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Joe Biden continues to face prominent calls to step aside from voices in his own party, as the 80-year-old president vows that he will win reelection in 2024. In a normal election year, any incumbent president would coast to victory in their party’s nominating contests, and next year is likely to be no exception. But Mr Biden is facing more criticism than most as many Democrats openly fret whether the oldest-ever president to be sworn into office will be able to be an effective standard-bearer for his party next year. One of those Democrats sounding the alarm bells is Rep Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota who has been the only elected member of his party in the House or Senate to openly call for Mr Biden to face a serious primary challenge. As of now, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is not planning to host debates for the 2024 primary season, meaning that the president will never face any of his challengers onstage. Mr Phillips pointed out, in a Sunday interview with Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press, that while Mr Biden is generally leading nationally against opponents like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, he trails those same candidates or ties them statistically in some polling of key swing states, such as Arizona and Michigan. The “majority” of Americans, he said, want Mr Biden to “pass the torch” and let other Democrats have a real competition for the 2024 primary — even as he attempted to back away from the idea that he himself would mount a bid. The congressman suggested that the candidate to take on Republicans next year should be a governor from the midwest or the Rust Belt, nodding as Mr Todd named Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and his own home state’s Tim Walz. He also named JB Pritzker, governor of Illinois. “Some people have asked me that I not use their names, because of this institutional fear that it might impact you down the road,” he noted. “[But] this is the time to meet the moment.” The mention of Mr Pritzker as a potential candidate by Mr Phillips is significant, given that the governor has been spotted in early primary states and is viewed by many Democrats and political analysts alike as a politician with both national aspirations and the credibility to mount a real bid. The billionaire governor has won many fans in the party with his record in the state and has the financial means to bankroll a national bid, which would put him at an immediate advantage over possible rivals. One figure that Mr Phillips is notably not putting his support behind is Senator Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who is rumoured to be considering exiting the Democratic Party entirely, following the footsteps (or coattails) of Sen Kyrsten Sinema. Mr Manchin is also known to be considering launching an independent bid for the presidency should he make the jump to leave the party, and would likely do so with the backing of No Labels, a group of rabblerousing centrists that have been threatening to support a third-party challenger for months. Mr Biden’s polling woes in key swing states have worried some Democrats who see a repeat of 2016 on the horizon; for months, Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump in national polling only to be undone in key swing states where her campaign had spent little to no effort to be competitive. Numerous surveys of the 2024 field have indicated that a slight majority of Democrats want Mr Biden to step aside and open up the field for younger competitors. But those same polls also indicate that he holds a massive lead over the only Democrats who have announced bids so far, author Marianne Williamson and Robert F Kennedy, known for his activism against medical authorities. Read More Ted Cruz rails against Hunter Biden special counsel appointment that he requested Biden and House Democrats hope to make curbing 'junk fees' a winning issue in 2024 ‘You know the answer’: Trump mocked for sarcastic response to 2020 election interference question

A lawyer for Hunter Biden said he’s committed to avoiding a trial for the US president’s son, whose

Pittards are calling in administrators after failing to secure necessary funds.

