelphi corridor in southern Gaza a 8.7-mile strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border, which the IDF currently controls.On Tuesday, Blinken said Israel had agreed to military withdrawals from Gaza that are laid out in the recent proposal, despite reported comments from Netanyahu.Blinken was responding to Israeli media reports that Netanyahu conveyed to Americas top diplomat that Israel would not leave the Philadelphi corridor and the Netzarim corridor, which bisects Gaza, regardless of the pressure to do so.