Image source, Getty Images

In addition to popstars and prominent politicians, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman will be reading a poem tonight at the DNC.

She rose to fame in 2021 when she read a poem, The Hill We Climb, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden when she was 22, making her the youngest person ever to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration.

The Harvard University graduate told Vanity Fair she had to change what she had prepared for the poem after Biden dropped out of the race.

It changed from "celebrating an incumbent to expressing hope for what could be, especially at the idea of having a Black-Indian woman be president", Gorman told the outlet.

She said the poem is titled This Sacred Scene.

Caitlin Wilson
Reporting from the convention

It's day three of the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago, and the logistics on the ground feel a bit smoother today. A few BBC colleagues and I were able to get through security this afternoon in just about five minutes - a major improvement from the more than 35 minutes it's taken other times.

The programming last night stuck a little bit closer to their planned schedule than it did Monday night - and we're hoping for even more on-time speeches tonight.

We're still keeping our eyes peeled in the media area for any notable figures in attendance, and a few of my colleagues sitting in our BBC booth are conducting interviews with politicians and other newsmakers as I write this.

Stick around - we'll be sure to bring you all the top lines from those conversations and all the other updates from the United Center arena as night three gets under way.

Image source, Reuters

About 20.6m people watched television coverage of the second night of the Democratic National Convention, according to ratings monitor Nielsen.

That's an increase of about half a million on the audience which tuned into the first night of the Chicago event.

By comparison, the opening night of the Republican National Convention was watched by 18.1m, and the second by 14.8m.

The peak audience on Tuesday evening came during a speech given by former President Barack Obama, Deadline reported, external.

These figures are from major US broadcasters. With many people preferring to stream rather than use traditional TV, overall numbers could be higher.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

I just ran into Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee - a group which has been advising the Harris campaign on economic messaging.

When asked what he wants to hear from Tim Walz today - and Kamala Harris tomorrow - Green says: "it should feel strong and bold and on a gut level, pro-working people and calling out the fake billionaire who's promising tax cuts to his rich friends," he adds, a reference to former President Donald Trump.

So far, Green says he has been encouraged by the campaign's messaging, beginning with Harris's first economic speech about price gouging.

"Our polling finds that, by far, grocery prices are the biggest pain point for everyday people, two to one over gas prices," he tells me.

"All indicators are that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be giving voice to the need to challenge corporations who are improperly, sometimes illegally, jacking up prices for consumers and on everything from groceries to gas to prescription drugs."

Image source, Reuters

The convention hall in Chicago is still abuzz with talk about the speeches by Barack and Michelle Obama last night, but there's plenty more to come as day three of the Democratic National Convention gets under way.

Here's what's been happening and what to expect this evening:

• Democratic delegates have been working today on finalising the party's official platform
• Meanwhile, Trump has appeared behind bulletproof glass at his first open-air rally since an assassination attempt on him on 13 July
• Later tonight, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will give his vice-presidential nomination acceptance speech
• Other upcoming Democratic speakers include former president Bill Clinton and popular former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
• Also speaking tonight is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Republican Olivia Troye, a former Trump White House national security official
• Singer John Legend will also perform tonight - he was spotted rehearsing in the arena earlier

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

US media outlets are reporting that independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr might drop out of the contest later this week - and that he could endorse Donald Trump.

The RFK Jr campaign has announced an event on Friday in Arizona "about the present historical moment and his path forward". Trump is scheduled to be in the state that same day.

ABC News reports that sources say Kennedy plans to endorse Trump, but Kennedy told the news outlet he couldn't confirm or deny that.

Earlier this week his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said Kennedy was considering joining forces with Trump or staying in the race and trying to form a third party, to avoid what she called the "risk" of a Kamala Harris presidency.

We've contacted the RFK Jr campaign for comment.

Kennedy - the son of a senator and nephew of a president - has faced a number of hurdles in his longshot third-party campaign, from legal challenges over getting his name on state ballots, to funding his run.

• Read more here

The FBI and Chicago Police are investigating after maggots were found at a Democratic Party breakfast event for delegates in Chicago this morning, local media reports.

“We can confirm that a group of individuals caused a disruption at a DNC-related breakfast event at our hotel this morning,” a spokesperson for the Fairmont Chicago hotel told WGN-TV.

The staff "acted immediately to clean and sanitize the area", they said.

A Democratic Party spokesperson told WGN9 that unknown individuals entered the hotel and "began placing unknown objects onto tables containing food".

It resembles a stunt by protesters in Washington DC in July, when thousands of maggots were released in the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was staying during his visit to the US.

Video of that incident was posted online by a pro-Palestinian protest group. Similar groups have been protesting in Chicago during the convention.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump has just finished his rally in Asheboro, North Carolina. He briefly mentioned the speeches last night in Chicago, saying that former President Obama “was taking shots at your president”.

“And so was Michelle. You know, they always say ‘Sir, please stick to policy, don’t get personal.’ And yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people. Do I still have to stick to policy?”

The crowd shouted back: “No!”

He returned to the subject later in the speech, saying: “He was very nasty last night."

Trump also repeated a nickname he seems to have settled on over the past few days: “Comrade Kamala."

