Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Biden facing increasing pressure to drop out
President Biden is still facing pressure to drop out of the presidential race over concerns about his age and ability to defeat Donald Trump and serve another four-year term.
A Democratic senator from Colorado, Michael Bennett, said last night that Biden is likely to lose re-election.
NBC News said over 10 House Democrats have called on Biden to step aside and allow someone else to be the party’s nominee for president.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it is up to Biden to decide if he is going to run. News analysts said this was like a warning signal from Pelosi because Biden himself had already said he would stay in the race.
Another voice calling on Biden to drop out is actor George Clooney, who is also a major Democratic donor. He said while he loves Joe Biden, he believes he cannot win the battle against “time” and that he’s not the same man that he was in 2020.
For now, Biden is still in the race. He is currently hosting a NATO summit in D.C. and will have many meetings with world leaders. He will hold a solo news conference tomorrow (Thursday). He is sure to field more questions about his viability to stay in the presidential race.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/10/senate-democrat-michael-bennet-trump-biden-election
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-2024-campaign-news-07-10-24/index.html
Updates on Israel/Gaza war
AP News reported that an Israeli airstrike on a shelter that used to be a school in southern Gaza killed at least 25 Palestinians on Tuesday. A hospital spokesperson said the dead included at least seven women and children. The Israeli military said they were targeting a Hamas militant.
The north of Gaza and its largest city, Gaza City, has been under heavy bombardment. The Israeli military has ordered all Palestinians to leave Gaza City. Israeli forces said they are battling Hamas militants that have regrouped in areas that were previously cleared. Israel’s military actions in Gaza have killed over 38,000 people.
There are about 120 hostages who are still in Gaza that were captured by Hamas fighters during the Oct 7. attack in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.
CIA Director Bill Burns is meeting with top officials from Qatar, Egypt and Israel to continue negotiations on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. But the intense war and increasing death toll will make negotiations difficult.
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
———
Three women killed by crossbow near London
In distressing news from England, three women, a 61-year-old mother and her two daughters, ages 25 and 28, were killed in a house by a suspect who is believed to be armed with a crossbow.
ABC News said according to reports, the women were the wife and daughters of a well known BBC radio commentator named John Hunt.
British police are currently conducting a huge manhunt to find the suspect, a 26-year-old man named Kyle Clifford. News reports said he was an ex-boyfriend of one of the daughters. Clifford used to serve in the British Army.
The manhunt for Clifford is still going on at the time of signing this news.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uk-police-searching-armed-man-after-3-women-111802173
Mummified remains of American climber found 22 years later in Peru
22 years ago, an American mountaineer named William Stampfl went missing in Peru while climbing the country’s highest mountain. He was climbing with two friends when an avalanche hit them. Stampfl was 58 at the time. All three disappeared but one of the friends’ body was later found.
The other two bodies have been missing for all this time until July 5 — Stampfl’s body was found and recovered by Peruvian police and mountain rescue workers.
Stampfl’s body was “mummified” and well-preserved because of freezing temperatures and the ice. His climbing gear was largely intact. Authorities discovered Stampfl’s driver’s license and passport and that’s how he was identified.
A park ranger at the mountain, Huascaran, explained that a glacial mass in the region has been retreating for about the last 10 years and it’s causing things to come to the surface.
Stampfl’s daughter said it was shocking to find the news because she had put it in her mind that “Dad is a part of the mountain and he’s never coming home.”
Stampfl’s family said they plan to move the body to a funeral home in Peru’s capital, Lima, and have his body cremated.