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It was as awkward as it was affectionate – the farewell to a president who didn’t want to go from a party that couldn’t bear him to stay.

“We love Joe,” they chanted, waving banners that said the same. They were all pals now. Had he still been running, Mr Biden would have left the stage to the sound of his own footsteps.

On the night, he looked and performed better than he had for months. Stepping down suits him as much as it suits his party.

Latest: Tearful Biden says democracy must be preserved

He acknowledged a necessity that he stood down when he said as much when he told the convention “I love my job, I love my country more”.

He said that he had been too young for the Senate when he entered that institution and, now, was too old to stay as president.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris hugs President Joe Biden Pic: AP
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Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris hugs President Joe Biden Pic: AP

Mr Biden addressed the moves within the Democratic Party to oust him, saying: “All this talk about how I’m angry at all the people who said I should step down – that’s not true.”

Cue the camera cutaways, including to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the party grandee who negotiated Mr Biden’s ‘surrender’. On the night, she was seen chanting and waving the We Love Joe poster in response.

Perhaps the time for healing has begun – if not that, then maybe a mutual understanding that their party and movement is in better shape heading into November’s election because of the change.

The president delivered a CV retrospective that didn’t undersell his achievements in office. It was father of the nation stuff – nothing we hadn’t heard before – that ran through his results and styled himself as a saviour of democracy. “Thank you Kamala, too,” he told the crowd, even if this felt more like a speech for his past than her present – his legacy and her presidential fight.

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‘Joe said Kamala was special – he was right’

It will all help his successor. When the political honeymoon period evolves into harder interrogation, Kamala Harris will be selling and defending their joint record in the White House. If Biden can ram home the successes, so much the better for her – even if he was never able to do it sufficiently for himself.

A robust late-night performance over nearly 50 minutes may have had some pondering the wisdom of ditching Joe Biden, but they would surely be in the minority. However able he showed himself last night, it still looked, sounded and felt like darker times revisited for Democrats. The contrast is accentuated by the current buzz around the replacement ticket that’s transformed the party’s potential.

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Biden wipes away tears ahead of farewell speech

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The opinion polls speak to that, as does the atmosphere in Chicago’s United Center. There was a rock star reception for Kamala Harris when she took the stage for an opening night introduction and the production line of speakers thereafter smacked of generational change.

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Kamala Harris’s surprise turn at DNC

But it was a night for Joe Biden – an occasion to honour the old as well as roll out the new. There was much emotion around the president and he, himself, looked tearful by the end – not the one he wanted but the one his party demanded.

It is the long, emotional goodbye. But it’s definitely goodbye.

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More victims expected after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

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More victims expected after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

A person has been killed and several others injured after a mass shooting and fire at a Mormon church in Michigan, police have said.

Authorities said at a news conference that the suspect was shot dead by police officers, and that nine others were injured.

Two of those were said to be in critical condition, Grand Blanc Township Chief William Renye told reporters.

Flames and smoke rising from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Pic: Julie J, @Malkowski6April / AP
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Flames and smoke rising from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Pic: Julie J, @Malkowski6April / AP

He added that the suspect was a 40-year-old man from Burton, who drove his vehicle into the church and began firing rounds at the hundreds of people attending Sunday service.

The suspect used an assault rifle and deliberately started the blaze, Chief Renye said, before adding that officers believe they will find additional victims in the fire.

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Pics: AP
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Pics: AP

The incident took place at around 11am local time at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit.

In a statement on Sunday morning, Grand Blanc Township Police Department added that the church was “actively on fire” and urged the public to avoid the area.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that “my heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community” after the shooting.

She added: “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly.”

Sheriff: ‘Entire church is on fire’

Genesee County sheriff Christopher Swanson said at around 12.20pm (5.20pm in the UK) that the “entire church is on fire”, and confirmed that people who were at the church have been evacuated.

Around 20 minutes later, the police department said the fire had been contained.

