Five Things to Know, July 22, 2024
1. Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to lock up Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their own party that he would be unable to defeat Donald Trump. Biden’s exit Sunday, prompted by Democratic worries over his fitness for office, was a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both parties’ carefully honed plans for the race.
2. At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, President Joe Biden’s senior staff was notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public. It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in. His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.
3. Two U.S. Air Force long-range bombers that had a close encounter over the weekend with Russian fighters over the Barents Sea landed at an allied base near the Black Sea hours later, according to the service. The arrival of the B-52H Stratofortress bombers at Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on Sunday marks the first time U.S. strategic bombers have operated from the installation, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa said the same day. The base, known as MK to forces deployed there, serves as the main operational hub for the U.S. military in the Black Sea region. It is undergoing a multibillion-dollar expansion by NATO that will make it larger than even Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
4. South Korea said Sunday it was bolstering its anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the tense border with rival North Korea, after the North launched more trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea. The Cold War-style psychological battle between the two Koreas is adding to already-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with the rivals threatening stronger steps against each other and warning of devastating consequences.
5. Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people, including women and children overnight in Gaza, according to hospital officials and a body count by an Associated Press journalist on Sunday. The latest strikes occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Monday for the United States, where he is expected to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress to make his case for the nine-month war against Hamas while cease-fire negotiations continue. A team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday, Netanyahu’s office said.