The wife of Rex Heuermann, the man charged with killing at least three women and burying their bodies on a beach beside a remote coastal highway, may sue police for leaving her home in a “shambles” in their search for evidence. Asa Ellerup is living in a “waking surreal nightmare,” her attorney said on Friday. She is also struggling to pay for cancer treatment while living in a house that she claims was trashed by investigators searching for possible evidence of her husband’s alleged crimes. At a press conference on Long Island, attorneys for Ms Ellerup, Mr Heuermann’s estranged wife, and his two adult children, announced the family planned to follow a notice of claim, a move that would allow them to eventually sue police for “leaving their home in shambles”. “Their valuables were shattered, their places were destroyed, the place they laid their heads no longer exists,” said Vess Mitev, an attorney who is also representing Mr Heuermann’s daughter, Victoria, and stepson, Christopher Sheridan. “They’re going through a horrific emotional time that none of us can imagine,” he added, previously describing their experience as that of a “surreal, walking horror show”. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has said police followed standard procedure during their 12-day search of the house. Ms Ellerup is currently scrambling to find a way to pay for her skin and breast cancer treatment, attorneys said. Her current medical insurance, which is tied to her husband’s employment, runs out later this year. She has spoken to her husband by phone but has not visited him and filed for divorce from Mr Heuermann last month just days after the bombshell arrest of the architect in a case that has baffled authorities for over a decade. The family has raised more than $40,000 through a GoFundMe started by Melissa Moore, the daughter of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, known as the “Happy Face Killer”. That crowd-funding campaign has generated some controversy. John Ray, an attorney for Shannon Gilbert, a woman found dead on a coastal marsh near Mr Heuermann’s alleged victims, urged the public against donating to the family, describing them as suspects in the case, rather than victims. Suffolk Police have concluded that Gilbert drowned accidentally — a finding her family has not accepted, believing she was also killed. Mr Heuermann was charged last month in the deaths of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Megan Waterman. Their remains were found on Gilgo Beach just off Long Island. He is the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes. All four of the women were believed to be engaged in sex work prior to their disappearance. Other remains were also found in the vicinity but no connection has been made to Mr Heuermann, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bob Macedonio, an attorney for Ms Ellerup, said Mr Heuermann was living a “complete double life,” with his wife and children totally in the dark about his alleged crimes. The lawyers said there has been no contact between the authorities and any family members. Mr Heuermann is due back in court on 27 September. With reporting by the Associated Press Read More Ten deaths, two arrests and a person of interest: Multiple potential serial killers identified in one week How the Gilgo Beach serial killer turned the Long Island shore into a graveyard Rex Heuermann’s wife had bizarre response to Gilgo Beach murders arrest as divorce filing revealed Rex Heuermann’s ‘disturbing’ online behaviour days before Gilgo Beach arrest revealed Gilgo Beach murders suspect must submit DNA sample, judge rules Manhattan architect, family man and accused serial killer: Who is Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann?

Ted Cruz was among more than 30 senators urging US Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint Davis Weiss as special counsel to lead investigations into Hunter Biden. That was 19 September 2022. Less than a year later, on 11 August, Mr Garland announced that Mr Weiss would receive special counsel status. But the Republican senator from Texas is now calling the appointment of the same person he was urgently recommending a “wildly inappropriate” pick to lead the investigation. “This appointment is camouflage and it’s cover-up. I think it’s disgraceful,” he told Fox News on 13 August. Mr Weiss, who has served as the US Attorney for Delaware since 2018, has led federal investigations into President Joe Biden’s son since 2019. Last month, Hunter Biden was reportedly prepared to enter a plea deal following charges stemming from unpaid taxes and a federal application for a firearm. That deal appeared to fall apart, and Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to two of the charges after a federal judge questioned whether the deal would prohibit other potential prosecutions. IRS whistleblowers speaking to Republican members of Congress who are eager to prosecute the president’s son have claimed that it was necessary that Mr Weiss be designated special counsel powers because he could not pursue prosecutions in other jurisdictions outside of Delaware, as the US attorney for that state. Whistleblowers also testified that US Department of Justice officials had prevented Mr Weiss from seeking felony tax evasion charges in California and Washington DC. Mr Cruz is now accusing Mr Weiss of either being an “active participant” in covering up “criminality” and obstructing justice by “protecting” the president, or “he was just complicit.” “He was so weak that he couldn’t stop the partisans in main justice from turning it into a political effort to protect Joe Biden,” Mr Cruz said. But in their letter to Mr Garland last year, Mr Cruz and 32 other senators said it is “important” that Mr Weiss receive special counsel status to “allow him to investigate an appropriate scope of potentially criminal conduct, avoid the appearance of impropriety, and provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden is free from political influence.” Mr Cruz now accuses Mr Weiss of spending “the last five years covering it up”. The senator has also been requesting information from Mr Weiss this month, sending a letter with a list of questions surrounding whistleblower testimony, none of which accuse Mr Weiss of wrongdoing. The Independent has requested comment from his office. His apparent about-face follows other objections from GOP officials who had also previously called for Mr Weiss to step in as special counsel. Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, another senator who signed last year’s letter, claimed that Mr Garland only appointed Mr Weiss because “he knows Weiss will protect Hunter Biden.” In her appearance on Fox News, she called Mr Weiss “a collaborator”. “The sweetheart deal that he had cooked up for Hunter Biden, now they’re going to give him a sweetheart deal with a special counsel and run out the plot,” she said. “Merrick Garland, he owes the American people better than to do something like this.” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham – another signatory – told NewsNation that the appointment “poured gasoline on a political fire.” He told Fox News that he believes Mr Weiss has been “compromised” after a “sweetheart” plea deal fell apart. And Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley – who acknowledged signing the letter during an appearance on Fox News – said that Mr Weiss has “pulled punches” and “didn’t investigate as he should’ve.” Read More Matt Gaetz suggests he wants to be America’s next attorney general: ‘A boy can dream’ Trump and Hunter Biden legal blockbusters rock Washington – but offer a contrast House Democrats call for investigation into Clarence Thomas over corruption claims Georgia prosecutors have text messages linking Trump team to voting system breach, report says

