An age-old problem? Octogenarian Biden faces questions on 2024 race
The Guardian Weekly|January 13, 2023
Joe Biden has presided over legislative deals that American presidents have sought for years, struggled with unpopularity yet led the Democrats to a historically strong performance in last year’s midterm elections, all before turning 80.
Chris Stein
An age-old problem? Octogenarian Biden faces questions on 2024 race

Now, in the coming months, Biden will probably answer a simple question: would he still want to be president at the age of 86? And, if so, is he prepared to take down Donald Trump, 76, – or perhaps another, possibly much younger, Republican candidate – to win a second term in 2024?

Should the answer be yes, Biden will make clear that despite many Americans’ wariness and the fact that he is the oldest president ever to occupy the White House, he is ready to continue leading the Democrats.

But if the answer is no, a vigorous battle to inherit his crown will ensue, with everyone from his vice-president, Kamala Harris, to his transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, expected to participate.

By all outward appearances, Biden plans to run for a second term. “Watch me,” he replied in November, when asked to respond to one of the many polls that has found a majority of Americans do not want him to stand again. That same month, one of the biggest arguments against his candidacy – that his unpopularity would harm Democrats nationwide – was undercut when the party did better than expected in the midterms.

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What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0
The Guardian Weekly

What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0

THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.

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New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?
The Guardian Weekly

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DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.

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5 mins  |
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Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?
The Guardian Weekly

Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?

'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"

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November 15, 2024
Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian Weekly

Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland

Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

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4 mins  |
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Trump's return is bleak for America and the world
The Guardian Weekly

Trump's return is bleak for America and the world

This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.

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Flower Power
The Guardian Weekly

Flower Power

Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice

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10+ mins  |
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When adult children cut the cord
The Guardian Weekly

When adult children cut the cord

Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best

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10+ mins  |
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Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping
The Guardian Weekly

Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping

In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".

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2 mins  |
November 15, 2024
The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare
The Guardian Weekly

The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare

It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.

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Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton
The Guardian Weekly

Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton

Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves

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4 mins  |
November 15, 2024