U.S. and world news for July 25

Biden’s speech: President Biden, speaking to the nation from the Oval Office last night, said he stepped away from running for reelection in order to save democracy from destruction by a Trump dictatorship. Biden did not mention Trump by name but there was no mistaking his message. Biden said that he respects the office of president but respects the country even more. He said that by abandoning his reelection campaign he was passing the torch to a younger generation.  

Trump rally: Donald Trump held a rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina, yesterday, in an indoor arena. Charlottesville is where there was a Nazi rally and violence in 2017 after which Trump declared that some of the Nazis were good people. During his rally, Trump repeatedly mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ name and said she will be his victim in the presidential campaign. Trump said Harris’ position of wanting to preserve women’s health care rights was “crazy.”

Southwest seating: Southwest Airlines announced this morning that it will abandon its practice of about 50 years and begin assigning seats to passengers. The airline says 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of potential customers prefer an assigned seat. Southwest says that when people switch to competitors they cite open seating as the number one reason for giving up Southwest. In addition to assigning seats, Southwest will offer seats for higher prices that have extended legroom.

Hostages: The Israeli military has recovered the bodies of five hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. It’s believed that of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas in its raid on Israel, 111 still are being held in Gaza. When Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress in Washington yesterday, he referred to ongoing efforts toward hostage release but did not say whether negotiators were close to a deal. He did say that intensive negotiations were continuing.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product, the measure of the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S., increased at an annual rate of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2024, according to numbers released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, GDP had increased by only 1.4%. Personal income increased $237.6 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $396.8 billion in the first quarter. Personal savings was $720.5 billion in the second quarter, compared with $777.3 billion in the first quarter.

Canada fires: An estimated 175 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Alberta, with one of the worst ripping through Jasper National Park. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today the Canadian military is being deployed to help with both firefighting and evacuations. Alberta has experienced a three-week heat wave and storms have resulted in tens of thousands of lightning strikes, many of which started new fires.