Biden vows to stay in US presidential race, governors offer support – Newstrends
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Biden vows to stay in US presidential race, governors offer support

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US President Joe Biden

Biden vows to stay in US presidential race, governors offer support

United States President Joe Biden has pledged to continue his re-election campaign “to the end”, as the embattled Democrat fights to keep his candidacy alive amid growing alarm over his physical and mental fitness.

Biden, 81, on Wednesday insisted that he would keep running despite growing pressure from within his party to step aside following last week’s disastrous debate performance against his Republican challenger Donald Trump.

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said on a call with campaign staffers.

“I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end, and we’re going to win.”

Biden’s defiant remarks came after US media reports indicated that the president and his team have acknowledged that his candidacy is at risk of collapsing within days if he cannot convince the public of his fitness for office.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre denied those reports, insisting Biden was “clear-eyed, and he is staying in the race”.

Concerns about Biden’s age and condition have boiled over since last Thursday’s debate, when the president gave several answers that meandered into incoherence.

While acknowledging that Biden performed poorly at the debate, his team has dismissed suggestions that he has dementia or is otherwise cognitively impaired.

White House officials initially blamed Biden’s poor performance on a cold.

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Biden on Tuesday said he had been exhausted after making back-to-back trips to France and Italy, although he spent the week leading up to the debate behind closed doors at the presidential retreat, Camp David.

Raul Grijalva, a House representative from Arizona, on Wednesday became the second elected Democrat to call on Biden to step aside, following Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett the previous day.

Several other elected Democrats have publicly questioned Biden’s condition or said they believe he will lose against Trump in November.

“The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely deliver us President Trump. When your current strategy isn’t working, it’s rarely the right decision to double down,” Seth Moulton, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts, said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that he was “taking time” to consider the best path forward for his party.

“President Biden is not going to get younger.”

Democrat disquiet

Late on Wednesday, Biden received a boost from a group of Democratic governors who reiterated their support for the president after a meeting with him and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.

“The president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore told reporters.

“The president is our nominee,” Moore said. “The president is our party leader.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who also attended the meeting, said Biden was “in it to win it and I support him.”

At 78, Biden was the oldest person ever sworn into the US presidency following his victory in the 2020 election over Trump. A second victory would see him leave office at the age of 86. If Trump were to win in November, he would also be 78 when he enters office for his second term.

Biden’s age has been a longstanding concern among voters, and his support among the public appears to have slipped substantially since his debate appearance.

In a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Wednesday, Trump led Biden 49 percent to 41 percent among registered voters, the highest margin since 2015.

Nearly three-quarters of voters, including a majority of Democrats, believe the president is too old to do a second term, a five-point rise since the debate, according to the poll.

In a CNN poll published earlier this week, three-quarters of registered voters said Democrats would have a better chance at winning the election with someone other than Biden on the ticket.

Voters also favoured Trump over Biden, 49 percent to 43 percent.

Harris did moderately better, gaining the support of 45 percent of voters compared with Trump’s 47 percent.

If Biden were to step aside, it would cast the race into uncharted territory. The US presidential primary season, when party members typically vote on who they want to be their candidate, has already ended, although the party’s candidate will not be finalised until the Democratic National Convention next month.

Harris, who has rallied behind her boss, is considered the most likely successor if Biden were to step aside.

Other names floated include Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

Biden vows to stay in US presidential race, governors offer support

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Search for survivors continue as death toll in Myanmar earthquake exceeds 1,600

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Search for survivors continue as death toll in Myanmar earthquake exceeds 1,600

The death toll in Myanmar earthquake hit 1,644, the military government said on Saturday, according to BBC, CNN, Reuters and other reports.

In neighbouring Thailand, where the quake rattled buildings and brought down a skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, at least nine people were killed.

Survivors in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, dug with their bare hands on Friday in desperate attempts to save those still trapped, lacking heavy machinery and with authorities absent.

In Bangkok on Saturday, rescue operations continued at the site of the 33-storey tower’s collapse, where 47 people were missing or trapped under the rubble – including workers from Myanmar.

The US Geological Service’s predictive modelling estimated Myanmar’s death toll could exceed 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output.

