Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

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President Biden will run for re-election, he announced yesterday. But as with any incumbent seeking renewal by voters, there are records being made and records being discarded.

In the past two and a half years, he said, the US has added more jobs, more roads and bridges, cleaner energy and more opportunities for workers without a college degree, amid a wholesale recovery after the pandemic and the collapse of society. But his setbacks and failure to deliver on key promises have given him some of the president’s lowest approval ratings this term.

Biden’s record looks different depending on which angle you look at it, especially when voters and viewers turn to their own corners of the information world for wildly different viewpoints. The president is either a mature leader who reformed the country because he fought against evil forces or he was the leader of evil forces that destroyed the nation.

Trump: Donald Trump, the predecessor of Biden who is now seeking a rematch, made his opponent in untenable terms: “When I stand on the stage of the debate and compare our records,” he said in a statement, “it will be the most radical nightmare of Democrats because there is no never been a bad record, and our country has never had so many.

The Taliban have killed the leader of an Islamic State cell responsible for a suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 that killed 13 US troops and 170 civilians, the White House said. It was unclear whether the Taliban were specifically targeting the insurgents, officials said.

Based on classified intelligence reports – most likely from informants, electronic intercepts or information from allied spy services – Analysts concluded with “high confidence” that the chief plotter of the airport attack had been killed, according to officials. It was “another of several high-profile leadership losses” the Islamic State cell has suffered this year, said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

The government yesterday began calling relatives of American soldiers killed in the attack to tell them that the leader had been killed by Taliban security forces in recent weeks. Officials did not elaborate on the operation, according to family members.

Context: The 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan and its aftermath continue to be a topic of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republican lawmakers have accused the Biden administration of direct responsibility for the failure to exit and condemned administration officials as inept when it comes to the future of counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

Whether it is a flood or an epidemic, the public is generally equipped to handle only the gravest disaster they have experienced in recent memory. So, when a sudden heat wave occurs, communities can cope better if they have experienced it before.

A new study by researchers in Britain looks at the places most at risk of heat waves, focusing on those who have not suffered a spell of extreme heat since at least 1959 and may not be prepared. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg all made the list, as well as parts of China and developing countries like Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea.

As the planet warms, the range of temperatures that can be experienced in many places is increasing. Scorching heat, which was once considered unusual, is becoming more common. But the weather is always different, and the most extraordinary events are those that, by definition, people do not experience very often.

Context: The study only looked at the maximum temperature, which is not the only factor that can cause heat waves. Humidity is also important, as are warm overnight temperatures, which eliminate opportunities for people to cool off from oppressive daytime conditions.

In his most recent interview, Anthony Fauci wrestled with the difficult lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy.

“Something is clearly wrong,” he said. “And I don’t know exactly what it is.”

Harry Belafonte broke racial barriers in the 1950s with his music and became a leader in the civil rights movement. He died at 96.

Why the interim manager was fired after four games: Tottenham Hotspur has replaced one temporary manager with another, a sign of a staggering club without a clear strategy.

In chaos in Italy’s top league: Juventus have one more point, beating their rivals in Serie A, but the bad news is still there.

Who is Dide?: The masked rapper says he is a Premier League footballer. Who could it be?

From The Times: Kevon Looney, USA basketball star, practices “Joga” (yoga for jocks) before every game to help him cope with the physical and mental stress of the NBA.

Since 2017, the podcast “Pod Save America,” created by Crooked Media, has become the liberal answer to conservative talk radio. The UK repeat – “Pod Save the UK” – will start next week, with the next episode coming every week.

This podcast is co-hosted by comedian Nish Kumar and Coco Khan, a reporter for The Guardian. While one of the calling cards of “Pod Save America” ​​is the perspective of the host as a political insider, the British show has chosen a different tactic, rather than looking for good chemistry.

However, Khan and Kumar are no strangers to political commentary. Kumar has been unabashedly political and progressive in his stand-up and television work, and Khan said he hopes to bring his background as a journalist to the new show, focusing on the politics that permeate everyday British life.

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