A group of women tailed Ron DeSantis to several campaign events this past week, causing disruptions and distractions as the second-place Republican candidate seeks to pick up traction in the early caucus state. The group, B****es Get Stuff Done, showed up to at least two of the Florida governor’s events where they deployed various tactics aimed at preventing him from speaking to Republican primary voters. A website for the group states that its members are progressive Democratic women who, apparently in addition to trolling Republicans, provide resources to Democratic candidates. Among the activists from the group who participated in the demonstrations this week was the group’s founder and CEO, Heather Ryan. Chants of “pudding fingers” erupted at one DeSantis campaign event where Ms Ryan and another member of the group arrived with megaphones. At one point at the same event, a DeSantis supporter can be seen attempting to snatch a megaphone out of Heather’s hands. The governor addressed the women briefly as they carried on, but according to Politico the event (a discussion with military veterans) seemed hurried along as the protesters attempted to drown him out. “People like that are what’s holding this country back,” Mr DeSantis said at one point, according to Politico. At an event held at the week-long phenomenon that is the Iowa State Fair, the Florida governor found himself met by the women once more. There, he was joined by Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds onstage only to be drowned out by members of the group who blew whistles over the two Republicans as they spoke. Overhead, a chartered prop plane flew a banner urging the candidate to be “likable”. Mr DeSantis has put much of his campaign’s focus into the state of Iowa, where he hopes for an upset victory over Donald Trump. The former president’s campaign has been combatting that effort with mockery and derision, even though Mr Trump himself lost the Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Ted Cruz. The Florida governor has formed a close alliance with Ms Reynolds, Iowa’s popular GOP executive, but in polling has continued to trail Mr Trump by significant margins even as other Republicans close in on him from lower down in the standings. Read More Trump's Iowa state fair spectacle clouds DeSantis as former president is joined by Florida officials How Vivek Ramaswamy is pushing — delicately — to win over Trump supporters Pence signals debate plan to attack Trump and DeSantis for not pushing national abortion ban NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch: poll DeSantis is resetting his campaign again. Some Republicans worry his message is getting in the way

Georgia prosecutors have reportedly obtained text messages linking a breach of voting machines to members of Donald Trump’s team as a grand jury prepares to hear evidence in a case surrounding the former president’s attempts to overturn 2020 election results in the state. That state investigation – separate from a federal probe and indictment charging Mr Trump with three criminal conspiracies and obstruction in connection with 2020 election subversion – appears to connect Trump-linked attorneys and operatives to a breach of voting machines in Coffee County. As Mr Trump and his allies hunted for evidence of fraud to undermine Joe Biden’s definitive victory, a local elections official allegedly sent a “written invitation” to attorneys working for then-President Trump, according to text messages reportedly obtained by CNN. Last year, a former Trump official told the House select committee investigating January 6 and attempts to overturn election results said that White House officials had discussed plans to access voting machines in the state during an Oval Office meeting on 18 December 2020. While much of the attention surrounding the Georgia case has involved Mr Trump’s call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to ensure his victory, investigators have scrutinised the actions in Coffee County, and prosecutors appear prepared to argue that attempts to infiltrate sensitive voting machine software were a top-down effort from the former president. Mr Trump won the rural county in a landslide with 70 per cent of the vote. Katherine Friess, an attorney working with Trump-allied attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, among others, had shared the “invitation” to examine the county’s Dominion Voting Systems software on 1 January 2021, days before the breach, according to CNN. One month earlier, Ms Powell – who amplified false claims and conspiracy theories about Dominion that were central to a landmark defamation settlement between the company and Fox News – had previously enlisted forensics company Sullivan Strickler for $26,000 to investigate Michigan machines. Ms Friess also sent a “Letter of invitation to Coffee County, Georgia” to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was working with Mr Giuliani to bolster spurious claims of voter fraud, according to court documents in a civil case. Her texts reportedly show that she told operatives who ultimately performed the breach that Mr Trump’s team had secured written permission, CNN reported. “Just landed back in DC with the Mayor huge things starting to come together!” an employee with Sullivan Strickler reportedly wrote in a group chat on 1 January 2021. “Most immediately, we were just granted access – by written invitation! – to Coffee County’s systems. Yay!” the text reads, according to CNN. Data obtained from the Dominion Voting Systems software was uploaded to a password-protected website that could be accessed by election deniers across the country. Robert Costello, Mr Giuliani’s attorney, said that the former New York City mayor “had nothing to do with this”. “You can’t attach Rudy Giuliani to Sidney Powell’s crackpot idea,” he told CNN. A case led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is the culmination of a wide-ranging investigation over the last two years following the former president’s pressure campaign targeting state officials to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. Her office has notified at least two witnesses to appear next week before a grand jury, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are preparing to issue indictments in the coming days. She has previously indicated that a grand jury would vote on indictments by the end of August. Read More Trump steps up attacks on Fani Willis as Georgia probe links Trump team to voting system breach - latest Georgia grand jury to hear Trump election subversion case next week Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump

