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Here’s how Kamala Harris’ successor as vice president would be chosen if President Biden steps down

Here’s how Kamala Harris’ successor as vice president would be chosen if President Biden steps down

There is a constitutional process of succession that would take effect if President Biden were to step down from his role as commander in chief.  Speculation over whether Biden can finish the remainder of his current term heightened after he suddenly withdrew from the 2024 presidential race. If the president did decide to resign before the end of his term, several steps would be taken to form a new cabinet. According to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, the vice president becomes president if the president is unable to discharge duties due to death, resignation, removal from office or other reasons. So, if Biden were to step down as president today, Vice President Kamala Harris would be sworn in as the 47th president and serve out the remainder of his term. If a vice president is promoted to president, the vice presidency is vacated. HAVE BATTLEGROUNDS SHIFTED WITH HARRIS AT TOP OF TICKET? House Speaker Mike Johnson is third in line to the presidency, but he would not step into the position if Harris became president. The only case where the sitting speaker of the House becomes president would be if both the president and vice president died or resigned at the same time. When the vice president assumes the role of president, the new president is responsible for appointing a new vice president, as stated in Section 2 of the 25th Amendment. If this scenario were to unfold today, Harris would become president and nominate a vice president. BIDEN ADDRESSES DECISION TO DROP OUT OF 2024 RACE, INTENDS TO COMPLETE TERM IN WHITE HOUSE However, the pick needs to first be approved by a majority in both chambers of Congress, which has a party split with Republicans enjoying a majority in the House and Democrats leading in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate would vote on the approval of the vice president.  The House held up all legislative business for nearly two weeks to vote on a new speaker of the House in 2023 after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a motion to vacate Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R–Calif. Republican lawmakers have also proposed an alternative scenario to dismiss the current commander in chief. If the vice president and Cabinet members believe the sitting president is unable to serve, they can invoke the 25th Amendment and oust him from the postilion.  In this case, the vice president would become acting president, but the president can still claim an ability to serve. A two-thirds vote by Congress would be necessary to oust the president in that case. 

Paris Olympics 2024: Day one medal wrap – rugby sevens, cycling, judo

Paris Olympics 2024: Day one medal wrap – rugby sevens, cycling, judo

France won its first gold medal of its home Games in the men’s rugby sevens, while Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel continued his meteoric rise with a gold in the men’s individual time trial. France, the host nation of the Paris Olympics 2024, was among the countries that won a gold medal on the opening day of the Games. Here’s a summary of some of the medal winners from Saturday: Dupont the hero in France’s emphatic gold medal rugby win France claimed their first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, and first of any kind in men’s rugby sevens, when Antoine Dupont led them to a stunning 28-7 win over double-defending champions Fiji on an unforgettable night in the Stade de France. Fiji had won all 17 of their previous matches in the Olympics and went ahead through Joseva Talacolo. But the home fans exploded when Rayan Rebbadj, who scored twice in the semifinal win over South Africa earlier, dived between the posts to level the scores at halftime. It took Antoine Dupont and his status as his sport’s best player to finally end Fiji’s dominance of Olympic rugby sevens, helping France win a gold medal at a raucous Stade de France [Vadim Ghirda/AP] Superstar scrumhalf Dupont then came off the bench to set up Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, who barrelled over himself to make it 21-7. The 67,000 crowd could barely control themselves as France then controlled the ball in the final minutes and almost took the roof off when Dupont crashed over in the final play of the match to make the final score 28-7. The Fijians settled for the silver, while in the earlier bronze medal match, South Africa beat Australia 26-19 with the last play of a pulsating third-place playoff. American Perry Baker also made headlines, becoming the all-time leading men’s scorer in Olympic rugby sevens when he claimed his 10th try in the United States’s 17-14 loss to Ireland in their 5-8 placing playoff. Evenepoel and Brown grab golds in cycling road events On the wet and slippery roads of Paris, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel won the gold medal in the men’s individual time trial, while Australia’s Grace Brown triumphed in the women’s competition. Evenepoel added an Olympic gold to his world title with the 24-year-old clocking 36 minutes and 12.16 seconds over 32.4km (20.1 miles) in driving rain to beat Italy’s Filippo Ganna by 14.92 seconds. Evenepoel’s fellow countryman Wout van Aert completed the podium with a third-place finish. Just a week after he won the white jersey for the best young rider and finished third overall at the Tour de France, world champion Remco Evenepoel added an Olympic gold to his collection [Ricardo Mazalan/AP] In the women’s road cycling, Brown earned Australia’s first gold medal at this year’s Olympics as she destroyed the field, her power and bike handling abilities unmatched by her rivals throughout the contest. The Australian won on the course at Pont Alexandre III by a whopping 1 minute and 31.59 seconds, while the UK’s Anna Henderson took the silver. Several riders slid and fell on wet and cobbled corners, with world champion Chloe Dygert settling for bronze. Two medals for France in judo Japan’s Natsumi Tsunoda won gold in the women’s under 48kg (105.8 pounds) category. Three-time champion Tsunoda defeated reigning world champion Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia, who took the silver medal. Shirine Boukli, who won France’s first medal of their home Games, shared the bronze with Sweden’s Tara Babulfath. Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov was the champion in the men’s under 60kg (132.2 pounds) event. Smetov won Kazakhstan their first gold medal in Paris, with France’s Luka Mkheidze collecting a silver medal. The bronze medals went to Japan’s Nagayama Ryuju and Spain’s Francisco Garrigos. From left to right, Mongolia’s Baasankhuu Bavuudorj, silver, Japan’s Natsumi Tsunoda, gold, France’s Shirine Boukli, Sweden’s Tara Babulfath, bronze, pose on the podium of the women’s under 48kg event at Champ-de-Mars Arena [Eugene Hoshiko/AP] Adblock test (Why?)

