CHICAGO: Jill Biden once said that she knew marrying Joe Biden – then a senator from Delaware — would mean “a life in the spotlight that I had never wanted.”
On Monday night, now very accustomed to that spotlight, the first lady will stand before the Democratic National Convention to do her part to highlight her husband’s 50 years of public service as his presidency begins to draw to a close.
Her words will mark the beginning of an end for her, too.
Before the president walks across the stage at the United Center to deliver the keynote speech on the convention’s opening night, the first lady will use her address to speak to his character and reiterate her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a person familiar with the first lady’s remarks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a speech not yet delivered.
Jill Biden will urge Americans to unite with “faith in each other, hope for a brighter future, and love for our country,” said the person, quoting from the first lady’s prepared remarks.
President Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he dropped out of the presidential race in July, and she has succeeded him as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
In the weeks before Biden decided to leave the race, the first lady had declared that she was “all in” on her husband’s reelection plan, even as Democrats began calling on him to drop out following his disastrous performance in a debate against Republican Donald Trump on June 27.
Biden himself had brushed aside those calls, repeatedly insisting that he was staying in the race. His wife, one of his fiercest supporters and defenders, backed him up.
“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” the first lady told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, on July 8. “That’s the decision that he’s made, and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in, too.”
Biden pulled the plug on his campaign on July 21.
The first night of the four-day Democratic convention was rearranged after Biden bowed out. Now it will honor his record of public service, including six terms as a US senator from Delaware, eight years as vice president and one four-year term as president.
Jill Biden was with her husband through it all and now both are figuring out what they want to accomplish in the time they have left in the White House.
During the remaining months of the administration, which ends in mid-January, aides say Jill Biden will continue work on her favored causes: supporting military families through her Joining Forces initiative, reducing cancer’s toll through the Biden Cancer Moonshot, advancing research into women’s health under an effort launched in November 2023, and increasing opportunities for education.
She is also expected to campaign for Harris this fall.
The first lady charted a new path for presidential spouses when she became the first to hold a paying job outside the White House. She is an English and writing professor at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 2009, and has been working on her lesson plans for the coming fall semester, aides said.
As first lady, Jill Biden traveled to over 40 states, over 200 towns and cities, and 19 countries, most recently leading a delegation to support Team USA at the Olympic Games in France.
She spent the first year of the administration traveling around the United States encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In 2022, she traveled to Ukraine after Russia’s military invasion to show US support for Ukrainians.
Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too
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Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too
Final campaigning in tight Japan election
- Opinion polls suggest the ruling coalition Liberal Democratic Party might fall short of a majority
- Such a bombshell outcome could potentially be a knockout blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
Such a bombshell outcome would be the worst result for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2009, and potentially a knockout blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Ishiba — a fan of trains, 1970s pop idols and making model ships and planes — only last month took the helm of the LDP, which has governed Japan for almost all of the past seven decades.
After a tough internal contest, the 67-year-old former defense minister became premier on October 1.
Days later, he called the snap parliamentary elections, promising a “new Japan.”
Ishiba pledged to revitalize depressed rural regions and to address the “quiet emergency” of Japan’s falling population through policies such as flexible working hours.
But he has since rowed back his position on issues including allowing married couples to take separate surnames.
He also named only two women ministers in his cabinet.
A poll on Friday by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily suggested that the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito might struggle to get the 233 lower house seats needed for a majority.
Ishiba has set this threshold as his objective, and missing it would undermine his position in the LDP and mean finding other coalition partners or leading a minority government.
Local media speculated that Ishiba could potentially even resign immediately to take responsibility, becoming Japan’s shortest-serving prime minister in the post-war period.
The current record is held by Naruhiko Higashikuni who served for 54 days — four days more than British leader Liz Truss in 2022 — just after Japan’s 1945 defeat in World War II.
“The situation is extremely severe,” Ishiba said on the stump Friday, Japanese media reported.
In many districts, LDP candidates are in neck-and-neck battles with those from the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) — the second-biggest in parliament — led by popular former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda.
“The LDP’s politics is all about quickly implementing policies for those who give them loads of cash,” Noda said at a rally on Saturday.
“But those in vulnerable positions, who can’t offer cash, have been ignored,” he added, referring to insufficient support by the LDP-led government for survivors of a huge New Year’s Day earthquake in central Japan.
“This kind of politics must be changed.”
Noda’s stance “is sort of similar to the LDP’s. He is basically a conservative,” Masato Kamikubo, a political scientist at Ritsumeikan University, said.
“The CDP or Noda can be an alternative to the LDP. Many voters think so,” Kamikubo said.
Also dogging Ishiba is the continuing fallout from a slush fund scandal within the LDP that angered voters and helped sink his predecessor, Fumio Kishida.
Ishiba promised to not actively support LDP politicians caught up in the scandal running in the election, although they are still standing.
According to media reports, the party has also provided 20 million yen ($132,000) each to district offices headed by these figures.
“It is truly frustrating that such reports come out at a time like this,” Ishiba said in a campaign speech on Thursday. “Those candidates will not use the money.”
“We cannot be defeated by those with biased views,” he added.
Hitomi Hisano, an undecided voter from the central Aichi region, said in Tokyo that the LDP’s funding scandal was a big factor for him.
“The LDP has sat in power for too long. I see hubris in there,” the 69-year-old said. “So part of me wants to punish them.”