Bitcoin ETF candidates got another dose of disappointment when US regulators on Friday punted on making a decision

Former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is frontrunner for the post of US ambassador to Israel, Axios reported,

Argentines begin casting ballots Sunday in a critical primary election that will provide a key barometer of expectations

The Biden administration awarded $1.2 billion in support of companies looking to pull carbon from the ambient air

Amy Dowden has shared an update after announcing she has breast cancer. The dancer told fans that she underwent a single mastectomy to treat stage three breast cancer after she was first diagnosed in May. But last month, she was told she needed chemotherapy after further tumours were discovered following the surgery. Since receiving her diagnosis, Dowden, who is best known for working as a professional dancer on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing since 2017, has been raising awareness of breast cancer and updating her followers throughout her treatment. In her latest update, Dowden shared a series of posts to her Instagram Stories showing her followers the bespoke wig she had made as undergoes chemotherapy. Both Dowden and the owner of Be Unique Wigs by Charlotte shared a screenshot of their messages, as Dowden thanked her for making the wig. Charlotte, the wigmaker, wrote: “I’ve been working on a wig for the beautiful @amy_dowden and just received this lovely message from her! “I love her,” wrote Dowden in the messages, asking if she could order another one. “Thank you so so so very much.” The wigmaker said in an Instagram post that it was an ‘honour” to make the wig for the Strictly professional. “I’m hoping it will give you some comfort in a difficult time, I’ve said many times on here... it’s not just hair!” said the wigmaker. “Losing your hair can make such a difference to your confidence it’s almost like losing part of your identity,” Charlotte added. Last month, in an Instagram Live conversation for the charity CoppaFeel!, Dowden spoke about being told she’d need chemotherapy after more tumours were discovered following her mastectomy. “For me my journey everything changed,” she explained. “I was originally going to have a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. But then, after my MRI, they found another tumour so then it changed into a mastectomy and then, after my mastectomy, unfortunately, they found even more tumours. “They found another type of cancer and then they told me I needed chemo – for me that was a massive blow,” she continued. “It wasn’t in the plan, originally – and I know the plan you can’t get fixated on.” Dowden also added that would not be able to dance in a competitive capacity on this year’s Strictly. “This year, it means I’m not going to be able to dance with a celebrity on Strictly, but I’m in such regular contact with the team – the BBC have just been utterly incredible,” she said. “The rest of the year looked very different to what was planned but hopefully I’ll enter 2024 cancer free and I’ll never take anything for granted and promise to live life to the full,” she wrote in a post last month. Dowden joined Strictly in 2017, and has competed in every series since, reaching the final in 2019 with kids’ TV presenter Karim Zeroual. Find the full Strictly Come Dancing 2023 lineup here. Read More What I gained (and lost) by walking 10,000 steps each day for 5 months Pink fan who went into labour during concert names newborn son after pop star Woman behind viral ‘not real’ plane tirade says her life has been ‘blown up’ Strictly’s Amy Dowden shares health update following second cancer diagnosis How to sleep during hot weather, according to experts What is rheumatoid arthritis?