The World Health Organization has announced plans to send 1.2 million polio vaccine doses to Gaza amid fears of a polio outbreak after the virus was detected in wastewater. Over the past 10 months, Israel has destroyed all of Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants and most of Gaza’s sewage pumps. The WHO says it is aiming to vaccinate 600,000 Palestinian children under the age of 8. The WHO repeated its call for a ceasefire, saying its medical staff need “absolute freedom of movement” to administer the vaccines.

This all comes as Israel has killed at least 27 more Palestinians in central and southern Gaza in what Al Jazeera called an “especially bloody day.” The dead included Nadi Sallout, who worked with the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen. In April, a series of Israeli airstrikes killed seven other workers at World Central Kitchen.

One Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah.

Nidal Ashour: “The missile fell, and the explosion was huge. In front of me, there was about 15 to 20 wounded people. The majority of them had their legs dismembered, their legs amputated. After that hit, I went with my neighbor whose leg was dismembered. I went with him in the ambulance to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. When we were at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, they hit the second strike. We came this morning, as you can see, to this destruction. We did not expect the strike to be this powerful and in this magnitude. The scene makes you want to cry. Children were fleeing. It was like the end of the world. The pictures speak louder than words.”

In more news on Gaza, Turkey has formally asked to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

In election news, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz held rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin Wednesday, as Republican VP candidate JD Vance also attended competing events in both states. This is Governor Tim Walz speaking at the Democratic campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Gov. Tim Walz: “In Minnesota, just like in Wisconsin, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if — even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. Mind your own damn business. I don’t need you telling me about our healthcare. I don’t need you telling us who we love. And I sure the hell don’t need you telling us what books we’re going to read.”

At a rally Wednesday in Detroit, Michigan, Palestinian rights protesters disrupted a speech by Kamala Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris: “And he intends to end the Affordable Care Act. You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that; otherwise, I’m speaking.”

The protesters were chanting “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide.” Ahead of the rally, leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement met Harris briefly and requested a meeting to discuss demands for an arms embargo against Israel. Harris is speaking at a United Auto Workers event today in Detroit.

Utah has enacted a ban on 13 books — 12 of them written by women — ordering their removal from public schools and libraries. PEN America says Utah’s move is the first statewide book ban. It includes the books “Forever” by Judy Blume, “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood, “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur and six books by Sarah J. Maas, a popular young adult author.

In Bangladesh, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has returned home after being recruited to lead an interim government following the ouster of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a student-led uprising. He spoke shortly after landing in Dhaka and addressed reports of attacks against minority Hindu, Buddhist and Christian groups.

Muhammad Yunus: “Our first order of business should be to restore law and order. Until that is taken care of, we will not be able to proceed to further improve the situation. You have shown faith in me, and the students here have reassured me, to carry out that duty. I request the residents of Bangladesh to believe in me. If you do that, there will not be attacks at any locations in the country.”

Muhammad Yunus also vowed to follow the lead of the student movement, saying, “Whatever path our students show us, we will move ahead with that.” Click here to see Democracy Now!’s interviews with Muhammad Yunus over the years.

Police in Spain are searching for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont after he returned to Barcelona, ending seven years in exile despite a pending warrant for his arrest. Puigdemont spoke at a rally in Barcelona earlier today.

Carles Puigdemont: “Over the years, they persecuted us for listening to the voice of the people of Catalonia, years where there was a harsh repression, from prison to exile, that affected the lives of thousands of people for being pro-independence, sometimes for the mere fact of speaking Catalan, making being Catalan something suspicious.”

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont disappeared just after he spoke in Barcelona, prompting a massive police search. Roadblocks have been set up, and the police are searching cars in the area.

Major anti-fascist rallies took place across the United Kingdom Wednesday as communities came together to counter the recent surge in far-right violence. Members of Muslim and immigrant communities in Britain say the riots have left them feeling unsafe.

Protester: “Newcastle is known for love. People are very lovely all the time. We never had this sort of issue. So that’s why we all are here to show our solidarity with each other. … Yes, I was scared, but when I saw these guys, everybody here, I’m really happy — and not only me, the entire community.”

The riots erupted after misinformation spread about a suspect in a recent stabbing spree that killed three girls. British police have arrested some 400 white nationalists and warned rioters could face terrorism charges and 10 years in prison. We’ll have more on this story after headlines.

Russia has declared a state of emergency in Kursk and accused Kyiv of a “major provocation” amid an ongoing Ukrainian incursion in the southwestern border region which has killed at least five people and injured 30 others since Tuesday. The White House said it was not aware of the ground attack beforehand and would seek more information from Ukraine.

In other news from Russia, Pavel Kushnir, a pianist who was jailed for making videos condemning the war on Ukraine, has died while in pretrial detention.

Meanwhile, Russian human rights advocate Oleg Orlov, who was recently freed in an historic prisoner swap, says he has spoken with other released dissidents about possible future prisoner exchanges. Orlov, leader of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Memorial, gave interviews Wednesday from Berlin, where he is living in exile.

Oleg Orlov: “Only super repressive laws and jailing, jailing, jailing. And these are demonstrative jailings that are showing society: 'This is what will happen to you. Have a look.' That’s the only thing that disrupted the wave of the antiwar movement. And still, I’m sure, if the repressive component was reduced just a little, just a tiny bit, we’ll see how much the public actually supports Putin. We will see the reality, not the illusion that is being created now.”

Back in the U.S., an Arizona Republican involved in the 2020 “fake elector” scheme pleaded guilty and became the first person to be convicted in the state’s wide-ranging case. Loraine Pellegrino, who signed a document falsely claiming Donald Trump had won Arizona in 2020, was sentenced to unsupervised probation. Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows have also been charged in Arizona’s fake elector case. Court papers released this week show the Arizona grand jury, that indicted 18 Trump allies in the case, also wanted to indict Trump but were advised against the move by state prosecutors.

In New York, Republican lawmakers in Nassau County approved a bill that would make wearing a mask or any face covering in public a misdemeanor. The measure contains exceptions for health and religious reasons that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls “wholly inadequate.” The NYCLU said in a statement, “Criminalizing masks forces those with disabilities or medical conditions, as well as their families and loved ones, to have to decide whether to segregate themselves from public life or endanger their health and even lives.”

This comes as at least 84 countries have reported a summer COVID surge. In France, dozens of athletes at the Paris Olympics have tested positive for COVID. California is also experiencing a surge, the worst in two years.

Torrential rains and flash floods have killed at least 40 people in western Yemen and displaced hundreds more from their homes.

In Australia, new research confirms water temperatures in and around the Great Barrier Reef have reached their warmest in 400 years over the past decade, placing the world’s largest coral reef under even greater danger. This is Benjamin Henley, one of the study’s co-authors.

Benjamin Henley: “This is such a massive challenge that every single person on Earth needs to contribute to it, and I mean individuals all the way up to the world’s governments at our U.N.-scale meetings. The urgency could not be higher right now.”

In Arizona, the Hualapai Nation is suing the Bureau of Land Management over its approval of a lithium exploration project. The lawsuit accuses the federal agency of failing to properly evaluate the project’s impacts on local water wells and springs.

In the U.K., police arrested 22 people over a planned “climate camp” near the Drax power station in North Yorkshire. It’s the latest example of U.K. authorities’ intensifying criminalization of climate activism, including before any actions even take place.