“But there aren’t other parties that are reliable enough to win my vote.”
Rintaro Nishimura, of the think tank The Asia Group, said that win or lose, Ishiba’s position was tenuous.
“Regardless of what the election results are, Ishiba’s longevity as prime minister is in question.”
Police gear up for large, rival London protests
LONDON: Right-wing, anti-immigrant protesters and opposing anti-racism demonstrators are both planning large rallies in London on Saturday, closely watched by a beefed up police operation aimed at heading off any clashes between the rival gatherings.
A “Unite the Kingdom” march organized by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, is due to meet at London’s Victoria train station before marching toward parliament.
Meanwhile a counterprotest of anti-racism campaigners and trade unionists will gather at the other end of Whitehall, the main thoroughfare toward parliament from the opposite direction where many government departments are located.
“We are well prepared for what is set to be a busy day in the center of London,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams, who is leading a policing operation that will involve drafting in officers from around the country.
“We will have significant resources in place to respond to any incidents, to deal decisively with any offenses, and to keep disruption to other members of the public and businesses to a minimum,” she said on Friday.
Britain saw days of rioting in towns and cities across the country at the end of July in the wake of the murder of three young girls at a dance workshop in Southport, after misinformation on social media wrongly identified the suspected killer as a Muslim migrant.
The unrest, which targeted hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques, ended after a clampdown by the authorities that included more than 1,500 arrests and about 1,000 people charged.
The right-wing protesters describe themselves as “patriots,” who say Britain is under threat from migrants and Islamification. Their critics, including most lawmakers, say their number includes racists, far-right supporters and soccer hooligans bent on violence.
“Tomorrow we’re back, and won’t be ignored or silenced,” Yaxley-Lennon said on X on Friday.
However, according to his social media account, he will not be at the march in person as he is being held in police custody over the weekend ahead of a contempt of court case that is due to be heard on Monday.
US urges Iran to ‘cease attacks’ on Israel to break cycle of fighting
- The United States did not participate in Israeli strikes on Iran
WASHINGTON: The United States urged Iran on Saturday to stop attacking Israel to break the cycle of violence after Israel launched strikes against the Islamic republic in retaliation for a missile barrage.
“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.
The Israeli military conducted air strikes against Iran on Saturday, hitting military bases and missile sites, and other systems in several regions.
“Their response was an exercise in self-defense and specifically avoided populated areas and focused solely on military targets, contrary to Iran’s attack against Israel that targeted Israel’s most populous city,” he added.
Stressing that the United States did not participate in the operation, he said “it is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.”
A senior administration official said President Joe Biden and his national security team have worked with the “Israelis over recent weeks to encourage Israel to conduct a response that was targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm.”
“And that appears to have been precisely what transpired this evening,” the official told reporters.
President Biden had encouraged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to design a response that served to deter further attacks against Israel while reducing risks of further escalation, and that is our objective.”
US approves $2 billion arms sales to Taiwan including missiles
- The sale, which awaits approval by Congress, includes several anti-aircraft systems
- The agency also announced the sale of radar systems to Taiwan worth $828 million
WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Friday approved a $2 billion arms sale package for Taiwan including advanced surface-to-air missile systems and radar, a move that could provoke Beijing.
The sale, which awaits approval by Congress, includes several anti-aircraft systems, including NASAMS and 123 missiles totaling $1.16 billion, according to the agency responsible for the sale.
The agency also announced the sale of radar systems to Taiwan worth $828 million.
The equipment will be derived from US Air Force supplies.
While the United States does not officially recognize Taiwan diplomatically, it is Taipei’s key partner and major provider of weapons — a point of consternation for Beijing, which has repeatedly called on Washington to stop arming the island, which it claims is part of its territory.
Beijing has regularly expressed anger at international support for Taipei and accused Washington of meddling in its affairs.
China maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around the island.
Beijing has said it will never renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has also stepped up rhetoric about “unification” being “inevitable.”
Earlier this month, Taiwan detected a record 153 Chinese aircraft in one day.
In September, Beijing sanctioned US defense companies in retaliation for Washington’s approval of the sale of military equipment to Taiwan.
Beyonce endorses Kamala Harris in joyful speech at Houston rally: ‘I’m here as a mother’
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyonce said at a Houston rally for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign Friday night. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
At the end, Beyonce — who was joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland — introduced Harris with, “Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, loud, Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.”
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hilary Clinton in Cleveland.
Houston is Beyonce’s hometown, and Harris’ presidential campaign has taken on Beyonce’s 2016 track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.
Harris first used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyonce’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyonce gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Arriving in the back-half of “Lemonade,” “Freedom” samples two John and Alan Lomax field recordings, which document Jim Crow-era folk spirituals of Southern Black churches and the work songs of Black prisoners from 1959 and 1948, respectively. It also features Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar.
Kinitra D. Brooks, an academic and author of “The Lemonade Reader,” says the song “‘Freedom” is so important because it shows that freedom isn’t free. The freedom to be yourself, the political freedom ... it’s the idea that you must fight for freedom, and that it is winnable.”
The Harris rally in Houston highlighted the perilous medical fallout from the state’s strict abortion ban and putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump.
Since abortion was restricted in Texas, the state’s infant death rate has increased, more babies have died of birth defects and maternal mortality has risen.
