海角大神

For Democrats, President Joe Biden鈥檚 poor performance in Thursday鈥檚 debate has resurfaced questions of whether he鈥檚 truly the party鈥檚 best candidate to beat Donald Trump. But getting him to step aside isn鈥檛 simple and carries its own risks.

鈥� Gaza City raid:聽Israel ordered Palestinians to move south amid fighting in Rafah, in what Israel says are the final stages of an operation against Hamas militants there.
鈥⒙�Bible in public schools:聽Oklahoma鈥檚 Department of Education ordered every teacher in the state to have a Bible in their classroom and to teach from it.
鈥⒙�Iranians vote:聽They are choosing a new president June 28 from a tightly controlled group of candidates. This follows the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
鈥⒙�Mongolian elections:聽A parliamentary election will be held June 28 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and beset by corruption.
鈥⒙�French polls:聽This weekend brings the first round of snap parliamentary elections that could see France鈥檚 first far-right government since World War II.

Read these news briefs.

The three Supreme Court decisions issued Friday alone would qualify as a history-making term. And the court is not yet done, with arguably the biggest case coming Monday.

A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court barred affirmative action in college admissions. Students have since used their application essays as a place to explore identity.聽

A credible counternarrative on crime is worth probing. It can undercut misperceptions, including ones promoted for political purposes. It can suggest reasons for progress. It can validate community action. We found one such story in our Boston backyard.

Tracking global LGBTQ+ rights is a complicated endeavor. The community continues to face diverse challenges, but overall, data shows a story of gradual, hard-won progress.

In rural Tunisia, limited government resources can leave people feeling isolated. Karim Arfa reconnects communities by erecting bridges and other vital infrastructure.

Leaders of the Democratic Party are now debating whether to ask U.S. President Joe Biden not to run again based on his performance in Thursday night鈥檚 debate with Donald Trump. They are correct in one respect. Asking him is preferable to forcing his exit, if that is what the party seeks. Yet they can also take a cue from Jill Biden. Last year, the first lady hinted that her husband has options other than being president.

鈥淚t鈥檚 Joe鈥檚 decision,鈥� she told CNN. 鈥淎nd we support whatever he wants to do. If he鈥檚 in, we鈥檙e there.鈥�

The idea of not setting limits on Mr. Biden鈥檚 future reminds us of the late actor Glenda Jackson. After decades of working in film and theater, she went on to a successful career as a politician, only to return to the theater at age 82 playing King Lear on Broadway for eight shows a week. When asked by The New York Times if she feared getting older, she replied, 鈥淭he essential you is on the inside, it stays the same.鈥�

As the average life span has risen, views have expanded about the potential of older people to keep contributing.聽鈥淲e鈥檝e added a couple of decades, essentially an entire generation, onto our lives, and we haven鈥檛, kind of, socio-culturally figured out how to handle that,鈥� geriatrician Louise Aronson told CBS News.

Dr. Aronson believes public anxiety about aging leaders reflects a fear of aging itself. She suggested in a Wall Street Journal column that people should instead 鈥渃reate the kind of world we want to be old in, one of opportunities and recognition of competence at all stages of life.鈥�

Mr. Biden may decide聽to stay in the race, as is very possible in聽coming days and weeks. But if he does bow out as聽a candidate, it need not be a retirement but rather a 鈥渞ewirement.鈥�听听When George Washington stepped down as military commander in 1783 at age 51, he thought of himself as 鈥済ray鈥� and 鈥渁lmost blind.鈥� Yet he went on to be president for two terms. Then at age 66, he agreed to serve in the military again, Maurizio Valsania, a history professor at the University of Turin, wrote for The Conversation.

Had Mr. Biden lived in that age, stated Dr. Valsania, 鈥渉is value would have likely outweighed his deficits in the eyes鈥� of a country that was 鈥渁ware of the wisdom that certain old leaders could still provide.鈥� Such wisdom need not be confined to the curved walls of the Oval Office.