Met

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer traveled to Delaware last weekend to meet with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s first known in-person session with a potential running mate as he nears a decision.

Whitmer visited Biden on Sunday, according to two high-ranking Michigan Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The first-term governor of the battleground state has long been on his short list of possible running mates.

Flight records show a chartered plane left Lansing’s Capital Region International Airport for Delaware Coastal Airport at 5:33 p.m. and returned at 11:16 p.m.

The governor’s office declined to confirm or deny the trip.

“We don’t discuss her personal schedule,” spokeswoman Tiffany Brown said.

Biden’s campaign declined to comment.

He has spent months weighing who would serve alongside him if he wins in November. Biden has pledged to select a woman and has conducted an expansive search, with finalists including Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, California Rep. Karen Bass and former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice.

Biden is facing calls to select a Black woman to acknowledge the crucial role of Black women in Democratic politics and in response to the nation’s reckoning with systemic racism.

Whitmer has sought to address racism and racial inequity. In April, she created a task force to address the pandemic’s racial disparities and later proposed police reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. On Wednesday — days after visiting Biden — she declared racism a public health crisis, created an advisory council of Black leaders and required implicit bias training for all state employees.

If Whitmer is chosen to join the ticket and Biden wins, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II would become the country’s only Black governor.

Biden and Whitmer formed a bond after he campaigned for her in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She is a co-chair on his campaign.

Her profile has grown since delivering the Democrats’ response to President Trump’s State of the Union address in February and especially amid the pandemic. She has taken aggressive steps to curb the coronavirus in a state that was a hot spot nationally early on and — after she criticized the federal response — has drawn criticism from Trump, who in March urged Vice President Mike Pence not to call “the woman in Michigan.”

ONE Brit has lived out a real life version of The Holiday after swapping homes with a complete stranger she met on TikTok.

After spotting a video by New York native Lohanny Santos – who was looking for someone abroad to exchange homes for a trip – Marie Draxler from London jumped at the idea.

After reaching out, Marie instantly hit it off with Lohanny, with the duo having a number of friendly chats and a Zoom call.

Eventually, the two decided to go for it and booked flights at the same time.

Since her trip, Marie has posted about her real-life The Holiday experience and of course, the clip quickly racked up millions of views.

When Marie visited New York, she visited the city’s main sites, including the parks.

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She also tried out many Big Apple classic eats.

Marie said the swap felt straight out of The Holiday, just without the unexpected romance.

She said: “I just wandered all over Manhattan truly enjoying the best the city had to offer.

“We both created a list of recommendations – from cafés to cute boutiques – and we both checked out those recommendations and truly lived like the other.

“New York always has and always will hold a special place in my heart.

“This city has always inspired and motivated me on a whole new level.

“I’m so grateful I got to experience this trip and truly lived like a local.”

Many viewers also flocked to the comments sharing their thoughts.

One person said: “It’s literally The Holiday in real life.”

Another added: “The Holiday is my favourite movie, can’t believe I’m seeing it in real life!”

Someone even joked: “Make sure she doesn’t have a brother!”, referencing Jude Law’s famous character from the film.

And a number of viewers have even been inspired to try swapping homes for themselves.

One person said: “If anyone wants to switch and stay in San Diego, let me know!”

Marie added in one of her videos: “I’m so happy. I am just in this little bliss bubble and I’m just so grateful for this whole swap and us doing this and me being here and just living this crazy adventure.”

Lohanny, who is from Brooklyn, got to experience London from Marie’s cosy flat in Notting Hill whilst Marie was in New York.

During the time each of the women were in the others’ flat, they stayed in touch as well, sharing recommendations and discovering each other’s adventures.

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Another woman has done similar – swapping her tiny UK flat for holidays in homes all over the world from California to Paris – it has saved her thousands.

Plus, a couple has also shared their experience of saving £150,000 over the last decade on holidays.

Discrimination against black people is “baked” into the leadership, culture and governance of the Metropolitan Police, an internal review has found.

The independently commissioned review, authored by Dr Shereen Daniels, surveyed 40 years of evidence of how racism had affected black communities, as well as black officers and staff.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, said that while the report was welcome, it “contains nothing I did not already know”.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the report as “powerful”, adding that it “calls out that further systemic, structural, cultural change is needed”.

The review, commissioned from the consultancy HR Rewired, concluded that darker-skinned Met staff were “labelled confrontational” while lighter-skinned employees might receive quicker empathy and leniency.

Dr Shereen Daniels said that systemic racism was “not a matter of perception”, adding that “true accountability begins with specificity”.

“The same systems that sustain racial harm against black people also enable other forms of harm. Confronting this is not an act of exclusion but a necessary foundation for safety, fairness and justice for everyone,” Dr Daniels said.

Baroness Lawrence said that discrimination “must be acknowledged, accepted and confronted in the Met”, adding that racism was the reason why her son had been killed and why the police had “failed to find all of his killers”.

She added: “The police must stop telling us that change is coming whilst we continue to suffer. That change must take place now.”

Imran Khan KC said that the report’s conclusions were “little surprise”, adding that Sir Mark Rowley should resign if he did not “recognise, acknowledge and accept” its findings.

He added: “This Report lays out in shocking clarity that the time for talking is over, that promises to change can no longer be believed or relied on.”

The report is the latest to highlight racism within Britain’s biggest police force, after Louise Casey’s 2023 review – commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard – concluded that the Met was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

Reviews conducted decades ago have criticised discrimination within the Met – including the 1999 Macpherson report that called the force “institutionally racist” after the mishandling of Stephen Lawrence’s case.

Earlier this year, secret BBC filming found serving Met Police officers calling for immigrants to be shot and revelling in the use of force.

Several officers have since been sacked, after Sir Mark Rowley pledged to be “ruthless” in getting rid of officers who are unfit to serve.

Following the publication of the latest report, Sir Mark Rowley said: “London is a unique global city, and the Met will only truly deliver policing by consent when it is inclusive and anti-racist.”