“I’ve been looking for a name,” he said. “People say, ‘Sir, don’t do it… she’s a woman.’ I said, so is Hillary Clinton, I called her Crooked Hillary. Nobody complained about that, right?”

Trump spoke for just over an hour behind a shield of bulletproof glass, hitting most of the usual themes he talks about on the trail, and arguing that he would be better for the country on issues including immigration, the economy, and defence.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

There are plenty of stars roaming the halls of the United Center Arena in Chicago even before the night of festivities begins.

We've just entered the BBC's broadcast booth where we have a view of singer John Legend warming up for his performance later tonight.

He's at the piano singing alongside several others as lights illuminate the backdrop behind him.

Several other stars are expected to perform tonight as well, leading up to a speech from Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz.

And the convention announced today that pop star Pink will be closing out the ceremony tomorrow.

Image source, Reuters

We have some more images of Donald Trump's rally today, where he stood behind bullet-proof glass on stage.

The Secret Service added this protection for his outdoor events after an assassination attempt on the former president's life in July.

Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, resigned on 23 July following a hearing at the US House of Representatives about the assassination attempt.

Politicians on the House Oversight Committee criticised the lack of information in her answers to their questions regarding security planning and how officers responded to reports of the gunman’s suspicious behaviour prior to the shooting.

Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot and killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper team after he fired eight bullets in Trump’s direction from a rooftop just outside the rally's security perimeter. The attack left one bystander dead and two seriously injured.

The FBI is currently investigating the protection failure and political leaders in the US Congress have also started inquiries.

Image source, Reuters

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Aquilino Gonell, a former Capitol police officer who was attacked during the 6 January riots, plans to speak about what he calls the "betrayal" from the Republican Party when he takes the stage at the DNC tonight.

While defending the Capitol, Gonell sustained multiple injuries to his shoulder and foot that required surgeries.

But Gonell says that one of the most challenging parts of the attack has been the aftermath, watching Donald Trump promise to pardon 6 January defendants.

"It's a betrayal," he tells me. "[Republicans] support 'law and order' and 'the rule of law', they support the police - except not Capitol Police, because they stopped their sympathisers from doing whatever the heck they wanted."

Gonell says the attack has had a lasting impact on morale in America, and on his life is well.

There's "PTSD, moral injury, physical limitations, retriggering of those injuries every time Trump talks about those rioters," he says.

Graeme Baker
US reporter

Earlier today, Donald Trump held his first open-air rally since an attempt on his life in Pennsylvania on 13 July.

The Republican presidential nominee was protected at the Asheboro, North Carolina event by a bullet-proof glass screen erected around the podium - a security measure in response to the July attack.

He was introduced by his running mate, JD Vance, who said Trump had given up a life of "everything you could want" to run for president.

"They couldn't beat him at the ballot box so they tried to bankrupt him. They failed so they tried to impeach him," said Vance. "They failed at that so they tried to put him in prison. And they even tried to kill him... Donald Trump still stands."

Trump walked several metres from the backstage to the podium, non of which was protected by bullet-proof glass.

"Just wanted to thank JD... Doing a fantastic job," said Trump.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were already nominated ahead of the event, so this year's convention is focused on speeches from prominent Democrats and the adoption of the party’s platform.

Delegates are working during the day to finalise the platform, a draft of which has already been released.

It focuses on a broad range of issues, including plans to lower inflation, mitigate climate change and tackle gun violence.

In the draft, Democrats contrast each of the party positions with Project 2025, an ultra-conservative blueprint for what a second Trump administration could look like, authored by the Heritage Foundation.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the project, though several of his allies were involved in writing it.

Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the convention

Michelle and Barack Obama gave resounding endorsements of Kamala Harris on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, exhorting party supporters across the US to turn out and vote to defeat Donald Trump in November.

"Hope is making a comeback," Mrs Obama told the crowd at the DNC in Chicago, echoing her husband's campaign promise of "hope and change".

In their back-to-back speeches, the Democratic Party's most popular figures praised Harris, while excoriating Trump - whose presidency was characterised by "bluster and chaos", in the words of Mr Obama.

But the couple also warned their party not to lose sight of what remains an extremely tight race amid the enthusiasm for Harris's campaign. They stressed the election would be decided in a handful of key swing states.

"Make no mistake, it will be a fight,” said the 63-year-old former president.

Michelle Obama, 60, stressed the point further. "We need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt," she said. "We need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us."

You can read more about last night at the DNC here.

Brandon Livesay
Live page editor

Hello and welcome to our coverage of day three of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Tonight we'll hear from Tim Walz in the Windy City. The Governor of Minnesota has quickly become a favourite among Democrats since he was announced as Kamala Harris's running mate.

But he's also come under increasing attacks from Republicans, particularly Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance, over his military service. Our colleauges over at BBC Verify have delved into that issue in this article.

Also tonight we'll hear from former US President Bill Clinton. The skilled orator has spoken at every DNC since he was 33 years old.

There's a stack of other big political names on the speaker line-up, and there's likely to be some musical acts too.

You'll be able to watch our live coverage at the top of this page. And of course we will bring you all the updates and analysis from our team on the ground in Chicago.

Stick with us.