Biden delivers solemn call to defend democracy as he lays out his reasons for quitting race
By: Zeke Miller, Seung Min Kim And Will Weissert
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country’s democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Insisting that “the defence of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden used his first public address since his announcement Sunday that he was stepping aside to deliver an implicit repudiation of former President Donald Trump. He did not directly call out Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. The 10-minute address also gave Biden a chance to try to shape how history will remember his one and only term in office.
“Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” Biden said, in a somber coda to his 50 years spent in public office. “And that includes personal ambition.”
It was a moment for the history books — a U.S. president reflecting before the nation on why he was taking the rare step of voluntarily handing off power. It hasn’t been done since 1968, when Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection in the heat of the Vietnam War.
“I revere this office,” Biden said. “But I love my country more.”
Wildfires prompt California evacuations as crews battle Oregon and Idaho fires stoked by lightning
By: Rebecca Boone
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Rapidly growing wildfires prompted evacuations in Northern California on Thursday, a day after powerful winds and lightning strikes in Oregon and Idaho cut power and stoked fires, including one in Oregon that was the largest active blaze in the United States.
Evacuations were ordered in California’s Butte and Tehama counties as crews battled a fire reported near Chico just before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The blaze, dubbed the Park Fire, quickly spread from about 10 square miles (26 square kilometres) to more than 70 square miles (180 square kilometres) and was only 3 per cent contained early Thursday, according to CAL FIRE. The cause was under investigation.
The Durkee Fire, burning near the Oregon-Idaho border about 130 miles (209 kilometers) west of Boise, Idaho, caused the closure of a stretch of Interstate 84 again Wednesday. Amid rapidly forming storms in the afternoon, the blaze crossed the interstate near the town of Huntington, home to about 500 people. It also merged with the Cow Valley Fire, another large blaze that had been burning nearby, Gov. Tina Kotek said.
The National Weather Service in Boise said the storms were capable of producing wind gusts up to 70 mph with blowing dust reducing visibility.
Wind, lightning and heavy rain fell that could cause flash flooding and debris flows in recently burned areas, authorities said. Flash flood warnings were issued for Huntington and in a nearby burn scar area.
Typhoon Gaemi hits China’s coast after leaving 25 dead in Taiwan and the Philippines
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strong typhoon made landfall on China’s southeastern coast on Thursday evening after sweeping across the nearby island of Taiwan, where it caused landslides and flooding in low-lying areas and left three dead.
Typhoon Gaemi had swept up the western Pacific, intensifying seasonal rains earlier in the week in the Philippines, where the death toll climbed to 22.
Offices and schools in Taiwan were closed for a second day on Thursday and people were urged to stay home and away from the coastline.
Two people were killed on Wednesday before the storm made landfall around midnight, and a 78-year-old man died after his home was hit by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said. Another 380 people were reported injured.
The storm is expected to weaken but still bring heavy rains to inland areas over the next three days, including the capital, Beijing.
In the Philippines, the death toll rose due to drownings and landslides. At least three people were missing, according to police.
A slight temperature drop makes Tuesday the world’s second-hottest day
By: Sibi Arasu And Seth Borenstein
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Global temperatures dropped a minuscule amount after two days of record highs, making Tuesday only the world’s second-hottest day ever measured.
The European climate service Copernicus calculated that Tuesday’s global average temperature was 0.01 Celsius (0.01 Fahrenheit) lower than Monday’s all-time high of 17.16 degrees Celsius (62.8 degrees Fahrenheit), which was .06 degrees Celsius hotter (0.1 degrees Fahrenheit) than Sunday.
All three days were hotter than Earth’s previous hottest day in 2023.
“The steady drumbeat of hottest-day-ever records and near-records is concerning for three main reasons. The first is that heat is a killer. The second is that the health impacts of heat waves become much more serious when events persist. The third is that the hottest-day records this year are a surprise,” said Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field.
Heavy rain in northern Japan triggers floods and landslides, forcing hundreds to take shelter
TOKYO (AP) — Heavy rain hit northern Japan Thursday, triggering floods and landslides, disrupting transportation systems and forcing hundreds of residents to take shelter at safer grounds.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued emergency warnings of heavy rain for several municipalities in the Yamagata and Akita prefecture, where warm and humid air was flowing.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, one person went missing in Yuzawa city — in the Akita prefecture — after being hit by a landslide at a road construction site.
Rescue workers in the city evacuated 11 people from the flooded area with the help of a boat.
Philippine oil tanker sinks in Manila Bay, raising fears of a possible major spill near the capital
By: Jim Gomez
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine oil tanker sank in Manila Bay early Thursday after encountering huge waves, leaving a crewman dead and 16 others rescued in a late-night operation by the coast guard. The force was also assessing whether the vessel was leaking oil — in what could be a major spill — that could reach the bustling capital.
The tanker Terra Nova left Bataan province en route to the central province of Iloilo with about 1.4 million litres (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil stored in watertight tanks when it got lashed by huge waves and took on water.
The sinking followed days of monsoon rains, exacerbated by a passing offshore typhoon, that set off landslides and flooding across the archipelago, leaving at least 22 people dead and displacing more than half a million people.
An aerial survey spotted an oil slick about 3.7 kilometres (2.3 miles) long near the rough seawaters where the tanker sank but that may have come from the fuel that powered the tanker’s engine, not the oil cargo the Terra Nova was carrying, Balilo said.
More than 100 flights cancelled in Germany as environmental activists target airports across Europe
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s busiest airport cancelled more than 100 flights Thursday as environmental activists launched a coordinated effort to disrupt air travel across Europe at the height of the summer holiday season to highlight the threat posed by climate change.
Frankfurt Airport said flights were halted for safety reasons after climate activists breached security fences, triggering a response from police, firefighters and airport security officers. All runways were back in operation by 7:50 a.m. local time, it said. About 140 flights have been cancelled so far, but further disruptions are expected throughout the day, the airport said.
Environmental groups said they planned to target airports around Europe this summer to remind people about the link between fossil fuels, such as those used by airliners, and climate change. The groups are calling for governments around the world to end the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030.