CHICAGO — Protesters interrupted a live broadcast of CBS’ “The Late Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday night, shouting loudly from the balcony of the Auditorium Theatre several times during two segments with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi was there to discuss the Democratic National Convention and also her new book, “The Art of Power.” Several minutes into Colbert’s segment with Pelosi, a protester began shouting from above regarding the war in Gaza.

Colbert addressed the person and the audience stating, “For the people who can’t tell, there’s a protest going on in the audience.”

The host then swiftly threw it to a commercial, while stating that he had planned to ask Pelosi about the protests and concerns regarding the Middle East. “The subject is on Israel and Palestine and if you have a seat, we have to go to the commercial break,” Colbert said. “When we come back, I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject.”

Colbert’s conversation with Pelosi began with a discussion about her involvement in President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the 2024 Presidential race. Pelosi balked at the idea of being labeled the “architect” of that choice, and even at first said she hadn’t called Biden at all. The second night of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” live at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, right after the Democratic National Convention, was unexpectedly interrupted.

When they returned, Colbert first finished his questions about Biden, and whether it was rare to see a leader give up power in that way. He then switched gears.

“Let’s talk about another aspect of power: The U.S. using its power overseas,” he said, pivoting back to the question from the protestors. “As I said earlier, there is a political protestor here. There is a political convention in town, you are politician and protests are natural. People are protesting, even within the Democratic party, there is dissension over what is the proper use of American power, especially ourprotected power overseas, both firm and soft power. If the goal is the peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians, what role does the United States play?”

Pelosi’s response focused first on President Biden’s current and past track record in foreign policy. “Let me just say this was a role that President Biden played very well for years he was chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,” said Pelosi. “He was a senator for a long time, Vice President and President. So his experience globally has been huge.”

Pelosi recounted attending the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, during which he gave his now iconic address, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Pelosi noted that, “The very next sentence that he says in the speech is, ‘To the countries of the world, ask not what America can do for you, but what we can do working together for the freedom of mankind.’ That is our mission… So yes, we have had a commitment to Israel. It’s been in our security interest to do so. Israel was attacked by a terrorist organization. We want the hostages freed. But we don’t want children killed in Gaza. And so we have to come up with a solution. And right now, we just got word earlier today that Israel had agreed to the cease-fire agreement. We’re hoping that Hamas will too. But it takes me to the point of saying to you, war has no role in a civilized society. We have to learn more about trust and peace.”

During the end portion of this response, an audience member began shouting, repeating her words, “And war has no role in a civilized society,” followed by several other audience members also shouting, to which Colbert responded, “As you can see from the continuing protest out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people. Would you like to respond to what they’re saying?”

Colbert then turned to the protestor and asked if they would like a response to their question asking if they would “listen” Pelosi’s response. Switching back to Pelosi, he then directed the question to her, “They have said that the United States should not have any role in supplying Israel arms to kill people of Gaza. That’s what they are saying.”

“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Pelosi said. “But the other part of it is that’s been so major for all of us for many years is that there must be two-state solution. You cannot have peace unless you have a two-state solution. Israel, a secure Jewish democratic state in the region. And the Palestinians having their own, secure country there as well. Unless you have a two-state solution, you will not have a resolution of this.”

At this point the shouting increased and Colbert instructed the protestors, “Please don’t interrupt my guest.”

Colbert then ended the segment. “Madame Speaker, we’re a live show and we have to go at this point. Please come again and we can continue the conversation.”

Pelosi then attempted to change the subject by ending, “I have to say, isn’t it great to be in Chicago?” The segment went to commercial shortly after. There wasn’t any further interruptions during the show; according to insiders, all protestors left on their own accord, and the matter was handled peacefully.

Hakeem Jeffries was the next guest, and Colbert also asked him about the ongoing conflict in Gaza in a hypothetical asking: How would a Speaker Jeffries advise a President Harris?

“What President Biden is doing right now, what Kamala Harris is doing as part of the Biden-Harris administration, to do everything possible to try to achieve a cease-fire agreement,” Jefferies said. “To bring the hostages home, to surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians who are in harms way, through no fault of their own. Surge that aid immediately and continuously. And to find a path toward a just and lasting peace. A safe and secure Israel and the Palestinian people being able to experience the dignity and self-determination that they deserve.”

At the end of the night, after the show went off the air, Colbert addressed the audience and thanked them for coming, expressing his gratitude — but didn’t further address the protestors. “Thank you for a lovely night, it means the world for us, for you all to come out,” he said. “And I can’t begin to tell you what a joy it is to play this house in Chicago.”

As the Democratic National Convention has gotten underway in Chicago, protests have taken place around the city, including one on Tuesday where dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters and Chicago police clashed on Tuesday during a demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago.

The Auditorium Theatre is located in the South Loop area, several miles from the DNC, but a large number of police could be seen stationed outside the Auditorium as audience members filed out of the theater around 12:40 a.m. CT.

This is day two of Colbert’s Chicago live run, with Monday’s episode wrapping up just after 1 a.m. Central Time.

More than 350 cases of cholera have been recorded in a new outbreak in Sudan in just a few weeks.

The difficulties in reaching and registering victims amid the continuing humanitarian crisis caused by the country’s civil war have led experts to speculate that many more people than this may have been infected, however.

Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said at least 22 people have died from the disease and declared a cholera epidemic after several weeks of heavy rain, which has contaminated drinking water.

The cholera epidemic is just the latest crisis for Sudan, where fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, has been spreading around the country since April 2023.

Cholera is not new to Sudan. In 2017, a previous outbreak killed at least 700 people and infected about 22,000 in less than two months.

