President Joe Biden delivered a shaky, halting performance while his Republican rival Donald Trump battered him with a series of often false attacks at their debate, as the two oldest presidential candidates ever exchanged personal insults ahead of the November election.

Washington

The 2024 United States presidential election between Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump is set to take place this November. 

U.S. Presidential Election

President Biden struggled and former President Trump spouted falsehoods during the first presidential debate in Atlanta. 

Biden-Trump debate

President Joe Biden delivered a tentative performance during the first televised debate with his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. Trump seized the moment, launching a series of attacks that included several falsehoods. Both candidates, the oldest in U.S. history, exchanged personal barbs on topics such as abortion, inflation, and international conflicts, as the debate progressed without a live audience.

Biden struggled noticeably in the debate's initial segment, stumbling over his responses. Meanwhile, Trump criticized him fiercely, particularly on issues like Medicare and immigration. Trump reiterated claims that migrants are responsible for increased crime, which contradicts studies showing immigrants do not commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans. Trump also deflected questions about the January 6 Capitol attack, denying any responsibility and claiming that many of those arrested were innocent, a statement Biden strongly contested.

Throughout the debate, Biden and Trump continued to take shots at each other despite strict rules on microphone use designed to maintain order. Trump accused Biden of "destroying our country" and Biden countered by pointing to Trump’s legal issues, emphasizing his moral failings. Concerns about the candidates' fitness for office remain significant, with some speculating that Biden's performance could negatively impact his campaign. Reports indicate Biden had a cold during the debate, while a significant Biden donor deemed his performance potentially disqualifying. According to a recent Reuters-Ipsos poll, voters favor Trump on economic and immigration issues, while Biden holds an edge in addressing threats to democracy.



Biden struggles, Trump spouts falsehoods in debate

The first televised debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, saw a shaky, tentative performance from Biden that rattled Democrats, while Trump battered him with falsehoods and the two oldest U.S. presidential candidates ever descended into an exchange of personal insults. DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States of America The whole country is exploding because of you. My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You're the sucker. You're the loser. Featuring on CNN's presidential debate on Thursday, four months before Election Day in November, the two traded barbs on abortion, inflation, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, even the golf games, as they aimed to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months. A horse-sounding Biden stumbled in the debate's first half hour, and Trump pounced. Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. Thank you, President Biden. President Trump? He was right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death. Eighty-one-year-old Biden and 78-year-old Trump are under pressure to show they're fit for office. As the debate wore on, Trump issued a barrage of critiques, many of them well-worn falsehoods, including migrants carrying out a crime wave and that Democrats support infanticide. Studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. Trump also dodged questions about the January 6 Capitol attack, refused to accept any responsibility and claimed that many of those arrested were innocent. He's telling you it's simply not true. The fact is that there was no effort on his part to stop what was going on up on Capitol Hill. And all those people, every one of those who were convicted, deserves to be convicted. The debate carried on with no live audience and strict rules on microphone use, which aimed to avoid chaos that railed their first debate in 2020. Still, the pair took every chance to make jabs at each other. I wasn't really going to run until I saw the horrible job he did. He's destroying our country. Biden went after Trump over his felonies. You have the morals of an alley cat. I didn't have sex with a porn star. While concerns about the eligibility for office weighs heavily for both candidates, Biden's performance Thursday could land a major blow to his campaign, at least in the short term. Two White House officials said Biden had a cold. One top Biden donor who did not want to be named called the U.S. president's performance disqualifying and expects a fresh round of calls for him to step aside ahead of the party's national convention in August. A Reuters-Ipsos poll that ended Sunday showed voters think Trump is a better candidate for the economy and immigration matters, while Biden had the edge over Trump for responding to threats to democracy.

People in France have voted to elect 577 members of the country’s National Assembly.
Exit polls show that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party are ahead in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections.

Paris

France snap election

Far-right leads the first round of French elections

Hurricane Beryl has become an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to bring life-threatening winds and flash flooding to the Caribbean's Windward Islands as it rapidly strengthens into Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.

Bridgetown

Hurricane Beryl strengthens to Category 4 storm

Voter turnout in France's first round of voting in the 2024 general elections stood at 59.39 percent by 5pm according to the interior ministry, around 20 percent higher compared to the same time in the 2022 elections.

Evening voter turnout in French elections at almost 60%

Britain’s upcoming general election is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years with many analysts calling it one of the country’s most consequential elections since 1945. The centre-left Labour party led by Keir Starmer, is expected to win by a landslide by taking votes away from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Tories.

London

Main opposition Labour party tipped to win upcoming UK elections

Russia claimed two more east Ukrainian villages as its forces have had the upper hand over Kyiv on the battlefield for months. Moscow has claimed new villages in the east of Ukraine regularly for weeks, as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold them back.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russia claims two more villages in east Ukraine

Voting is underway in France for its first snap parliamentary election in nearly 30 years.

France votes in key snap polls as far right eyes power

Spanish police say they've called off a search for a British teenager who went missing on the Canary island of Tenerife, though the case remains open. His phone was last traced to a steep and rugged ravine on the island.

