While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 4
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US President Joe Biden is vowing to stay in the 2024 presidential race, despite a shaky televised debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Biden vows to stay in US presidential race
US President Joe Biden vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff on July 3 and sought to reassure top Democrats on Capitol Hill that he is fit for reelection despite his shaky debate performance last week.
Mr Biden dialled in to a call with worried members of his campaign team and told them he wasn’t going anywhere, according to two sources familiar with the call.
“I am running,” Mr Biden said, adding he remained the Democratic Party leader and wasn’t being pushed out of the race against Republican Donald Trump, one source said.
Asked on July 3 if Mr Biden was considering stepping down, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Absolutely not.”
UK Conservatives say Labour rivals heading for record win
AFP
Britain’s Conservative Party all-but conceded election defeat to Keir Starmer’s Labour on July 3, a day before polling stations even opened, and warned that the opposition party was on course for a record-breaking victory.
Opinion polls show the centre-left Labour Party is set for a big win in the July 4 vote that would end 14 years of Conservative government and hand Mr Starmer the keys to the prime minister’s Number 10 Downing Street office on the morning of July 5.
You Gov’s final seat projection published on July 3 put Labour on track to win a majority of 212 seats, the largest of any party in modern history.
Zelensky challenges Trump to reveal plans to end war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Donald Trump should come forward with his plan to quickly end the war with Russia, warning that any proposal must avoid violating the nation’s sovereignty.
“If Trump knows how to finish this war, he should tell us today,” Mr Zelensky said, in a Bloomberg Television interview in Kyiv on July 3.
“If there are risks to Ukrainian independence, if we lose statehood - we want to be ready for this, we want to know.”
Tourists seek out Nordic ‘coolcation’ holidays
AFP
Far from her home in the tourist hotspot of Tenerife, Cati Padilla is one of the growing number of travellers escaping heatwaves for cooler holidays in Nordic countries.
Countries like Norway and Sweden in northern Europe are now promoting “coolcations” to attract visitors to their temperate climates.
For some people, gone are the overcrowded Mediterranean beaches and heatwaves causing forest fires and the partial closure of the Acropolis in the Greek capital in June. Nowadays, many prefer to take a dip in a lake or a fjord, or fill their lungs with fresh air on a mountain hike in relative isolation.
Emma Raducanu storms into Wimbledon third round
EPA-EFE
Emma Raducanu powered her way into the third round of Wimbledon on July 3, with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory against Belgian Elise Mertens.
Raducanu has struggled for fitness since her stunning US Open triumph in 2021, but looked at the top of her game as she pummelled Mertens into submission from the baseline, shouting and fist-pumping almost every point won.
The British wildcard raced into a 5-0 lead against the 28-year-old under the closed roof of Court One which was packed with a passionate home crowd.
