You are here

  • Home
  • Trump to hold first campaign rally after assassination attempt
Trump Returns
Trump Returns

Trump to hold first campaign rally after assassination attempt

Trump to hold first campaign rally after assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Short Url

https://arab.news/z5btf

Updated 29 July 2024
Reuters
Follow

Trump to hold first campaign rally after assassination attempt

Trump to hold first campaign rally after assassination attempt
  • Trump and Vance will take the stage in Grand Rapids with the Republican Party unified behind them after this week’s nominating convention
Updated 29 July 2024
Reuters
Follow

GRAND RAPIDS:Donald Trump will hold his first campaign rally on Saturday since he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt one week ago and fresh from his nominating convention where his takeover of the Republican Party was cemented.
Trump will appear in Grand Rapids, in the battleground state of Michigan, along with his new vice presidential pick, Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance. It will be their first campaign event together as the now official Republican presidential ticket.
Republican Party officials said during Trump’s nominating convention in Milwaukee this week that his brush with death last Saturday had changed him, and that when he made his acceptance speech on Thursday night he would call for national unity.
While Trump began the address with a call for unity and national healing, much of his speech was his well-known list of grievances and attacks on opponents.
It is unclear what type of a speech Trump will deliver on Saturday, but his diehard supporters typically flock to such events to hear Trump’s more traditional inflammatory rhetoric.
Trump and Vance will take the stage in Grand Rapids with the Republican Party unified behind them after this week’s nominating convention. In contrast, the Democrats are in turmoil and it is no longer certain that President Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee facing Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
Biden is facing mounting calls from many elected officials in his own party to step aside as the party’s White House candidate and to end his re-election bid, after his poor debate performance against Trump last month.
Biden is trailing in opinion polls and is behind in every swing state against Trump. Many Democrats fear he may have virtually no path to victory and that the party needs a new presidential candidate to take on Trump.
The rally in Grand Rapids will be in an indoor arena, unlike the event in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend, which was outdoors. At that event, the gunman was able to scale the roof of a building outside the Secret Service perimeter before opening fire on Trump, clipping his ear, killing a rally-goer and wounding several others.
The US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Trump, declined to comment on security for the Grand Rapids event. An investigation is under way into the security failures at the Butler rally.
“The Secret Service does not discuss the means and methods used for our protective operations,” the agency said in a statement.
Trump gave a detailed account of his narrow brush with death in his convention speech on Thursday, telling the audience that he was only talking to them “by the grace of Almighty God.”

Topics: Trump Returns

’Benign’ vein issue behind Trump’s swollen legs: White House

’Benign’ vein issue behind Trump’s swollen legs: White House
Updated 10 sec ago
AFP
Follow

’Benign’ vein issue behind Trump’s swollen legs: White House

’Benign’ vein issue behind Trump’s swollen legs: White House
Updated 10 sec ago
AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with a chronic but benign vein condition after seeking medical examination for swollen legs, the White House said Thursday.
The presidential physician found Trump, 79, has “chronic venous insufficiency” — a condition where damaged leg veins fail to keep blood flowing properly — Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, calling it a “benign and common condition.”
Responding to speculation over recent photos showing bruising on Trump’s hand, Leavitt said “this was consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen.”
Trump became the oldest person in history to assume the presidency when he began his second term this January, replacing Democrat Joe Biden, who stepped down at 81.
The Republican frequently boasts of his energy levels and the administration recently even posted an image depicting him as Superman.
In April, Trump said after undergoing a routine medical check-up that he was in “very good shape.”
Leavitt’s revelations follow viral online discussions about the president’s visibly swollen ankles and discolored right hand.
She said he had undergone “a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies. Bilateral lower extremity venous doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.”
“Importantly, there was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease,” she said.
All Trump’s test results “were within normal limits,” she said and he had a “normal cardiac structure and function, no signs of heart failure, renal impairment or systemic illness.”
The hand issue, she said, was linked to the aspirin he takes in a “standard” cardiovascular health program.

Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports

Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports
Updated 6 min 14 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports

Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports
  • The information was included in the mistakenly released spreadsheet
  • A UK official had accidentally leaked a document containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans
Updated 6 min 14 sec ago
AFP

LONDON: The details of more than 100 Britons, including spies and special forces personnel, were included in a massive data breach involving thousands of Afghans, UK media reported on Thursday.

The information was included in the mistakenly released spreadsheet, British newspapers reported, citing unnamed defense sources.

The leak was only revealed to the public earlier this week after a news blackout imposed by the previous Conservative government was finally lifted.

“It’s longstanding policy of successive governments to not comment on Special Forces,” a ministry of defense spokesperson said in a statement.

“We take the security of our personnel very seriously and personnel, particularly those in sensitive positions, always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.”

But reports in the British media, including the Guardian newspaper and the BBC, said members of Britain’s intelligence service and special forces were among those listed on the spreadsheet.

Britain’s government disclosed on Tuesday that a UK official had accidentally leaked a document containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to the UK.

