Trump-Biden debate launched 30 days of dizzying, rapid-fire events that changed history

DALLAS — There they stood. Two men perched at podiums in an audience-free television studio looking to win the first of two presidential debates. They couldn’t have had a clue how extraordinary the June 27 night would be. Neither did most Americans.

Donald Trump, 78, entered with 34 felony convictions a month after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records involving payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Biden, 81, was dogged by concerns he was too old and too much in decline for another term.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, but certainly in retrospect it turned into the most important and impactful presidential debate of all time, and I don’t think anybody could have predicted that,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate for the University of Michigan’s debate program and co-author of the book Debating the Donald.

Biden’s hoarse-voiced, halting performance was only the first in a series of pivotal events that would reshape history and alter the nation’s political landscape over the next 30 days.

—The Dallas Morning News

Trump greets Netanyahu warmly at Mar-a-Lago after White House friction

Donald Trump gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the warm welcome he was hoping for at Mar-a-Lago on Friday after the Israeli got a thinly veiled rebuke from presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Washington.

Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, at the top step of the gilded foyer at his Florida estate and criticized Harris’ remarks made during her meeting Netanyahu on Thursday — in which she cited the grave humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip — as not “very nice pertaining to Israel.”

It was as much as Netanyahu could have hoped for in making the trek to Florida after he gave a speech to Congress on Wednesday that was criticized by Democrats. The next day he met with President Joe Biden, and then had a separate meeting with Harris, who said she would not “be silent” about humanitarian suffering in Gaza.

“No president has done what I’ve done for Israel, and we’ve always had a very good relationship,” Trump said, sitting at a table across from Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago. He didn’t mention the rift that opened up between the two men in 2020 after Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his election victory.

—Bloomberg News

Women’s health care is in a ‘perilous place,’ rankings say. Where does Florida stand?

MIAMI — Florida, with high numbers of uninsured and the lofty cost of care, ranks among the worst states in the country for women’s health, according to a new national report.

The Commonwealth Fund, a health care research nonprofit, ranked Florida 39th overall for women’s health and reproductive care in its 2024 scorecard, making it one of the “bottom-performing states” in the country.

“Women’s health in the U.S. is in a fragile spot,” said David Radley, a senior scientist and public health expert at the Commonwealth Fund who helped write the report. “It’s true nationally and it’s true in Florida.”

The Commonwealth Fund used public data from 2021 and 2022 to compile the report, including government-surveys, vital statistics and mortality data. Florida’s low rank was driven primarily by issues of health care cost and accessibility, according to the report.

—Miami Herald

'Coordinated acts of sabotage' impair railways as Paris prepares for Olympics opening ceremony

PARIS — Suspected arson attacks on the French rail network ahead of Friday's opening of the Olympic Games, described by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal as "coordinated acts of sabotage," have caused chaos and major disruption for travelers.

Unknown individuals placed incendiary devices at various key locations of the railway during the night, which has heightened the already significant fear of attacks in France. Meanwhile, a large number of spectators were expected to gather in Paris for Friday evening's Olympics opening ceremony along the Seine.

By Friday afternoon, French national rail operator SNCF said it had made progress in repairing the damage and restoring high-speed service around the country but that cancellations continued on some lines and that delays would persist into the weekend.

Attal wrote on the social media platform X that the impacts from the "coordinated acts of sabotage" on the rail network on the day of the opening of the Olympic Games were massive and severe. "Our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts," wrote Attal.

—dpa