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There’s just three days to go until this general election campaign draws to a close and the fate of Britain’s leading politicians passes to the voters. This is not a moment where the scope of the campaign suddenly widens. Instead it narrows as the parties - especially the two main parties - hone in on the core messages they hope will appeal to the crucial slices of the British public they need to win. If you hear Rishi Sunak or Sir Keir Starmer say something today, expect to hear them say it tomorrow and on Wednesday too. This is not a time for variation but for repetition. So what are those messages? Well, Mr Sunak believes he will still be prime minister by the end of the week. At least that’s what he told Laura Kuenssberg yesterday. Look at the Conservative campaign as it enters the home stretch, though, and it is undeniably crouched in a defensive posture. It is hard to believe that when Prime Minister Sunak walked into the Downing Street rain 40 days ago to announce this general election that he anticipated spending the final three days of the campaign warning of a Labour victory so large that Sir Keir might wield "unchecked" power. Whatever they say publicly, the way the Conservatives are approaching this week shows that they believe the dire opinion polling is plausible at the very least. Campaigning in the Midlands today Mr Sunak is warning that, whatever Nigel Farage claims, Reform UK cannot hope to be the true opposition because they "just won’t win enough votes to oppose Labour". He is expected to say: "Just imagine that - hundreds and hundreds of Labour MPs opposed by just one, two, three, four, five elected [Reform] MPs." Note that this argument takes as a given that there will be hundreds and hundreds of Labour MPs. That assumption speaks to the complicated multidirectional fight the Conservatives face at the moment: trying to stop voters heading to Labour but also using different arguments to stop other former Conservatives heading to Reform and, in other parts of the country, the Liberal Democrats. The candidate controversies of recent days as well as Mr Farage’s claim that the west "provoked" the war in Ukraine have at least given the Conservatives something they struggled to find earlier in the campaign - a way to attack Reform UK. Some Conservative candidates wish they had done so earlier. That is the public conversation taking place in the Conservative Party with three days to go. Then there is another conversation, which ranges from the semi-public to the private. What next? In The Telegraph today, Jesse Norman, a former minister standing for re-election, has written an 813-word article about the election. Not the general election, which in his first line he appears to concede to Labour, but the Conservative leadership election he assumes would follow. Mr Norman moots the possibility that the role of Conservative Party members should be reduced, and that the leadership election should not be rushed. Some of Mr Norman’s colleagues are less focused on the process but on the candidates - though that question would be shaped by who is left remaining in parliament on 5 July. What of Labour? In one respect Labour's task is more straightforward. In England at least, it is fighting only in one direction - seeking to win over former Conservative voters. (Although there are some very quiet jitters about possible areas of Reform strength in some Labour seats, especially in South Yorkshire). In Labour’s campaign they are relieved and pleased that they have made it through the entire campaign with essentially one consistent one-word message: Change. Note that in the final days the message is being adapted, though, to warn voters that if they want change “you have to vote for it”. That betrays more than a flicker of concern that some potential Labour voters may see the result as a foregone conclusion and as a result stay at home or vote for another party. The overwhelming approach is bullish though. For that just look at the fact that Sir Keir kicked off his campaigning today in Hitchin - a part of Hertfordshire which last had a Labour MP six years before Mr Sunak was born. Labour has its own semi-public, semi-private conversation bubbling away too. Publicly it is still claiming, as Jon Ashworth did this morning, that the Conservatives could win the general election. Privately, Labour circles are abuzz with conversations about preparations for government. This has been the fiefdom of Sue Gray, the chief-of-staff who Sir Keir controversially poached last year from a lifetime in the civil service. After 14 years in opposition, few senior members of the Labour Party, be they MPs or officials, have any experience of being in government - a key reason why Sir Keir hired Ms Gray. Interestingly, should Labour win Ms Gray appears likely to be joined in Downing Street by Morgan McSweeney, who has run the party’s election campaign. In that event, expect a potential Labour government to quickly claim that what they have uncovered on the government books is worse than they had expected - an argument the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has pre-emptively questioned. Labour strategists believe that David Cameron went a long way to securing the Conservatives’ 2015 election victory in the days after he became prime minister in 2010 - when he used the trappings of office to mount a concerted assault on Labour’s record. Expect the same again. Of course, Labour may not get there. Only postal votes have so far been cast. But make no mistake - from the way the two main parties are campaigning in these final days, they both believe this is the most plausible scenario. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c880lmmvzppo

