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The World That Was-Donald Trump, Israel, Joe Biden, USA
Adrian Olivier,
Sunday 14 July – Sunday 21 July:
On Monday, Donald Trump picked Senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate. Trump made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social on the first day of the Republican National Convention and said Vance would “be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.” Vance began courting Trump after the former president left office, beginning with a spring 2021 meeting at Mar-a-Lago accompanied by the venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Vance once worked for Thiel, who pumped tens of millions of dollars into his candidacy. Vance was the lone senator who opposed a North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed no-fly zone in Ukraine, and his comments caught the eye of Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., according to a mutual friend of both men.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk is committing around $45 million a month to a new pro-Trump Super PAC called America PAC. Other backers of the group include Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, the Winklevoss twins, former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and her husband, Joe Craft, who is chief executive of coal producer Alliance Resource Partners.
On Wednesday, one of Nancy Pelosi’s closest allies in the House, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif), called for Biden to end his presidential campaign, which has reportedly sent a shockwave throughout the Democratic Party and is an indication that Pelosi is preparing to increase her public pressure on Joe Biden to pull out of the presidential race.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden, 81 years old, tested positive for Covid. His press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said he would return to his home state of Delaware to self-isolate. He tested positive during a two-day campaign trip in the state of Nevada. He had been scheduled to speak at a UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas. UnidosUS is a Hispanic advocavy group. A note from Biden’s doctor provided by the White House said the president’s “symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97%.” Biden has received his first dose of Paxlovid and the results of a PCR test are pending, according to the note. He previously had Covid in the summer of 2022.
On Thursday, Axios reported that top Democrats said that President Biden would be persuaded by congressional leaders and close friends to drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend.
On Thursday, OpenAI released a smaller and cheaper version of the technology that powers ChatGPT. The release is an effort by the company known for cutting-edge artificial intelligence research to become a more successful business. The new version of its AI model, called GPT-4o mini, is 60% cheaper to use than the model that powered ChatGPT until recently, called GPT-3.5 turbo, the company said, and scores higher on tests it uses to measure intelligence and effectiveness. OpenAI said GPT-4o mini can currently interpret text and image inputs and will later add the capability to scan and output audio and video. The technology was rolled out to people who use the free and premium versions of ChatGPT starting Thursday. The company said it would be available to corporate customers next week.
On Friday, millions of computers around the world stopped working after a software update issued by the little-known cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, wreaking havoc on airlines, healthcare systems, banks and other businesses. The outage was attributed to a glitch in the update and is a clear example of the fragility of the global economy and its dependence on individual companies and software. The glitch affected machines running the Microsoft Windows operating system. George Kurtz, CrowdStrike’s chief executive, said it was not a security incident or a cyberattack. He said a fix had been sent out but warned that it could take some time to be put in place. Some security professionals have warned that Microsoft hasn’t taken the vulnerability of its software seriously enough. Friday’s meltdown brought a trade-off inherent to Windows into sharp relief. Its open design gives developers the freedom to design powerful software that interacts with the operating system at a very deep level. But when things go wrong, the results can be catastrophic, as millions discovered on Friday. CrowdStrike’s bug was so devastating because its security software, called Falcon, runs at the most central level of Windows, the kernel, so when an update to Falcon caused it to crash, it also took out the brains of the operating system. That is when the blue screen of death appeared. On Saturday, Microsoft in a blog post said 8.5 million Windows machines were hit, or less than 1% of its global footprint.
On Friday, a Houthi drone travelled over 2,000 km and slipped through Israel’s formidable air defences to target Tel Aviv. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted Tel Aviv with a new drone called “Yaffa” that can evade Israeli air-defence systems.
On Friday, in related news, the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. has launched an effort to prevent Russia from arming the Houthis with antiship missiles after U.S. intelligence agencies warned the Kremlin is mulling the move. Russia has previously considered arming the Houthis but reportedly was persuaded by the Saudis against the action. U.S. intelligence says the move would be retaliation for the Biden administration’s support for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons. Moscow has already sparked deep concern among U.S. officials by solidifying ties with North Korea and Iran and securing China’s help in strengthening the Russian defence industry. Some analysts think Russians might be brandishing the threat of sending anti-ship missiles to discourage the administration from taking additional steps to assist Kyiv, such as authorizing Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, weapons against airfields on Russian territory. The new intelligence comes as the top U.S. Middle East commander recently advised in a classified letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that military operations in the region are “failing” to deter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and that a broader approach is needed, according to U.S. officials. The administration’s diplomatic effort to head off Moscow’s transfer of missiles to Yemen involves using a third country to try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to join Iran in providing weapons to the Houthis, according to U.S. officials, who declined to identify the country.
On Saturday, the Israeli military launched a direct airstrike against Houthi rebels in Yemen for the first time, striking an oil depot among other targets. Israel said its F-15 jet fighters struck several targets in the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah, which set fuel tanks ablaze and damaged the city’s power plant, a Houthi official said. Health authorities said several people had died and more than 80 were wounded. Israel’s military didn’t respond to a request for comment on casualties. Saturday’s attack in Yemen, more than 2,000 km from Israel, is one of the furthest strikes that Israel’s air force has conducted, said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman.
On Sunday, President Biden said on X he was ending his 2024 presidential run, marking one of the most monumental political collapses in American history as his senility became clear to all during June’s disastrous debate performance. The White House and media have long harshly criticised those who have pointed out Biden’s failing mental state. In a subsequent tweet, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris: “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said on X. “Democrats—it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.” Biden said he would speak to the nation later this week in more detail about his decision.
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