Biden's electoral exit headlining Western media:

🔹The New York Times: [Biden] made what may be the most difficult political decision of his career... He decided to announce the end of his candidacy on X because it gave him the ability to do it “his way", avoiding the intrigue and leaks that have plagued his campaign in recent weeks.

🔹The Guardian: Biden’s decision to step aside, but remain as president, caps an unusually tumultuous electoral season as a singular stunning episode.

🔹The Wall Street Journal: Biden’s decision to withdraw will also reverberate across the Republican Party. Some senior GOP officials privately held out hope that Biden would stay in the race because they figured he would be easy to defeat due to aging concerns.

🔹The Telegraph: The president’s desperate attempt to postpone the inevitable may deny his party an electoral victory.

🔹Financial Times: [Biden's decision to leave the race is] the outcome of nearly a month of bitter and damaging debate within the Democratic Party about his mental and physical capacity to defeat Trump.

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Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid announced the need to call up 10,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews for military service.

On Sunday, the army sent out its first 1,000 summons to connoscripts from the ultra-Orthodox community. The announcement of the connoscription sparked riots in Tel Aviv last week.

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❗️Ukrainian losses amounted to 520 militants and a Leopard tank in Russia's Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:  

▪️ Russian air defenses struck down 163 Ukrainian drones;

▪️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 335 militants in the Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone;

▪️ The Dnepr Battlegroup hit three Ukrainian brigades, resulting in the loss of over 115 militants;

▪️ The Russian Vostok Battlegroup improved its tactical position, repelling one Ukrainian counterattack;

▪️ The Sever Battlegroup struck four enemy brigades, resulting in the loss of up to 270 militants.

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📹Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin arrived in Algeria on a working visit, Sputnik correspondent reports.

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What is Joe Biden's legacy?

In a statement on his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, US President Joe Biden reflected on the results of his four years in office, claiming that the US has built the “strongest economy in the world.” He also touted efforts in healthcare and gun safety, omitting some curious facts on US domestic and foreign policy.

🔺The US economic meltdown shows no signs of abating, with 36% of Americans recently surveyed by the Pew Research rating the national economy as “poor.” Add to this the fact that the state debt, which now stands at nearly $34.4 trillion, is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days.

🔺The US migration crisis persists as new data by the CBP reveals a surge in illegal border crossings, with more than 205,000 apprehensions in June alone, pushing the total for fiscal year 2024 to 2.5 million.

🔺Drug overdose remains one of the leading causes of injury or death in adults in the US and has risen over the past several years. Overdoses specifically pertain to synthetic opioids (fentanyl) and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine), according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Biden’s foreign policy track record:

🔻The Ukraine crisis is in full swing, as the US continues to add fuel to the fire by providing the Kiev regime with military supplies despite Russia’s repeated warnings that such an assistance would only prolong the standoff.

🔻The Gaza war is still in place despite Biden’s much-hyped plan to help clinch a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Last month, the US president said that the Gaza war must end now and Israel must not occupy the Palestinian enclave after the end of hostilities – another statement that apparently fell on the Jewish state’s deaf ears.

🔻As a cherry on the top, Biden failed to deliver on his promise to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with the Vienna talks on the matter finally coming to a standstill.

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📹 A HIMARS MLRS launcher was destroyed by a Russian Iskander strike in Novopetrovka (Nikolayev region), the Ministry of Defense reported, publishing a video.

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Ukraine lacks short-range anti-aircraft missiles, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky announced. 

He also added that there is a "total shortage" of this type of weapon among the troops.

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🇭🇺🇸🇰 Hungary and Slovakia have initiated consultations with the European Commission, anticipating proceedings against Ukraine for stopping oil transit from Russia, the Hungarian foreign minister said.

Ukraine's decision to block transit, violates the conditions placed on Kiev's candidate status for accession to EU membership, the minister believes.

Budapest previously announced the termination of Lukoil's oil supplies through Ukraine via the Druzhba oil pipeline; supplies to Slovakia also stopped.

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Do Democrats have anyone besides Kamala?

Despite US President Joe Biden's endorsement of VP Kamala Harris as the Dem candidate, there is still a chance for the Democratic National Convention, which will take place at the end of August, to nominate someone else as its presidential candidate.

Sputnik has looked into the most perspective figures who might be able to outshine Harris.

🔸 California Governor Gavin Newsom, 56, is a self-made man with a business career and a term as mayor of San Francisco on his record. Newsom has been the most frequently mentioned alternative to Biden in 2023-2024. However, he, like Harris, comes from California, which is known as a ‘one-party state’ because of its high Democratic Party ratings. This raises doubts about Newsom's ability to attract voters in ‘rust belt’ states.

🔸 Joshua Shapiro, 51, is governor of Pennsylvania. His main advantage as a candidate is his state – Pennsylvania. It is a ‘swing state’ that is also subject to the problems of the poorer states of the American Midwest, which may appeal in his favor for voters. Shapiro’s centrist stances may also attract those who oppose polarization and radical statements. However, Shapiro's low publicity may cause others to question his electability, especially with so little time left before the election.

🔸 Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 52, is widely recognized in the US for her strong support for abortion rights. However, she is positioning herself as a regional politician, a ‘lifelong Michigander’, and said she would not seek the nomination even if Biden dropped out of the race. Such statements could alienate voters in other states from her.

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