Politics is about achieving things and telling a compelling story. But neither the president – nor Starmer – can match Trump’s gift for narrative

The smile was the giveaway. Asked whether he was “just a copycat” of Tony Blair at the launch of his Blair-style pledge card on Thursday, Keir Starmer positively glowed. He was delighted with the comparison, which the entire exercise was surely designed to encourage. Blair “won three elections in a row”, Starmer said, beaming. Of course, he’s thrilled to be likened to a serial winner. And yet the more apt parallel is also a cautionary one. It’s not with Starmer’s long-ago predecessor, but with his would-be counterpart across the Atlantic: Joe Biden.

It’s natural that the sight of a Labour leader, a lawyer from north London, on course for Downing Street after a long era of Tory rule, would have people digging out the Oasis CDs and turning back the clock to 1997: Labour election victories are a rare enough commodity to prompt strong memories. But, as many veterans of that period are quick to point out, the circumstances of 2024 are very different. The UK economy was humming then and it’s parlous now. Optimism filled the air then, while too few believe genuine change is even possible now. And politics tended to be about material matters then, tax and public services, rather than dominated by polarising cultural wars as it is now.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Trump will look to again cast Biden as greatly diminished while Biden will aim to remind voters why they rejected Trump in 2020

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It’s game on for a pair of presidential debates between two unpopular candidates most Americans wish weren’t running for the nation’s highest office.

In a ratatat social media exchange on Wednesday, Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed to participate in two debates on 27 June, hosted by CNN, and on 10 September, hosted by ABC.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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Automakers in the United States and their supporters welcomed President Biden’s tariffs, saying they would protect domestic manufacturing and jobs from cheap Chinese vehicles.

© Aly Song/Reuters

An investigation identified national security risks posed by a crypto facility in Wyoming. It is near an Air Force base and a data center doing work for the Pentagon.

© Stephen Speranza for The New York Times

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the biggest changes in more than a decade to the way U.S. power lines are planned and funded.

© Renaud Philippe for The New York Times

The grant is the latest federal award in a series stemming from the CHIPS and Science Act meant to ramp up domestic production of vital semiconductors.

© Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa USA, via Associated Press

Asbestos, “forever” chemicals, E.V.s and endangered species. Here’s what 10 new rules cover, and why the administration has been churning them out.

© Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Beijing’s dominance raises economic and security concerns, and tensions will be high as top climate diplomats meet this week.

© Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The president’s visit to Wisconsin celebrated the investment by Microsoft in a center to be built on the site of a failed Foxconn project negotiated by his predecessor.

© Tom Brenner for The New York Times

The social media company and its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sued to challenge the new law, saying it violated users’ First Amendment rights.

© Rozette Rago for The New York Times

The new U.S. approach to cyberthreats comes as early optimism about a “global internet” connecting the world has been shattered.

© Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

What happens if a US presidential candidate dies? Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the two oldest candidates in US history. If either needs to be replaced, what next? from the Guardian

'....knowingly and willfully mailing or otherwise making "any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict great bodily harm upon the president of the United States" is a federal crime in the USA'. (Wiki). Needless to say, please keep this discussion legal.

Gov. Kristi Noem suggested that President Biden should have euthanized the family dog, as she did. Animal experts said that such an option should be a last resort.

© Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Biden administration forgives $6.1 billion in student debt for 317,000 former Art Institute students