Tenerife

Spanish police end search for missing UK teenager

At least three women are dead and dozens more injured after a Greyhound bus crashed into a caravan on the Bruce Highway at Gumlu, south of Townville. The bus was carrying 33 passengers.

Gumlu

Three dead, dozens injured in tour bus crash

Across the United Kingdom, a record number of candidates – more than 4,000 – are campaigning for the July 4 general election. Economic stagnation, a housing crisis, the cost of living, immigration and foreign policy concerns are high on the agenda.

How immigration has become a key UK election issue

U.S. President Joe Biden sought to project an image of confidence during a rally in North Carolina after a woeful performance in a debate with Donald Trump exacerbated concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Joe Biden comes out swinging after debate performance

South Asia has recently experienced severe weather, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people. The region has faced widespread destruction, with floods devastating Afghanistan and landslides wreaking havoc in Nepal.

Kathmandu

Severe flooding in Afghanistan and landslides in Nepal

Russian scientists are performing an autopsy on a wolf frozen in permafrost for about 44,000 years, a find they said was the first of its kind.

Siberia

Scientists discover intact 44,000-year-old wolf carcass

A hardline protege of Iran's supreme leader and a relative moderate are to face each other in a run-off presidential election. Both are loyalists to the system and neither is expected to bring a major shift, a lack of real choice that was reflected in a historically low turnout.

Tehran

Hardliner, moderate to stand in Iran Presidential run-off

The river Seine is still failing water quality tests one month before the Paris Olympics when it is scheduled to host the open-water swimming competition and the swimming leg of the triathlon, results showed Friday.

River Seine fails water quality tests ahead of Paris Olympics

Ahead of tomorrow's $300 energy rebate, the Australian government has rolled out a $200 million scheme implementing 420 community batteries nationally, as part of its clean energy transition. The coalition wants to add nuclear power by 2035 to increase supply

Canberra

Federal government launches solar batteries nationwide

A day after his disastrous debate performance prompted calls for him to step aside, Joe Biden delivered a fiery campaign speech in North Carolina aggressively attacking Donald Trump while acknowledging his own age and shortcomings.

Biden tries to shake off debate disaster

COVID-19 has infected hundreds of millions worldwide, yet some never get it. British researchers now think the reason could be a specific gene that gives the immune system advance warning to destroy viral invaders quickly.

Scientists discover why some never had COVID-19

The AFP has charged a West Australian man who allegedly established fake free WiFi access points across various airports, to capture personal data from unsuspecting victims who mistakenly connected to them.

Mascot

Man arrested over fake airport wifi scam

Israeli forces pressed their incursion deeper into two northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip on Friday (June 28), and Palestinian health officials said tank shelling in Rafah killed at least 11 people.

Jerusalem

Israel-Gaza War

Israeli forces push deeper into southern, northern Gaza

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a 10-year security pact with the European Union in Brussels, the latest deal aimed at shoring up long-term support for Kyiv in its fight with Russia.

Brussels

Zelenskyy signs Ukraine security accord with E.U.

European Union leaders agreed to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU's powerful executive body. At a summit in Brussels, the bloc's 27 national leaders also picked former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa as the future chair of their European Council meetings.

E.U. leaders pick von der Leyen for second term as Commission chief

The US Supreme Court cleared the way for women experiencing medical emergencies to obtain abortions in Idaho, but the ruling's narrow scope meant it was a muted victory for reproductive rights activists. The decision comes two years after the conservative-majority bench dismantled the nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy, making it a pivotal issue in November's presidential election.

Idaho

U.S. Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho

Social media platform bosses have been grilled by a Senate Committee over its roles and responsibilities to Australian society. Facebook defended its decision to stop sharing mainstream media news.

Facebook defends ending news deals

Palestinian refugees in the West Bank city of Jenin are bracing for more Israeli raids days after Israeli soldiers strapped an injured Palestinian to the hood of a military vehicle, triggering international anger. Israel called the man a suspected militant, but also said its soldiers violated protocol.

Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp brace for more IDF raids

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is confident her party will win an absolute majority in parliament, form a government and impose limits on what President Emmanuel Macron can do to support Ukraine, she said days before voting starts.

France's Le Pen expects clear far-right win and power over Macron

Julian Assange spent his first night in 14 years as a free man back at home in Australia as the conservative opposition on Thursday cautioned the government against hailing the WikiLeaks founder as a hero.

Julian Assange freed

Assange not 'a hero', says Opposition

Bolivia's army chief was arrested after deploying soldiers and tanks to government buildings, which President Luis Arce called an attempted coup. Surrounded by soldiers and tanks, the dismissed army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga claimed the armed forces aimed to restructure democracy.

Sucre

Bolivian army chief arrested for alleged coup

Kenyan police fired teargas at dozens of protesters as demonstrations continued across the country on Thursday (June 27), albeit at a smaller scale than before Kenyan President William Ruto promised to scrap a controversial finance bill.

Nairobi

Kenya protests continue after president's tax climbdown

Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a "coup" attempt against the government and called for international support.

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U.S. Presidential Election