Bidin’: will Joe go or no?

US Presidential Nomination Crisis

• Following President Biden's poor debate performance, seven House Democrats and one Senator have publicly called for him to step aside, while other unnamed lawmakers and candidates in competitive races fear he will drag down their tickets.
• Despite this pressure, Biden has firmly rejected calls to withdraw, stating in an open letter he is "committed to running this race to the end" and asserting he would only step aside if "the Lord Almighty" demanded it.
• Post-debate polling indicates a 1.7-point increase in Biden's deficit against Donald Trump, marking Trump's largest national lead of any of his three presidential campaigns.
• The Economist's forecast model currently assigns Donald Trump a 66–70% chance of victory.
• Private Democratic strategists suggest younger governors (e.g., Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear) and figures like Pete Buttigieg would have better electoral odds, though public polling data remains weak for any potential alternative nominees due to lack of name recognition.
• Analysts note Biden's stubbornness may stem from being passed over in 2016 and his long-standing desire to win the presidency, dating back to his 1988 candidacy.

The San José Shipwreck in Colombia

• The Spanish galleon San José, which sank in 1708 carrying an estimated billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, emeralds, and Qing Dynasty porcelain, has been located 600 meters deep off the coast of Cartagena, intact and unlooted.
• Colombia's government launched its first government-run archaeological mission in May, utilizing a remotely operated vehicle to photograph and scan the site.
• The excavation faces a multi-party legal dispute: Colombia claims sovereignty due to territorial waters; Spain claims it based on the Spanish flag; an American salvage firm (Caracara) holds a $10 billion court claim based on a 1982 discovery; and indigenous groups argue the treasure is stolen property from their ancestors.
• President Gustavo Petro's administration has declared the mission will focus on scientific exploration and cultural heritage rather than commercial extraction ("not going for gold"), with a long-term plan to build a museum in Cartagena.
• Archaeologists warn the project is underfunded, with only $4.5 million allocated against potential costs in the tens of millions, raising risks that the wreck could crumble upon exposure to oxygen or be looted by private treasure hunters if the timeline is missed.

Finland's Foreign Student Initiative

• The rural town of Rautalampi (Rautavara) is facing school closures due to a shrinking local population, prompting a plan to import up to 20 foreign students annually to fill 16 available seats.
• The initiative is driven by the private startup "Finest Future," which markets Finnish education to students in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Tanzania, rather than being a central government mandate.
• Under current EU-funded laws, Finnish schools receive per-pupil government funding for foreign students attending Finnish-language programs, creating a financial incentive for municipalities.
• Proponents argue that educating foreign teenagers early will help address Finland's demographic decline, projected to see a 10% drop in the 4–18 age group by 2030, and serve as a long-term strategy to attract skilled immigrants.
• The Education Ministry has expressed reluctance to fund foreign students, and the broader government remains divided between maintaining rural school viability and focusing resources on fewer, larger institutions.
• This experiment serves as a potential model for other European nations facing similar school population collapses.