The animal rescue centre run by TV presenter and conservationist Simon Cowell is asking those thinking of sending floral tributes to send wildflower seeds instead. Mr Cowell, who died on 9 June, founded the Wildlife Aid Foundation in Leatherhead and presented Wildlife SOS. He died aged 72 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. The centre has plans to open a new visitor centre on a site nearby, and is asking for continued donations as part of its "Simon's last wish" campaign to continue his legacy. The foundation thanked those who had sent messages of love and support since his death, and said in a statement they had been "moved and humbled" by them. They added: "For those who wish to send flowers, please consider sending us wildflower seeds, instead. "We will plant these at our new site in memory of Simon, and in support of the local bees, insects and birds that he loved." Mr Cowell's work and legacy will carry on under the leadership of his daughter, Lou Cowell, the foundation said. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gx3zwgv7o

Premier League clubs have already spent more in four days this summer - a total of £185.5m - than the entirety of the January transfer window. Top-flight teams have been scrambling towards what has been described as the 'unofficial transfer deadline day' on Sunday and more deals are being announced on Monday. To avoid charges and possible points deductions clubs must be compliant with profit and sustainability rules (PSR) - and 30 June was a key date. The summer transfer window does not officially close until Friday, 30 August but, as Nottingham Forest discovered to their cost last season, some Premier League clubs needed to get business done earlier. Who has been most active? Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea and Newcastle have been the busiest since the window opened on 14 June. Villa recorded a loss of £119m in their last accounts, dated 31 May, 2023, so needed to move quickly to avoid any breach. Everton were docked six points last season for two separate breaches, while Chelsea have spent about £1bn since the Todd Boehly-led consortium's takeover in 2023. The majority of those Chelsea signings were recruited on at least six-year deals to spread payments across a long period, limiting the losses per year to help meet PSR requirements. Newcastle, meanwhile, were reported, external to still have a £50m deficit by Saturday morning - so needed to get deals done urgently to avoid any potential points sanctions. What deals have been done? Villa and Everton have done business with each other, Lewis Dobbin moving to Villa Park and Tim Iroegbunam joining the Toffees, each for reported fees of about £9m. Villa have also sold Omari Kellyman to Chelsea for £19m two years after signing him from Derby for £600,000. The midfielder made six appearances for Villa. Meanwhile, Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Dortmund, has moved to Villa for £35m. Douglas Luiz’s players-plus-cash transfer from Villa to Juventus went through on Sunday for £42.35m. English winger Samuel Iling-Junior, 20, and Argentine midfielder Enzo Barrenechea, 23, moved in the opposite direction for about £18.5m. Leicester - who are already facing one charge for an alleged PSR breach - were put under a transfer embargo by the English Football League (EFL) in March but that ended once they became a Premier League club, following the top flight’s annual general meeting (AGM) this month. Chelsea have agreed a £30m deal for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, with the midfielder representing Leicester's best sellable asset, given he came through the club’s academy and will generate pure profit. The Blues sold 20-year-old forward Omari Hutchinson to newly promoted Ipswich Town for £20m. Newcastle were busy too, selling winger Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £30m and midfielder Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for a reported £35m, while signing defender Lewis Hall from Chelsea for £28m. Why was 30 June so important? Sunday marked the end of the financial year in the Premier League, meaning clubs needed to ensure they are compliant with PSR as they submitted their accounts. Clubs cannot lose more than £105m over a three-year period – and even less if they have spent some of that period in the Championship. Deals cannot be processed on 30 June itself, as it is not a working day, so some transfers were not confirmed and registered until Monday. Several clubs are believed to have needed to sell, and last weekend about £75m in deals were agreed, which highlighted the necessity to trade as £100m was spent across the Premier League in the whole of January 2024. Selling academy players generates 100% profit for clubs to put into their accounts, while the amount paid by the buying club is spread out - using an accounting practice called amortisation - over the length of the contract. So if two clubs agree to sell players to each other, especially academy players, it provides a significant financial boost. Why are some deals under spotlight? The Premier League has written to every club after “a significant number requested clarification” following the recent swap deals. Some clubs are concerned that rivals could be looking to sell each other players in order to exploit any loopholes in PSR and therefore limit their losses. There is no suggestion clubs have broken the rules, but they have been told by the league’s director of governance that part of a transfer fee would have to be returned by the selling club if it decides a fee had been “inflated”. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cx724w5v641o