The decision covers people who were enrolled at any Art Institute campus from Jan. 1, 2004, to Oct. 16, 2017, a period in which Education Management Corp. (EDMC) owned the chain of schools. Today, the Education Department will begin notifying eligible borrowers, who are not required to take action. The agency said it also will refund payments that former students have made on loans that are earmarked for forgiveness. (CNBC) "The Art Institutes launched in 1970 when the Education Management Corporation purchased the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The system continued to grow in the ensuing years, largely through additional acquisitions. In 2001, the Art Institutes owned 20 campuses; by 2012, there were 50." (Artnet) After much legal wrangling, the eight remaining schools permanently closed on September 30, 2023. Some 1,700 students were given a week's notice of the closures. "Over the last three years, my Administration has approved nearly $29 billion in debt relief for 1.6 million borrowers whose colleges took advantage of them, closed abruptly, or were covered by related court settlements, compared to just 53,500 borrowers who had ever gotten their debt cancelled through these types of actions before I took office. And in total, we have approved debt cancellation for nearly 4.6 million Americans through various actions." - Whitehouse.gov statement. 2015: EDMC to Pay $95.5 Million to Settle Claims of Illegal Recruiting, Consumer Fraud and Other Violations 2011: U.S. Files Complaint Against Education Management Corp. Alleging False Claims Act Violations 2010: A whistleblower alleged EDMC paid recruiters illegal bonuses to lure students to its schools through fraudulent means, and paid recruiters to falsify job placement data to entice students to choose EDMC colleges. Jason Sobek, the former recruiter for EDMC's South University who filed the lawsuit, also alleged that EDMC deliberately targeted students who were vulnerable and unlikely to succeed in college, including students who were mentally ill or homeless. Sobek claimed that EDMC trained and encouraged its recruiters to prey on these vulnerable students. 2007: The initial qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit against EMDC was filed by whistleblower Lynntoya Washington (formerly an assistant director of admissions at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division) — who later filed an amended complaint, jointly with Michael T. Mahoney (formerly director of training for director of training for Education Management's online higher education division). Last week, the DOJ announced a new whistleblower initiative, the Criminal Division's Voluntary Self-Disclosures Pilot Program for Individuals, to combat corporate crime:

Sometimes, the best evidence of corporate wrongdoing involves a company insider. Our experience shows that individuals who are involved in criminal conduct and are willing to accept responsibility and cooperate with us are critical sources of information. [...] Under this pilot program, individuals with criminal exposure—not including CEOs, CFOs, high-level foreign officials, domestic officials at any level, or individuals who organized or led the criminal scheme—who come forward and report misconduct that was otherwise unknown to the department will be eligible to receive a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) if they meet certain criteria. NPAs have been a part of the federal criminal system for decades, and prosecutors have long exercised discretion to offer NPAs as an essential tool to get culpable individuals in the door. Our new individual self-disclosure pilot program, which provides clear guidelines and threshold criteria, builds on the department's longstanding practice to advance our fight against complex corporate crime. At bottom, making NPAs available to individuals who come forward to report corporate crime and cooperate allows us to prosecute more culpable individuals and to hold companies to account. Under the new program, culpable individuals will receive an NPA if they (1) voluntarily, (2) truthfully, and (3) completely self-disclose original information regarding misconduct that was unknown to the department in certain high-priority enforcement areas, (4) fully cooperate and are able to provide substantial assistance against those equally or more culpable, and (5) forfeit any ill-gotten gains and compensate victims. The pilot program is designed to provide predictability and certainty by offering a pathway for culpable individuals to receive an NPA for truthful and complete self-disclosure to the department.

A few previouslies on U.S. education debt, for-profit colleges, and student-loan forgiveness.

An effort to protect 30 percent of land and waters would count some commercial fishing zones as conserved areas.

© Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Despite an arsenal of drugs, many Americans are still unaware of their infections until it’s too late. A Biden initiative languishes without Congressional approval.

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The proposal had been years in the making, in an effort to curb death rates of Black smokers targeted by Big Tobacco. In an election year, the president’s worries about support among Black voters may have influenced the postponement.

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“A clock is ticking on one of America’s most famous apps.”

© Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Valerii Evlakhov, via Getty Images

REC Silicon says it will soon start shipping polysilicon, which has come mostly from China, reviving a Washington State factory that shut down in 2019.

© Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The administration issued a major climate regulation aimed at virtually eliminating carbon emissions from coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and a driver of global warming.

© Chris Carlson/Associated Press

The measure elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating new leases for the restoration of degraded areas.

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The grant to the memory chipmaker is the latest federal award aimed at boosting U.S. chip manufacturing.

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The federal grants will support Samsung’s new chip manufacturing hub in Taylor, Texas, along with the expansion of an existing site in Austin.

© Adam Davis/EPA, via Shutterstock

Mr. Gore spoke at a climate leadership conference hosted by his nonprofit organization.

© Calla Kessler for The New York Times

For the first time since 1920, the government has raised the rates that companies pay. The fossil fuel industry says it will hurt the economy.

© Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plans to build an additional factory and upgrade another planned facility in Phoenix with the federal grants.

© T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

China has adopted some of the same misinformation tactics that Russia used ahead of the 2016 election, researchers and government officials say.

© Alice Lagarde