What did Benjamin Netanyahu’s US trip achieve?

What did Benjamin Netanyahu’s US trip achieve?

Israeli prime minister’s visit comes amid the Gaza war and a US presidential race. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was welcomed by a cheering US Congress this week as thousands of people took to the streets in Washington, DC, to protest against Israel’s nine-month-old war on Gaza. How is Netanyahu’s visit being viewed in the US and in Israel? Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests: Phyllis Bennis – Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies Gideon Levy – Columnist for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz Niall Stanage – White House columnist for the US newspaper, The Hill Adblock test (Why?)

Paris Olympics 2024: ‘Terminator’ Titmus defends 400-metre freestyle title

Paris Olympics 2024: ‘Terminator’ Titmus defends 400-metre freestyle title

Ariarne Titmus knocked off the USA’s Katie Ledecky again at the Olympics, defending her 400-metre freestyle title in one of the most highly anticipated races of the Paris Games. Titmus, the Australian star known as “The Terminator,” prevailed in an event the American won at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, handing Ledecky a second straight defeat in the event. With her fingernails painted Aussie yellow, Titmus led from start to finish. The 23-year-old faced her stiffest challenge from Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh but won comfortably in three minutes and 57.49 seconds. Gold medalist, Ariarne Titmus, stands with silver medalist, Summer McIntosh, left, and bronze medalist Katie Ledecky after the women’s 400-metre freestyle final at the Paris Olympics, in Nanterre, France. [Martin Meissner/AP] “I probably felt the expectation and pressure for this race more than anything in my life, to be honest, and I’m pretty good at handling the pressure but I’ve definitely felt it,” Titmus said. “I’m just happy to get the result for myself and I feel so honoured to be a part of the race and be alongside legends like Katie. “I look up to her so much as an athlete and there’s certainly not a rivalry beyond the races. I really respect her as a person,” Titmus added. Canada’s 17-year-old McIntosh claimed the silver in 3:58.37, while American Ledecky was left in her wake and got the bronze in 4:00.86. Ledecky remains at six individual gold medals in her brilliant career – still the most of any female swimmer in Olympic history. Titmus now has three individual Olympic victories on her growing resume. She swept the 200 and 400 free in Tokyo and is favoured to pull off the same double in Paris. Ledecky is not done yet. She skipped a chance to face Titmus again in the 200 free, but the American is favoured to take gold in both the 800 and 1,500-metre events. Maertens wins men’s 400-metre freestyle gold for Germany Lukas Maertens of Germany became the first swimming champion at the Paris Olympics after he won his first Olympic gold in the men’s 400-metre freestyle, which was held shortly before the women’s event. Emerging triumphant from a final stacked with world champions, Maertens touched the wall in three minutes and 41.78 seconds to finish ahead of Australian silver medallist Elijah Winnington and South Korean bronze-winner Kim Woo-min at La Defense Arena. Lukas Maertens’ victory erases his record as a nearly-man in men’s swimming, following two bronzes and a silver at the last three world championships. [David J. Phillip/AP] Maertens, 22, came into the race with the fastest time this year and duly converted on the biggest stage to become the first German winner in the event since Uwe Dassler took the title for East Germany at the 1988 Seoul Games. The German raced at world record pace until the final 50 metres, and that proved enough despite a fast finish by Winnington, who claimed his second Olympic medal. Australia set Olympic record in women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay Australia made it two-for-two against the rivals from the US in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay, claiming their fourth straight Olympic title in that event. The quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris set an Olympic record with a winning time of three minutes and 28.92 seconds. The Americans — Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel — rallied to take silver in 3:30.20. They edged China’s team of Yang Junxuan, Cheng Yujie, Zhang Yufei and Wu Qingfeng by a tenth of a second. From left to right: Emma Mckeon, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia, celebrate after winning the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle final [Ashley Landis/AP] Dressel leads USA to gold in men’s 4x100m freestyle relay A US team spearheaded by Caeleb Dressel stormed to the men’s 4×100-metre Olympic relay gold medal. The quartet of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Dressel came home in three minutes and 9.28 seconds with Australia taking silver in 3:10.35 and Italy bronze in 3:10.70. But the US had their work cut after the opening leg with Chinese 100-metre world record holder Pan Zhanle putting in a scorching two laps. The dominant Americans hauled themselves back into contention with Dressel powering them to the finish line. Kyle Chalmers put in a cracking final leg to hand Australia silver, with his 46.59 the fastest split of any swimmer. The US has long dominated the event, winning 10 of the 14 times it has been on the Olympic programme before Paris. They only missed top spot in 2000 (Australia), 2004 (South Africa) and 2012 (France), and as a result of the boycott in 1980. The United States men’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay team celebrate after winning the gold medal [Petr David Josek/AP] Adblock test (Why?)