An eerie treasure has been uncovered underneath the floorboards at the Auschwitz concentration camp — 35 well-preserved handmade chess pieces. Renovators at Poland’s Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum found the incomplete set in the prison’s first floor, hidden under a floorboard so as to avoid detection from the brutal Nazi guards who patrolled the cells. Elżbieta Cajzer, head of the Auschwitz Museum’s Collections, said the hand-drawn chess pieces were in a “good state of preservation” despite being 80 years old. Cajzer said the haunting pieces give the world a look at the daily lives of prisoners in Europe’s deadliest concentration camp during the Holocaust. “Several drawings may be a bit blurry, but the images of rooks, pawns, bishops, and knights are still easily distinguishable,” Cajzer said. “Nevertheless, the set is incomplete, and some boxes no longer have any traces of the drawing,” she added. The museum chief said the chess pieces were crafted from cardboard, making them ideal for prisoners to hide them quickly and transport them to others who wanted to play. “We assume the focus was not on the aesthetic qualities but on functionality, easy portability, and quick concealment,” Cajzer said. Given that Auschwitz guards would routinely beat, torture and execute prisoners for trivial matters, it stands to reason that any prisoner caught with the chess pieces would face horrific consequences. Despite the risks, Cajzer said many prisoners would find ways to get their hands on pieces of cardboard, wood or even breadcrumbs to construct chess pieces or playing cards. “Camp prisoners treated mental activities as a respite from the brutal camp reality. The necessary items for the game were most often produced illegally by prisoners,” she added. Jan Dziopek, a Holocaust survivor and former warehouseman at Auschwitz’s carpenter shop, said he crafted such chess sets himself inside a secret attic. Dziopek said Nazi officers would order him to create game pieces for them, but as he completed their orders, the craftsman would secretly build sets to sneak into the prison halls. “I had to fulfill their orders because, under the guise of working for them, I could fulfill the requests of my colleagues, who paid me with rations of bread or camp soup,” Dziopek said. “My colleagues from kitchens and various warehouses purchased these items from me, as they had no difficulty obtaining food,” he added. Dziopek’s trades, however, did not go unpunished by the Nazis, as he said he received lashings whenever his work was uncovered. The Auschwitz concentration camp was established in April 1940 as a prison to hold Nazi Germany’s enemies following the invasion of Poland. https://nypost.com/2024/06/30/lifestyle/haunting-new-discovery-under-the-floorboards-at-auschwitz/

France's political rivals barely had time to digest the results of National Rally (RN)'s election success, before they had to kick-start a new campaign for the final vote. The anti-immigration party secured one in three votes in the first round of parliamentary elections. They have now set their sights on winning an absolute majority. RN leader Jordan Bardella, who hopes to be France's next PM, appealed to voters to make a choice between a left-wing alliance he called "an existential threat to the French nation" and a party of patriots ready to leap into action. PM Gabriel Attal, who may be days from losing his job, says the stakes are clear - to stop the far right winning an absolute majority. Emmanuel Macron, who called the election and propelled France into political crisis, still has three years as president and has vowed not to resign. But the centrist movement he founded came only third in the first round and now finds itself eclipsed by a left-wing alliance called New Po[CENSORED]r Front, as well as the National Rally of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella. Of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, RN needs 289 to form an absolute majority and put through its programme on immigration, law and order, and tax cuts. It wants to restrict social welfare to French citizens, abolish the automatic right to French citizenship - droit du sol - for people who came to France as children, and prevent 3.5 million people with dual citizenship from holding sensitive, strategic jobs. RN and its allies already have 38 confirmed seats, won outright with more than half the local vote in Sunday's first round. The Po[CENSORED]r Front have 32 and the Macron alliance just two, an indication of how far behind the governing party has fallen. Another 501 seats have yet to be decided and the big three party blocs have big decisions to make within the next 24 hours. Candidates who have qualified for Sunday's second round for the Macron camp or the Po[CENSORED]r Front now have until 18:00 on Tuesday to decide whether or not to withdraw, to maximise the chances of a political rival defeating National Rally. Both the Po[CENSORED]r Front and the Macron Ensemble camp have pleaded with voters not to vote for the far right. But tensions between the two burst out into the open on Monday, an indication of the high stakes of this election and the intensity of such a brief campaign. Greens leader Marine Tondelier was on the verge of tears during a radio interview, when she reacted angrily to a Macron minister's call not to back the biggest party in the left-wing alliance. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had said moments earlier that voters should steer clear of France Unbowed, whose critics denounce it as extremist, as much as they should not vote for Mr Bardella's party. Ms Tondelier said for 10 years she had lived in a town held by National Rally's Marine Le Pen, and that the Macron alliance had misunderstood the issue and had chosen dishonour and cowardice. "Does National Rally have a chance of winning an absolute majority in the National Assembly? The answer is yes. Is France Unbowed in the position of winning an absolute majority, the answer is no." What is so unusual about this election is that more than 300 of the local races are run-offs between three candidates. Sunday's turnout of 66.7% was the highest since 1997, which meant more candidates than ever qualified for the second round. But by Monday afternoon a large number of third-placed candidates had pulled out of the race, according to Le Monde, including those standing for Ensemble and the individual parties in the Po[CENSORED]r Front. One of RN's leading figures, Sébastien Chenu, said he was confident that even if his party did not reach the 289 seats it would succeed in "finding supporters" in the new National Assembly. He said there might be MPs keen on preventing the Assembly from becoming blocked, and if that was possible "we will assume our responsibilities before the French people". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clwy27j9l2go

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Adding @Mr.Shehbaz as a VGR member. Welcome to the team!

The deputy leader of the Labour group on Tower Hamlets council in east London has resigned from the party after Sir Keir Starmer made reference to Bangladesh when answering a question about the deportation of illegal migrants. In a statement posted on X, Councillor Sabina Akhtar said: “I can not be proud of the party any more when the leader of the party singles out my community and insults my Bangladeshi identity.” Answering questions from an audience of Sun readers on Monday, the Labour leader said: "At the moment people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed." Sir Keir had been asked what Labour was going to do to deport people who arrived in the UK illegally. During a campaign visit to Staffordshire on Thursday, he said he "certainly wasn't intending to cause any concern or offence" to British Bangladeshis who were "making such an enormous contribution to our country". All he had been saying, Sir Keir added, was that as far as asylum seeker returns were concerned, Bangladesh was a safe country and one that had a returns agreement with the UK. If Labour won the election, he wanted to "build on the very strong relationship" the party already had with the Bangladeshi community in Britain, he said. In a video clip circulating on social media, seen by the BBC, Sir Keir's comments in Monday's Q&A session have been edited and taken out of context. At the end of the clip, the video encourages viewers to “vote for independent candidates”. It is not clear who put it together. Labour has described the clip as “misinformation”. But a party candidate in the general election - in Bethnal Green and Stepney, which is in Tower Hamlets - said there had been concern. Rushanara Ali, the first British Bangladeshi to be elected to the Commons and MP for Bethnal Green and Bow until Parliament was dissolved last month, said: "There has been considerable concern and upset following the release of a clip of the Labour Party Leader." She added that she had been “in close contact with his team to relay the concerns in our community”. She would "always work hard to ensure the interests and concerns of the British Bangladeshi community are at the heart of policy in a future Labour government", Ms Ali said. During the Sun event, Sir Keir said the number of people returned to where they came from had fallen by 44% under the Conservative government. He pledged to "put the staff back in the returns unit" in "the first few days" of a Labour government. "I’ll make sure that we’ve got planes going off - not to Rwanda, that’s an expensive gimmick - they will go back to the countries where people come from. That’s what used to happen," he added. Pressed by the event host, Sun political editor Harry Cole, on which countries he was talking about, Sir Keir responded: “At the moment people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed, because they’re not being processed.” In May, the government signed an agreement with Bangladesh “to speed up the removal of migrants with no right to be in the country”. In 2023, according to Home Office statistics, 12 failed asylum seekers were deported to Bangladesh, while 66 went back voluntarily. In a video posted on X, Apsana Begum, Labour's candidate in Tower Hamlets' other parliamentary constituency, Poplar and Limehouse, said: "I will never ever stand by and let migrant communities be scapegoated. "It is totally unacceptable for politicians, for any party, to use dog whistle racism against Bangladeshis or any other migrant community.” According to the 2021 census, more than a third of Tower Hamlets' po[CENSORED]tion were of Bangladeshi ethnicity. A Labour Party spokesperson said Sir Keir had "proudly supported the Bangladeshi community across the UK". "This clip has been edited to make it look as though Keir Starmer is suggesting repatriation of British Bangladeshis. It is misinformation. "In fact, Keir is referring to Labour's long-established policy of returning those who don't have the legal right to be in the UK to safe countries. "Bangladesh was only used as an example, as there is already a bilateral agreement between the two countries." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw4y3njqqzpo

