Biden trips, tumbles on Air Force stage

US President Joe Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County on June 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 01 June 2023
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Biden trips, tumbles on Air Force stage

  • Biden, 80, had just shaken hands with a cadet and begun walking back to his seat when he fell
  • Air Force personnel helped him back up and he did not appear to require further help

COLORADO SPRINGS, United States: President Joe Biden took a face-first tumble on Thursday after tripping over an obstacle on stage at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, but he appeared unhurt.
Biden, 80, who had delivered the commencement address to graduates of the military academy, had just shaken hands with a cadet and begun walking back to his seat when he fell.
Air Force personnel helped him back up and he did not appear to require further help.
As he rose, Biden pointed to the object that had apparently caught his foot. It resembled a small black sandbag on the stage.
Biden is the oldest person ever in the presidency and is seeking a second term in the 2024 election. His official doctor’s report this year declared him physically fit and he exercises regularly.
In November 2020, shortly after winning his election against the incumbent Donald Trump, Biden broke his foot while playing with a pet dog.


Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region

Cracks are seen on the ground in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, following an earthquake. (AP)
Updated 06 January 2026
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Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region

  • Japan’s Nuclear ⁠Regulation Authority said there were ‌no irregularities at the plant

TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude ​of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the ‌first earthquake was ‌in eastern ‌Shimane prefecture, ⁠the ​agency ‌said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear ⁠Regulation Authority said there were ‌no irregularities at the plant.
A ‍spokesperson said ‍the utility was checking ‍on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being ​shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are ⁠common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations ‌between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.