The incident took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc
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The incident took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc

US attorney general Pam Bondi also confirmed the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to the incident.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that “the suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn”, before saying the shooting “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.

He added: “PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”

In the wake of the shooting and fire, the New York Police Department said it would deploy officers to religious institutions across the city “out of an abundance of caution”.

The incident occurred the morning after Russell M Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101.

Shootings reported in North Carolina, New Orleans, Texas

Meanwhile, authorities responded to a mass shooting at a coastal town in North Carolina late on Saturday, where three people were killed.

At least eight others were injured in that incident, where someone opened fire from a boat into a crowd at a bar.

Another shooting took place at a south Texas casino early on Sunday, with seven people shot and two killed.

A woman was also killed, and three others were injured in Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early on Sunday after a shooting.

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‘I’m not so careful with what I say’ – is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

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'I'm not so careful with what I say' - is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.

Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”

The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.

Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.

President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk's widow Erika. Pic: AP
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President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika. Pic: AP

Twenty-four hours later, he drew fierce rebuke from medical experts by linking the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy to increased risk of autism.

The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.

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‘Paracetamol use in pregnancy perfectly safe’

On Tuesday, he went to the United Nations, where his frustrations over a stalled escalator and teleprompter failure were the prelude to the most combative address.

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“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.

Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters
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Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters

Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.

Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.

It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.

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Trump’s major shift in Ukraine policy

Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.

In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.

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Ex-FBI chief: ‘Costs to standing up to Trump’

Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.

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From funerals to world summits, world peace to public health, he projects the same image: rules are for others.

It is the politics of the untouchable.

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Donald Trump orders deployment of US troops to ‘war-ravaged’ Portland

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Donald Trump orders deployment of US troops to 'war-ravaged' Portland

Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of US troops to “war-ravaged Portland” in the state of Oregon, authorising the use of “full force” if needed.

The US president said he was directing US defence secretary Pete Hegseth to make the move in order to protect the city “and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists”.

Mr Trump did not specify whether he would send in National Guard troops or the US military.

The move comes after a gunman opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas on Wednesday, wounding two detainees and killing another.

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Fatal shooting at ICE facility in Dallas

The ICE facility in Portland has been targeted by protesters since June, sometimes leading to violent clashes.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said demonstrators had “repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing centre” there, adding that several arrests were made.

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“Rose City Antifa, a recently designated domestic terrorist organization, illegally doxed ICE officers. They published their home address online and on public flyers. Individuals associated with Antifa also sent death threats to DHS personnel,” DHS wrote on X.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Trump said “anarchy” was taking place in Portland.

He said: “You go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. Portland is, I don’t know how anybody lives there. It’s amazing, but it’s, it’s anarchy out there. That’s what they want. They want anarchy.”

In separate comments, Mr Trump said people were “out of control” in Portland and pledged to “stop that very soon”.

People protest against the Trump's immigration policies in Portland. Pic: Reuters
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People protest against the Trump’s immigration policies in Portland. Pic: Reuters

ICE agents charge towards protesters in Portland. Pic: Reuters
Image:
ICE agents charge towards protesters in Portland. Pic: Reuters

After Mr Trump’s announcement, Oregon’s Democratic governor Tina Kotek said she was reaching out to the White House for more information.

“We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm,” she said.

Read more: Trump threatens to move World Cup games from ‘unsafe’ host cities

Portland’s mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement that the “number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city”.

But Republicans supported the move. US labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who previously served as a Republican house representative for an Oregon district, said she had seen how “lawlessness” had turned Portland into a “crime-ridden war zone”.

In a post on X, she thanked Mr Trump “for taking action to keep our ICE facilities protected and Make America Great Again”.

Trump has sent military troops to the Democratic-controlled cities of Los Angeles and Washington DC so far in his second presidency. He has also discussed doing the same in Memphis and New Orleans, which are also Democratic strongholds.

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