A runaway rhea that escaped from a garden in Lincolnshire has been found safe and well. Buzz broke out of the paddock in East Barkwith on Sunday afternoon. Owner Tammy said she had been "very worried" about the family pet. A drone that was brought in to help search for the flightless bird spotted it in a field close to the nearby village of South Willingham. "I'm very pleased to say Buzz came home last night," Tammy told BBC Radio Lincolnshire. She said the eight-year-old animal was located by "the amazing team" from Nottinghamshire-based animal rescue charity, Drone to Home, which usually finds lost dogs. "We then went in and were able to get some blankets over her and get her into the van," she said. She also praised the local community and said everyone had been "really helpful keeping an eye out". Tammy said Buzz had possibly been spooked by their alpacas being shorn and had never previously escaped. She had been concerned the animal, which posed no risk to the public, might have been scared and run into a car or fence. However, Buzz "doesn't seem to have suffered any ill-effects" from her adventure, she added. 'Legged it' In a post on social media, the drone charity, which offers a free service and relies on donations, said the rescue had been successful, with a "great bunch of people helping [out]". "Everything worked out extremely well and this beautiful bird is now home safe," it added. Phil James, who started the charity, said they had managed to locate the rhea within about an hour of being called out on Monday. However, initial attempts to catch the 5ft (1.5m) rhea with a net had failed after it "legged it" across the field at about 40mph (64km/h). After returning on Tuesday with more people, Mr James said the bird was caught in what he described as one of the most challenging rescues he had ever been involved with. "We had luck on out side and it ran almost to where we wanted it to go," he said. The team used thermal imaging drones to locate Buzz, who was sedated by a vet before being returned home. "It's exactly the same [equipment] as what the police use to find criminals hiding in bushes and things - we just use [it] to find animals," he added. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cerrvk4l81lo

The Atlanta Hawks selected teenage French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick of the NBA draft. It is the second year running that a French player has been chosen first. Last year there was little doubt Victor Wembanyama would be the number one pick, whereas this year Risacher and fellow Frenchman Alexandre Sarr have frequently traded places atop mock drafts over the past month. Risacher, 19, is 6ft 9in and weighed in at 195 pounds at the draft combine in May, having most recently played in the French top flight for JL Bourg-en-Bresse. "[It's] so exciting," he told ESPN. "There's a lot of feelings and emotions right now. I don't know what to say, I'm so blessed." The Washington Wizards took Sarr, also 19, with the second overall pick after the centre spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Perth Wildcats of Australia's National Basketball League. It marked the third time in NBA draft history that the top two picks had no college experience, although Sarr's brother Olivier, 25, is a centre with Oklahoma City Thunder. "He's shared a lot with me," Alexandre Sarr told ESPN. "Everything I've learned is through him and he gave me all his knowledge, and to this day it's really special to have someone like him in my corner." Kentucky's Reed Sheppard went to the Houston Rockets with the third pick and UConn's Stephon Castle landed with the San Antonio Spurs at number four. Ron Holland of G League Ignite, who will be joining the Detroit Pistons, rounded out the top five, while Tidjane Salaun made it three French players to come off the board among the first six picks as the 18-year-old was taken by the Charlotte Hornets. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has said he wants to play with or against his son before the 39-year-old ends his NBA career. Bronny James, 19, is expected to be selected in the second round on Thursday. The Lakers selected Dalton Knecht 17th overall and their next pick is late in the second round. This year's draft has been split into two days, with the first round having taken place at the Barclays Center in New York while the second is set to be staged at ESPN's Seaport District Studios, also in New York. https://www.bbc.com/sport/basketball/articles/c99wjpkj7reo

