WORLD BRIEFING: July 22, 2024
President Biden, 81, abandoned his bid for re-election on Sunday, throwing the 2024 presidential contest into chaos as he caved to relentless pressure from his closest allies to drop out of the race amid deep concerns that he is too old and frail to defeat former President Donald J. Trump. He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place atop the ticket, and many Democrats quickly lined up behind her after she said she would seek the nomination. Mr. Biden said in a statement, “While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus entirely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.” He added that it is “the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president.” Many influential Democrats on Capitol Hill quickly rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, endorsing her as the party’s nominee. But neither the party’s top leaders nor Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker who wields considerable influence among Democrats, mentioned the vice president in their statements praising Mr. Biden on his presidency and his decision to step aside.
Ms. Harris and her team are likely to move swiftly to try to seize that mantle even as uncertainty swirled about whether other Democrats would seek to challenge her for the nomination at the party’s convention in Chicago next month. In a statement, Ms. Harris thanked Mr. Biden for the endorsement, saying that his “legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history.” She vowed to “earn and win this nomination” and to keep Mr. Trump from serving another four years in the White House. “We have 107 days until Election Day,” Ms. Harris wrote. “Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.” Should she become the nominee, she would have only a few months to boost her own weak approval ratings, make a case for a Harris presidency and rally voters against Mr. Trump, whom Democrats have branded as an existential threat to democracy and a supporter of dangerous positions on guns, abortion, immigration, taxes, education and trade - NYT
Thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia may never come home because they have been indoctrinated and turned against their home country, according to those trying to rescue them. The Sunday Times talked to returned children across Ukraine as well as a group at a camp for those who had spent one or two years under occupation and heard chilling details of how Russia attempted to brainwash them. About 20,000 children were taken from orphanages or their families were tricked into thinking they were being taken to summer camps. “They are like mini soldiers,” said the child psychologist Vannui Martyrosian, who runs the camp’s therapy program. “They do everything you tell them but in a negative way. They have become so used to pretending and they don’t trust anyone, even other children. It’s heartbreaking.” Last year, the International Criminal Court declared the abductions a war crime, issuing arrest warrants for President Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, his children’s commissioner, who boasted of taking 720,000 children - a far higher number than the Ukrainian estimate. - Sunday Times
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says "a significant number" of devices that were impacted by a global IT outage on Friday are now back online. In a social media post, the company - whose faulty security update caused Microsoft Windows computers to crash around the world - added it "continues to focus on restoring all systems". Microsoft has estimated that the incident, which is being described as one of the worst IT outages in history, impacted 8.5m computers around the world. Businesses, banks, hospitals and airlines were among the worst-hit, with some still struggling to fully restore their systems - BBC
France has denied visas to about 100 journalists, therapists, and technical workers seeking to attend the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris amid concerns over espionage, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told Le Journal du Dimanche. Those denied visas on those grounds include Russian and Belarusian citizens, he said. The games, which attract hundreds of thousands of foreigners, will be held from July 26 to August 11. Darmanin said France is also concerned about cyberattacks during the games. Russian and Belarusian teams have been banned from participating in the Summer Olympics as punishment for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Belarus has supported. - RFE/RL
Thousands of people have demonstrated in Mallorca against what they say are the negative impacts of overtourism. Organizers of the march say uncontrolled tourist numbers are causing a drop in wages, loss of quality of life, noise and an increase in the price of housing, both to rent and to buy. "Now is the time to say enough is enough. We want concrete measures to limit and decrease the number of tourists coming and to improve the wellbeing of the local population," said an organizer. The demonstration in the middle of the tourist season aims to be, "a turning point, a blow on the table and the beginning of actions and mobilisations on the four islands, not just in Mallorca," explained the organisers. Last year, the airport authority AENA said departures and arrivals at Palma airport for July alone were up 5.9% compared to the same month in 2022, with 4.3 million people passing through the airport. That meant Palma was the third most popular summer destination in Spain, behind Madrid and Barcelona. And earlier this month, thousands of Barcelona residents also protested against the impact of overtourism - Euronews
