Wednesday Briefing
Biden’s mistakes are becoming more and more common
President Biden appeared confused or lethargic in the weeks and months leading up to his devastating debate performance last week, current and former officials said. The failings seemed to be becoming more frequent, obvious and troubling.
Biden, 81, apparently hasn’t always been this way: Many of those who met him in the days after the debate described him as alert, coherent and capable. But many say he’s not the same today as he was when he took office three and a half years ago.
Biden admitted yesterday in Virginia that he “fell asleep on stage” during his disastrous debate last week, blaming his performance on the fact that he had “traveled around the world a couple of times” in the two weeks before. “It’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation,” he said.
Opponent: Donald Trump, 78, has shown his own signs of decline over the years, often making statements that are incoherent. While voters have also expressed concerns about his age, their concerns about him are not as strong as those about Biden.
Thousands of people have fled during evacuations in Gaza
Israel issued a new round of evacuation orders in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis yesterday, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing for relative safety. The UN estimated that some 250,000 people would have to leave the area to comply with the new orders.
The evacuation orders appeared to be prompted by a barrage of about 20 rockets that the Israeli military said were fired by Palestinian militants from Khan Younis a day earlier. Israeli forces retaliated overnight after “enabling civilians to evacuate the area,” the military said.
Calls for a ceasefire: Israel’s top military leaders want a ceasefire in Gaza even if Hamas remains in power for now, security officials said. That position puts them at odds with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has opposed a deal that would allow Hamas to survive the war.
More than 100 dead at religious gathering in India
A stampede at a Hindu prayer meeting in Uttar Pradesh state on Friday killed more than 100 people and left many more injured. Local officials suggested that heat and overcrowding had caused panic at the gathering, which appeared to have drawn a crowd much larger than the 5,000 allowed under the permit.
Most of the dead and injured were women and children, who appeared to have suffocated in a crush to leave the scene. Witnesses told local media that some victims had fallen on top of each other in a drainage ditch.
Context: Stampedes during religious pilgrimages are relatively common in India, usually due to poor enforcement of public safety measures. Recently, authorities have stepped up surveillance, with more police and drones.
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