Gathered at Camp David, Biden’s family tells him to stay in the race and keep fighting
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s family has used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance. Some family members criticized the way Biden’s staff prepared him for the faceoff. That’s according to four people familiar with the discussions. Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren at the presidential retreat in Maryland. It was a previously scheduled trip for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
French far right leads after legislative elections’ 1st round but rivals hope to deny it a majority
PARIS (AP) — Results released early Monday show that France’s National Rally has surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections. That brings the far-right party to the brink of power and deals a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists. The results confirmed polling that showed the party is no longer taboo. It has a history of racism and xenophobia and was once shunned by the mainstream. There remains another torrid week of campaigning before the decisive final voting Sunday, and whether the National Rally will be able to win an outright majority and form France’s first far-right government since World War II remains uncertain.
Street medicine teams search for homeless people to deliver lifesaving IV hydration in extreme heat
PHOENIX (AP) — As temperatures reach triple digits in metro Phoenix, heat illness is especially deadly for people who live outside under the broiling desert sun. Homeless people accounted for nearly half of the 645 people who died last year from heat-related causes in Arizona’s Maricopa County. A Phoenix health care nonprofit has begun a new program this year providing intravenous saline drips to dehydrated homeless people. Circle the City’s street medicine team goes where they are — by a major freeway overpass, alongside dry riverbeds, at a city park and near the city’s canals.
Under pressure on plane safety, Boeing is buying stressed supplier Spirit for $4.7 billion
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing has announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion. It says the move will improve plane quality and safety. Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners. Concerns about safety came to a head after the January blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) over Oregon.
European Union accuses Facebook owner Meta of breaking digital rules with paid ad-free option
LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators have accused social media company Meta Platforms of breaching the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them. Meta has been giving European users the option since November of paying for ad-free versions as a way to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules. The U.S. tech giant rolled out the subscription option after the European Union’s top court ruled that under strict EU data privacy rules, Meta must first get consent before showing ads to users. The European Commission said preliminary findings of its investigation show that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model was in breach of the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
The Republicans who want to be Trump’s VP were once harsh critics with key policy differences
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s hard to refer to someone as “Hitler” and end up in their good graces, let alone potentially become the person they choose to help lead the country. But Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s shifting position on Donald Trump over the years from one-time critic of the former president to staunch ally is a metamorphosis shared by many of Trump’s potential running mates. It’s not unheard of for a running mate to move beyond past disagreements with a presidential candidate. But the shift is more striking for Trump’s potential running mates, in some cases requiring them to abandon long-held policy positions and recant vehement criticism.
French far right ahead in 1st round of snap elections. Here’s how runoff works and what comes next
PARIS (AP) — French voters face a decisive choice on July 7 in the runoff of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all. Official results suggest the far-right National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time. In the first round, the National Rally arrived ahead with an estimated one-third of the votes. Yet the outcome remains uncertain amid the complex voting system and political tactics. If the National Rally or another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority.
Trump ally Steve Bannon will report to federal prison to serve 4-month sentence on contempt charges
WASHINGTON (AP) — Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon is scheduled to report to a federal prison in Connecticut to serve a four-month sentence on contempt charges for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack. A judge had allowed Bannon to stay free for nearly two years while he appealed, but ordered him to report to prison Monday after an appeals court panel upheld his contempt of Congress convictions. The Supreme Court rejected his emergency appeal to stave off the sentence. Bannon’s appeal will continue to play out, and Republican House leaders have put their support behind stepping in to assert the Jan. 6 committee was improperly created.
Economic turmoil in Bolivia fuels distrust in government and its claim of a ‘failed coup’
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivians have been hit hard by economic turmoil in the small South American nation fueled by a longtime hyper-dependence on, and now shortage of, U.S. dollars. The economic downturn has been exacerbated by an ongoing feud between President Luis Arce and his ally-turned-rival former President Evo Morales in the lead-up to next year’s presidential election. Many Bolivians impacted by the crisis have lost trust in Arce, who denies the country is even in an economic crisis. That deep distrust came to a head last week following a spectacle which the government called a “failed coup d’etat” and opponents called a staged “self-coup” meant to earn the unpopular leader political points in the lead-up to next year’s elections.
In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
HARTLEPOOL, England (AP) — A lot of politicians have promised change to voters in Hartlepool, a wind-whipped port town in northeast England. For decades, Labour Party representatives said they would fight for working people, even as well-paid industrial jobs disappeared. Later the Conservatives vowed to bring new money and opportunities on the back of Brexit. But as British voters prepare to elect a new government Thursday, Hartlepool’s many problems with unemployment, crime and drugs persist. Opinion polls put center-left Labour well ahead nationwide, but many voters remain undecided. To regain power after 14 years, Labour must win back disillusioned voters in Hartlepool and other former industrial towns where jaded voters say they have been disappointed before.
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