Does this trend pass the smell test? Mairlyn Smith, a Toronto-based cookbook author and self-proclaimed “Queen of Fiber,” claims a post-meal “fart walk” could be the solution to your digestive issues. She coined the concept after setting out on a stroll with her husband for an hour after mealtime — and letting it rip. Smith recalls that her now-viral marital routine of release started a decade ago as a simple post-supper walkabout, “It all began 10 years ago… I suggested to my husband that we go for a walk after dinner. When you eat as much fiber as we do, you can get gassy. We walked….cue the farts, and the legendary #Fartwalk was born.” In addition to trending on social media, Smith’s cheek-squeaking ritual has garnered applause from GI docs and medical professionals who say the practice is great for gut health. It’s well-established that exercise can aid digestion. Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone, explains to SELF, “When you are moving, your GI tract is also moving. This helps trigger gut motility, or movement of your intestines, which is essential for properly breaking down food.” In addition to trending on social media, Smith’s cheek-squeaking ritual has garnered applause from GI docs and medical professionals who say the practice is great for gut health. It’s well-established that exercise can aid digestion. Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone, explains to SELF, “When you are moving, your GI tract is also moving. This helps trigger gut motility, or movement of your intestines, which is essential for properly breaking down food.” Smith claims her flatulence fad guards against the development of Type 2 diabetes and experts seem to agree. A study in the journal Nutrients found that walking after eating helps stabilize blood sugar levels — repeated spikes in blood sugar over a sustained period can make the body less sensitive to insulin, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Among the glorious virtues of a fart walk is that it need not be long to be beneficial. A 2021 study found as little as 10 minutes of movement can help alleviate bloating. And there’s no need to go hard when you’re out for your stale wind stroll. A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology found that digestion increased significantly during moderate walking but decreased during running. https://nypost.com/2024/06/27/lifestyle/whats-a-fart-walk-how-this-trendy-exercise-can-help-digestion/

When Donald Trump and Joe Biden take to the debate stage on Thursday night, it will be a reunion of sorts – although not exactly a friendly one. A current president has never before debated his predecessor, and the bad blood between these two men will be obvious on the CNN debate stage in Atlanta. Trump never conceded the 2020 election to President Biden and days after his supporters attacked the US Capitol, he broke with tradition by refusing to attend his opponent’s inauguration. The two men are now facing off again for the presidency and this debate will mark the first time in this election campaign that millions of Americans are sitting up and paying attention. The stakes are high and the tension in the room will be a notch above past tussles, as both men try to convince US voters that they deserve their ballot in November. An unusual evening Thursday’s debate will also mark the first time that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have appeared together since their debates four years ago. The initial encounter in 2020 was an acrimonious affair, punctuated by repeated interruptions and Mr Biden’s frustrated “Will you shut up, man?” demand. At the start of the second debate that year, delayed by Trump’s Covid diagnosis, the two men did not even shake hands. This time, both men are out of practice. Neither has participated in any kind of debate in nearly four years, as Trump skipped the Republican primary debates on his way to becoming the party's presumptive nominee earlier this year. Incumbent presidents frequently come out flat-footed in their opening re-election debate - a common explanation is that they are rusty or unused to being challenged after four years in the White House bubble. In this case, however, both candidates could face that challenge. Unlike past debates, this one will be conducted in a cable television studio without a live audience to cheer - or groan. That was a request by the Biden campaign, which reportedly was concerned after a raucous Trump town hall forum hosted by CNN last year. The debate will also feature muted microphones for candidates during their opponent's allotted speaking time, which might prevent it from spiralling into the chaos that characterised the first Trump-Biden debate in 2020. But it also could make this version a less memorable affair. The expectations game If one listened only to conservative commentators, President Biden will be lucky to make it through the debate without falling asleep, freezing up or wandering around the stage in confusion. Republicans, from Trump on down, have characterised the president as senile and infirm, a shell of the man he once was. While these attacks have played upon very real voter concern about the durability of an octogenarian president, it also has set a low bar for Mr Biden’s performance - an expectation that he has exceeded in the past, including during his energetic State of the Union address in early March. Trump campaign officials recently tried to nudge that bar higher, noting that Mr Biden proved himself to be very effective during the 2012 vice-presidential debate against then-congressman Paul Ryan. They have also questioned the impartiality of debate host CNN. “Will CNN decide that they are facilitator, or will CNN become a participant?” Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita asked on Tuesday. Trump and his campaign have also spread claims that Mr Biden will need to rely on unspecified “performance enhancing drugs” during the debate. The notion has been vehemently denied by President Biden's team but the seeding of such rumours could lay the ground for post-debate excuses if the president gets the better of his predecessor on Thursday. Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said the former president was resorting to "lies" because he is “scared of being held accountable for his toxic agenda”. President Biden may not be the only one with an opportunity to defy expectations, however. Democrats have been warning for more than a year that Trump is obsessed with revenge and retribution, and that he is an aspiring dictator who presents an existential threat to American democracy. Biden campaign officials have said that Trump “snapped” after his 2020 election defeat and is a different man than Americans elected in 2016. If the former president can keep his cool for 90 minutes and soften some of his sharper edges, it may help him convince the American public that the dire warnings about a potential second Trump term in office are overblown. “Biden has got to prove that the perception that he's too old for the job is not true,” Mike Murphy, a long-time Republican political consultant, told Americast, the BBC's podcast on US politics. “Trump's got to prove that he is not the unlikable madman that half the country thinks he is. So it's an opportunity for both of them - but also the risk is high.” The issues Coming into this debate, polling indicated that voters gave Trump better marks on the economy and immigration - two of the top issues for American voters. Meanwhile, the president was favoured on abortion, healthcare and the environment. The winner of Thursday night’s debate could well be the candidate who can best land memorable lines on areas of strength while defending his weaknesses. Can President Biden convince voters that he shares their concerns about a surge in immigration but has been stymied by Republicans in trying to deal with it? Will former president Trump find a way to convince voters another term in office won’t lead to greater restrictions on abortion – particularly given that he appointed three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the federal right to the procedure? Mr Biden has been trying for more than a year to convince the American public that the economy is better than they think it is. He’ll have a chance to make that case again to an audience of tens of millions, but he’ll have to do so in the face of what’s sure to be withering attacks from his opponent, who is expected to focus on the soaring prices and high inflation that Americans have had to live with in recent years. “We know that Joe Biden is going to try to blame everything on President Trump,” Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told reporters on Tuesday. He added: “Americans know the difference between the Trump economy, which was great, where everyone was doing better, and the Biden economy.” Getting personal Last week, the Biden campaign launched a new series of advertisements directly attacking Trump for his recent criminal felony conviction in a New York court. Recent polls have indicated that the guilty verdict has cost Donald Trump support among the independent voters who could prove decisive in this election. There’s little question that Trump will be asked about the history-making court case at the debate and that President Biden will be poised to strike. If the former president gets drawn into a tirade against corrupt judges and rigged courts, it could further alienate moderate voters. “If they can get Trump to burn the mic being a madman on neurotic defence, that is a very good debate thing,” Mr Murphy said. Meanwhile, President Biden has a court case of his own to deal with. His son Hunter’s conviction on felony firearm charges was also history-making, and the president - while not implicated in the case - was emotionally invested in its outcome. Trump may take a few swipes at Hunter Biden, if not about the gun case then about his upcoming tax evasion trial, which could expose controversial details about the younger Biden's business dealings. Trump will probably attempt to paint Hunter Biden's conviction as evidence of more widespread corruption in what he calls the “Biden crime family”. A long way to go This is the earliest presidential debate in modern US history - held before either candidate has become the formal nominee of their party. That means the showdown could set the mood and the measure of the campaign to come, solidifying some loosely held views about the candidates and better defining the issues and stakes around November's vote. But barring a truly catastrophic mistake by one of the candidates, the early timing could mean that when Election Day arrives, this June event will be a distant memory for the majority of Americans who only sporadically follow politics. Both candidates will have a chance to reset and rebuild from any damage during their tightly scripted national conventions, which are taking place later in the summer. There's then another debate scheduled in September that could further erase this week from voter memories. It’s a reality that a senior Biden campaign aide, speaking to the BBC's media partner CBS, acknowledged. “The June debate is not a moment that we expect to define the trajectory of the election or move poll numbers in the near-term," the advisor said, adding that voters will require “consistent time and effort". In other words, this debate is the start of a marathon, not the end of the race. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0099v8ywpo

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