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Biden blames jet lag, travel for poor debate performance

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Donald Trump, Jo Biden

Biden blames jet lag, travel for poor debate performance

President Joe Biden has blamed his poor debate performance last week on jet lag, telling reporters that he “wasn’t very smart” for “travelling around the world a couple of times” before the debate.

“I didn’t listen to my staff… and then I nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said.

Mr Biden, 81, last returned from travel on 15 June, nearly two weeks ahead of the 27 June debate.

Mr Biden’s remarks come amid intra-party panic ahead of November’s election over his mental fitness, and after a congressman from Texas became the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for him to step aside following his debate.

“I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult to decision to withdraw,” Rep Lloyd Doggett said in a statement on Tuesday.

President Biden appeared to struggle through some responses during a debate with former President Donald Trump last Thursday.

“It’s not an excuse but an explanation,” he said at a private fundraiser in Virginia on Tuesday evening, referring to his travel.

He also apologised for his performance and said it was “critical” that he win re-election, according to ABC News.

Mr Biden made two separate trips to Europe in the span of two weeks last month.

On 15 June, he appeared at a fundraiser alongside former President Barack Obama after an overnight trip from Italy. He returned to Washington DC the following day.

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White House officials have previously said Mr Biden’s was battling a cold on the day of the debate.

The president did not mention any illness in his remarks on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the White House said earlier in the day that he was not taking any cold medication during the debate.

Mr Biden also spent six days at Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington DC, preparing for his debate against Mr Trump.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed source familiar with Mr Biden’s schedule, reported on Tuesday that his days began at 11:00 each morning and that he was given time each day to nap.

The newspaper also reported that he was so exhausted from his travel that his debate preparations were cut short by two days to give him time to rest at his beach house in Delaware.

Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Mr Biden, said the president began “working well before” 11:00, after his exercise routine, during his time at Camp David.

His age has been a long-simmering issue this election, with voters in multiple polls saying they think he is too old to be effective.

Mr Biden is currently the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for the White House.

He has vowed to stay in the race despite the debate performance.

In his Tuesday statement, Rep Doggett, 77, said the debate solidified his decision to urge Mr Biden to step aside.

“Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” said Rep Doggett, who was sworn in in 1995 and is running for reelection.

He said too much is at stake to risk the president losing to Trump over fears about his age.

“While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” the congressman said of Mr Biden.

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“He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,” Rep Doggett said.

Mr Biden will give a primetime interview to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday, his first since the debate.

Some prominent Democratic lawmakers voiced their concerns about Mr Biden’s age and stamina this week, but none until Rep Doggett has called for him to move aside as a candidate.

Other top Democrats have acknowledged fears about Mr Biden’s ability to win but emphasised that the choice to leave the race is the president’s alone.

Several have flocked to liberal-leaning network MSNBC to defend him.

“It’s going to be up to Joe Biden” to do what he thinks is best, former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC on Tuesday.

One of President Biden’s most important backers, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, said he would support Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee if Mr Biden stepped down.

But he told the network: “I want this ticket to continue to be Biden-Harris.”

Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, told MSNBC this weekend that the debate created a “difficult situation”.

He acknowledged that there were “very honest and serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party.”

But he added: “Regardless of what President Biden decides, our party is going to be unified and our party also needs him at the very centre of our deliberations in our campaign.”

Biden blames jet lag, travel for poor debate performance

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

Israel vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting in Gaza until the return of all hostages as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting more than 330 people killed.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to “resume war” after an impasse in truce negotiations, and warned that the return to fighting could be a “death sentence” for hostages still alive in Gaza.

The strikes were by far the biggest and deadliest since a truce took effect on January 19. Hamas has not responded to the strikes so far.

Netanyahu warned Hamas this month of consequences it “cannot imagine” if it does not free hostages still in Gaza, and Israeli media said Israel had drafted plans to ramp up pressure on Hamas under a scheme dubbed the “Hell Plan”.

The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump’s administration before launching the wave of strikes, which the health ministry in Gaza said killed mostly women and children.

Netanyahu’s office said the operation was ordered after “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators”.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the statement said.

“We will not stop fighting as long as the hostages are not returned home and all our war aims are not achieved,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

Apart from the release of the remaining hostages, Israel’s other main war aim is to crush Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas said: “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement.

Over 330 dead as Israel unleashes ‘hell fire’ on Gaza

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Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

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Former US President Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son.

Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.”

He said Hunter Biden was currently on vacation in South Africa and noted he had recently suspended US aid to the country over alleged rights violations.

“Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list,” Trump wrote.

Federal law grants Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses, but only to their children if they are under age 16.

Nonetheless, protection is often extended for a period of time to adult children.

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A Secret Service spokesperson, when queried about Trump’s action, told AFP: “We are aware of the President’s decision to terminate protection for Hunter and Ashley Biden.”

“The Secret Service will comply and is actively working with the protective details and the White House to ensure compliance as soon as possible.”

Hunter Biden has been a target of Republican ire for years, with the animosity intensifying after his father pardoned his gun and tax crime convictions shortly before leaving office in January.

On Monday, Trump declared that the pardon and others issued by Biden were void, an unprecedented move with unclear legal founding.

Trump revokes security details for Biden’s children

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Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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U.S President Donald Trump

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, accusing Tren de Aragua of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

He announced that members of the gang will be deported for engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States. The Alien Enemies Act was last used during WWII to imprison Japanese-American civilians.

On Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, issued a 14-day freeze to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, pending more legal arguments.

After lawyers informed him that planes carrying deportees had already taken off, Judge Boasberg issued a verbal order for the planes to return, according to US media, though this command was not included in his written ruling.

According to Reuters, the written notice was filed in the court docket at 19:25 EDT on Saturday (00:25 GMT on Sunday), but it is unknown when the flights carrying the alleged gang members left the United States.

In a court filing on Sunday, Department of Justice lawyers stated that the order did not apply since the deportees “had already been removed from United States territory”.

The Justice Department has appealed the judge’s decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which was participating in the case against the Trump administration, stated that the court order may have been breached.

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The case presents constitutional issues because, under the US system of checks and balances, government entities are expected to follow a federal judge’s decision.

Venezuela denounced Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, claiming it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration” and “evokes the darkest episodes in the history of humanity, from slavery to the horror of Nazi concentration camps.”

Rights organisations blasted Trump, accusing him of utilising a 227-year-old legislation to sidestep due process.

Amnesty International USA commented on X that the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

Bukele, a Trump ally, stated that the detainees were promptly taken to El Salvador’s renowned mega-jail, the Terrorism Confinement Centre (Cecot).

The Salvadoran president stated that they will be imprisoned there “for a period of one year,” which might be “renewable.”

El Salvador’s Cecot jail is part of Bukele’s efforts to combat organised crime in the country.

Human rights groups have accused the newly built maximum-security institution, which can accommodate up to 40,000 people, of mistreating inmates.

The agreement between the United States and El Salvador is an indication of improved diplomatic relations.

El Salvador was the second country Rubio visited as the US’s top diplomat.

During that trip in February, Bukele made an initial offer to accept US deportees, claiming it would help finance the enormous Cecot facility.

The newest deportations during Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-standing campaign against illegal immigration in the United States.

In January, Trump signed an executive order designating Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organisations.

He won over voters during the campaign, in part, by threatening to carry out the greatest deportation operation in US history.

While illegal border crossings have dropped to their lowest levels in decades since Trump took office, the Republican president has allegedly been upset by the slow pace of deportations thus far.

Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act, deports over 200 gang members

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