Outside of this latest outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 78 deaths from cholera between the start of this year and July 28 in Sudan, while some 2,400 people have been infected across the country as a whole.

But what is behind this latest outbreak, and how far has it spread? Here’s what we know so far:

Where has cholera broken out?

The Sudanese health ministry first reported this latest outbreak two weeks ago, when 17 people had died from the disease and 268 cases had been reported in Kassala, El Gezira and Khartoum. This has now risen to 22 deaths and 354 cases.

Sudan has been experiencing particularly heavy seasonal rains since June, with floods killing dozens of people. According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 20,000 people have been displaced by the flooding across 11 of Sudan’s 18 states since June.

Water supplies have also become contaminated with cholera due to the floodwaters mixing with sewage.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told the Associated Press that data showed that most of the detected cases were in people who had not been vaccinated against cholera.

He added the WHO was working with the Sudanese health authorities and partners to implement a vaccination campaign across the nine localities in five provinces where the disease has been recorded.

What is cholera?

Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water. It is spread when people drink infected water, when people with open wounds have direct contact with the contaminated water, and, in some cases, when they eat raw shellfish.

It cannot be transmitted from person to person, so casual contact with a person who has the disease is not a risk.

The disease causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. If the disease is left untreated, cholera can kill within hours – even people who were previously healthy.

While the disease might not cause illness to everyone exposed to it, infected people can still pass the bacteria in their stool, contaminating food and water supplies. This is a particular problem where there are no working sanitation facilities.

How is cholera treated?

Treatment for cholera includes rehydration to replace the lost fluids.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a US academic medical centre, without rehydration, “half the people with cholera die. With treatment, fatalities drop to less than 1 percent”.

Other treatments include intravenous fluids, antibiotics and zinc supplements.

Children under the age of five have the highest rates of infection, but all age groups are at risk, especially those suffering from malnutrition, those who are immunocompromised or who lack prior vaccination.

Why is cholera spreading in Sudan?

The war in Sudan has damaged and destroyed much of the country’s civilian infrastructure, including sewage and water treatment works, and turned many places, including the capital, Khartoum, into battlefields.

Many hospitals and medical facilities have been forced to close their doors as they have minimal or no supplies.

While the overall death toll resulting from the conflict remains unclear, some estimates, according to US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello, are as high as 150,000 people so far.

In June, the IOM reported that more than 10 million people had been displaced within Sudan due to the conflict. Cholera spreads more quickly when populations are displaced and sanitation and hygiene become poor, making war zones the perfect climate for the disease to spread.

On top of this, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), the heavy rainy season has heavily exacerbated the already dire situation, making it harder for aid convoys to pass through the muddy, flooded roads.

The WFP reported on Monday that the organisation originally aimed to reach half a million people, but convoys are “currently stranded on the Chad side, with heavy rainfall making it largely impassable – some trucks have been stuck for up to two weeks”.

“Preventable diseases [are spreading] quickly in areas where critical infrastructure, like clean water and sanitation systems, has been damaged by conflict and in overcrowded displacement camps,” the WFP said.

Will the cholera epidemic in Sudan get worse?

According to the WFP, the heavy rainfall is forecast to last until September.

Some forecasts warn that “flooding could surpass the historic 2020 floods that hit Khartoum,” the organisation said.

Despite the WFP’s warning of the dire humanitarian situation in the country, the war is continuing.

On Sunday, the army said it would send a delegation to meet with US officials in Cairo following US pressure to join the ongoing peace talks in Switzerland, which aim to end the conflict and the subsequent humanitarian crisis.

Director of John Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, Paul Spiegel, also told Al Jazeera that cholera “thrives during conflict and forced displacement”.

“These conditions make it incredibly challenging to control cholera outbreaks, leading to rapid transmission and devastating consequences for affected communities,” he said.

Spiegel added while an active conflict makes traditional methods of controlling an outbreak difficult, health officials “must be flexible and innovative, and take advantage of the different contexts” within Sudan to mitigate the spread of disease.

Are other diseases on the rise in Sudan?

On Friday, WHO official Margaret Harris said that dengue fever and meningitis infections were also on the rise in Sudan due to dire living conditions as a result of the 16-month-long war.

A federal judge in Texas has blocked a new rule from the Federal Trade Commission that would have made it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor.

In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown granted a motion for summary judgement filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other plaintiffs, and rejected the FTC’s own petition for a judgement in its favor.

In reaching his decision, Brown concluded that that the FTC “exceeded its statutory authority” in making the rule, which the judge called “arbitrary and capricious.” The judge also concluded that the rule would cause irreparable harm.

As a result of the court’s decision, the FTC won’t be able to enforce its rule, which was set to go into effect on Sept. 4, according to the judge’s ruling.

Still, the decision does not prevent the agency from addressing noncompete agreements through “case-by-case” enforcement actions, said Victoria Graham, an FTC spokesperson.

The FTC is also considering appealing the court’s decision, Graham said.

The FTC voted in April to prohibit employers nationwide from entering into new noncompete agreements or enforcing existing noncompetes, saying the agreements restrict workers’ freedom and suppress wages.

But companies opposing the ban argue they need noncompete agreements to protect business relationships, trade secrets and investments they make to train or recruit employees.

Apart from the Texas case, companies sued the FTC in Florida and Pennsylvania to block the rule.

In the Florida lawsuit, which was brought by a retirement community, the court granted a preliminary injunction, prohibiting enforcement of the rule just for the plaintiff, but not any other company.

In the Pennsylvania lawsuit, the court concluded that the plaintiff, a tree company, failed to show it would be irreparably harmed by the ban and that the company wasn’t likely to win the case.

The divergent rulings mean the issue could end up working its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.