International

Biden will resume his campaign events next week and presents an improvement of COVID-19

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, who is at his home in Delaware after having contracted COVID-19, announced on Friday that next week he will resume his campaign events for the November elections.

The campaign made the announcement in a statement in which it lashes out against the “dark vision” that former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) outlined during his speech of acceptance of the Republican nomination on Thursday night at the party convention in Milwaukee.

“I’m looking forward to returning to the electoral campaign next week,” Biden said in the statement, which comes at a time when the pressure has redoubled to end his candidacy, with more members of Congress publicly asking him this Friday to “pass the witness” to someone younger.

In that statement, Biden makes no mention of the revolt within his party and only raises the elections as a dilemma between his vision for the United States and the one outlined by Trump during his speech. “The challenge is great and the choice is clear. Together, we will win,” he says.

In most of the statement he criticizes Trump, saying that his 90-minute speech “focused on his own grievances” and did not put on the table any plan to “unite” the country or to “improve the lives of workers.”

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“Donald Trump’s dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the polls,” he says.

Trump gave a speech of an hour and a half on Thursday in which he began with a gloomy tone, alluding to the attempted murder he suffered only a few days ago, and in which he called for unity, although he also gave space to conspiracy theories about electoral fraud in the 2020 elections and returned to his harsh rhetoric against migrants.

President Joe Biden has shown a “significant” improvement since Thursday although he continues to have symptoms from COVID-19, especially cough, as reported this Friday by the president’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, in a letter distributed by the White House.

“His dry cough and hoarseness continue to be his main symptoms, but they have improved significantly since yesterday,” the doctor said in a statement.

Biden is in isolation in his Delaware home, after last Wednesday he tested positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Nevada, a key state for the November elections.

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About thirty members of Congress have publicly asked Biden to withdraw from the presidential race and several publicly asked him this Friday to “pass the witness,” in a drip that increases the pressure on the president.

Biden has seen in recent hours how his support weakens among key figures of the party. As reported on Thursday by The Washington Post, Former President Barack Obama (2009-2017) has told his close circle that Biden should “seriously reconsider” the future of his candidacy.

The call for him to withdraw came after the debate on June 27 against Trump, in which Biden, who at 81 years old is the oldest president in the history of the United States, projected an aged image and had difficulty concluding some sentences.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.