A day after making a rare call for international assistance, Myanmar’s junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, travelled to hard-hit Mandalay near the epicentre of the quake, which brought down buildings and triggered fires in some areas.

Chairman of the State Administration Council instructed authorities to expedite search and rescue efforts and address any urgent needs,” the junta said in a statement on state media, referring to Min Aung Hlaing.

Airports closed

An initial assessment by Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government said at least 2,900 buildings, 30 roads and seven bridges had been damaged by the quake.

“Due to significant damage, Naypyitaw and Mandalay international airports are temporarily closed,” said the NUG, which includes remnants of the elected civilian government ousted by the military in a 2021 coup that triggered the civil war.

The control tower at the airport in Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s purpose-built capital city, collapsed, rendering it inoperable, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

Hospitals in central and northwestern Myanmar were struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, warning that damage to roads was hindering access.

Seventeen cargo trucks of shelter and medical supplies were due to arrive on Sunday to address shortages of medicines, including blood bags and anaesthetics, the agency added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with the junta chief, China’s embassy in Myanmar said on Saturday, and said Beijing would provide $13.77 million worth of aid, including tents, blankets and emergency medical kits.

The United States, which has a testy relationship with the Myanmar military and has sanctioned its officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, has said it would provide some assistance.

Relief supplies from India on a military aircraft also landed in Yangon, according to Myanmar state media, and India’s government said it was also dispatching ships with 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending planeloads of relief supplies and personnel.

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$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned

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$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned

A coin collection, much of which remained buried underground for over 50 years, is expected to surpass $100 million at auction, according to experts.

Named the Traveller Collection, this extraordinary assemblage is believed to be the most valuable coin collection ever brought to auction.

The coins will be sold gradually over the next three years, with the first auction set for May 20.

Beyond its immense value, the collection’s origins make for a fascinating tale.

Spanning over 100 territories and encompassing coins from ancient times to the modern era, the collection is being auctioned by Numismatica Ars Classica.

What sets it apart is that most of the coins remained hidden underground for half a century before resurfacing.

According to a press release shared with CNN, the anonymous collector behind the collection began acquiring gold coins after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Over time, he developed “a taste for coins with great historical interest, beauty and rarity” and eventually amassed approximately 15,000 coins.

During the 1930s, he and his wife traveled extensively across the Americas and Europe, acquiring rare and historically significant coins while meticulously documenting their purchases.

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Despite settling in Europe at a time when Hitler’s Nazi party loomed over the continent, the collector sensed the impending danger. In response, he carefully packed the coins into cigar boxes, which were then placed inside aluminum containers and buried underground, where they remained undisturbed for five decades.

Among the collection is a 50 Toman coin, part of an “exceedingly rare” set minted in Tehran and Isfahan during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

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AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates

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Bill Gates

AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates

Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, has claimed that improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade may render humans superfluous for the majority of work.

In a recent interview with comedian Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s The Tonight Show in February, the billionaire philanthropist discussed how AI may take over many facets of life and business.

Gates remarked that expertise is currently “rare”, emphasising the continuous reliance on human specialists in industries such as medicine and education.

For example, we continue to rely on highly trained individuals, such as “a great doctor” or “a great teacher”, whose knowledge cannot be simply replaced by AI.

However, “with AI, over the next decade, that will become free, commonplace — great medical advice, great tutoring,” Gates said.

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In other words, Gates believes that the world is entering a new era of “free intelligence”, as he described in a recent interview with Harvard University professor and happiness specialist Arthur Brooks.

According to Gates, this transition will result in rapid breakthroughs in AI-powered technology, making them more accessible and affecting almost every part of our lives.

These breakthroughs will vary from more effective treatments and diagnoses to widely available AI instructors and virtual assistants.

“It’s very profound and even a little bit scary — because it’s happening very quickly, and there is no upper bound,” Gates told Brooks.

The discussion of how humans will fit into an AI-powered future continues.

Some analysts suggest that artificial intelligence will improve human productivity rather than completely replacing labour, hence driving economic growth and creating new jobs.

However, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman cautions that technological improvements in the coming years will disrupt the nature of most occupations across nearly all industries, potentially exerting a “hugely destabilising” influence on the workforce.

 

AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates

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