It happened in February 2022, just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Labour’s Defense Secretary John Healey told parliament.

The breach and the resettlement plan to protect those involved from potential repercussions only came to light after a court-issued super-gag was lifted.

The nearly two-year-long court ban secured by the previous Conservative government prevented any media reporting of the leak.

In addition, parliament was not briefed and there was no public knowledge of the resettlement plan and the costs involved.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that Tory ministers have “serious questions to answer” over the secret resettlement plan while parliamentary Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said that the affair raised “significant constitutional issues.”

Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have since been brought to Britain or are in transit under the program known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million ($535 million), Healey said.

Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to £850 million.

They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul.

Topics: UK Afghan special forces spies

Related

Taliban deny arresting or monitoring Afghans after UK data leak video
World
Taliban deny arresting or monitoring Afghans after UK data leak
UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program
World
UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program

Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer

Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer
Updated 20 min 19 sec ago
AP
Follow

Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer

Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer
Updated 20 min 19 sec ago
AP

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will head to Scotland next week, visiting areas where his family owns two golf courses and is opening a third, and will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade ahead of an official state visit to Britain in September.
Trump’s trip from July 25-29 will see him visit Turnberry, home to a historic golf course and hotel he bought in 2014, and Aberdeen, where one Trump golf course has operated since 2012 and a new one is set to open in August, the White House said Thursday.
During the trip, Trump plans to meet with Starmer to “refine” a previously announced trade deal, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump himself had previously said he’d be discussing trade with Starmer and said those talks would take place at “probably one of my properties” in Aberdeen, but the White House hadn’t previously announced the trip.
The White House hasn’t commented on whether the Republican president plans to golf while in Scotland, though he played his Turnberry course during his first term in 2018, ahead of traveling to Helsinki, Finland, for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president’s son’s Eric and Donald Jr. are now running the family business, The Trump Organization, while their father is in the White House.
During her briefing with reporters, Leavitt also said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to the United Kingdom from Sept. 17-19 and meet with King Charles.
That trip had already been confirmed by Buckingham Palace and will mark Trump’s second state visit to the United Kingdom after he first had one in 2019. No US president had previously been invited for a second state visit.
“He is honored and looking forward to meeting with his majesty, the king at Windsor Castle,” Leavitt said.
Trump’s first golf course near Aberdeen, International Golf Links Scotland, is set to host an event on the European tour, the Scottish Championship, from Aug. 7-10. It will be the first time the course has staged a European tour event, though it held a tournament on the seniors’ tour in 2023 and 2024 and will do so again this year, the week before the Scottish Championship.
Located on the Ayrshire coast, around 200 miles  southwest of Aberdeen, Trump Turnberry is one of 10 courses on the rotation to host the British Open — the oldest of the four major championships in men’s golf — but hasn’t staged that event since 2009, before Trump bought the resort.

Topics: Donald Trump

Ukraine offers its front line as test bed for foreign weapons

Ukraine offers its front line as test bed for foreign weapons
Updated 34 min 9 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Ukraine offers its front line as test bed for foreign weapons

Ukraine offers its front line as test bed for foreign weapons
  • Moroz said there has been strong interest in the scheme, but did not name any companies
  • Ukraine is betting on a budding defense industry, fueled in part by foreign investment
Updated 34 min 9 sec ago
Reuters

WIESBADEN, Germany, : Ukraine will let foreign arms companies test out their latest weapons on the front line of its war against Russia’s invasion, Kyiv’s state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1 said on Thursday.

Under the “Test in Ukraine” scheme, companies would send their products to Ukraine, give some online training on how to use them, then wait for Ukrainian forces to try them out and send back reports, the group said in a statement.

“It gives us understanding of what technologies are available. It gives companies understanding of what is really working on the front line,” Artem Moroz, Brave1’s head of investor relations, told Reuters at a defense conference in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Moroz said there has been strong interest in the scheme, but did not name any companies that have signed on to use it and declined to go into more detail on how it would operate or what, if any, costs would be involved.

More than three years after their invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces are pressing a grinding offensive across the sprawling, more than 1,000-km (620-mile) front line and intensifying air strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine is betting on a budding defense industry, fueled in part by foreign investment, to fend off Russia’s bigger and better-armed war machine.

Brave1 — set up by the government in 2023 with an online hub where Ukrainian defense companies can seek investment, and also where Ukrainian military units can order up arms — had drawn up a list of the military technologies it wanted to test, Moroz added.

“We have a list of priorities. One of the top of those would be air defense, like new air defense capabilities, drone interceptors, AI-guided systems, all the solutions against gliding bombs,” he said.

Unmanned systems in the water and electronic profile systems on the ground are also on Ukraine’s list of priorities, as are advanced fire control systems or AI guidance to make howitzers more accurate.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Brave1 arms Weapons

Related

Russia says Trump’s new weapons pledge a signal for Ukraine to abandon peace efforts
World
Russia says Trump’s new weapons pledge a signal for Ukraine to abandon peace efforts
Czech-arranged ammunition shipments to Ukraine are increasing, says government
World
Czech-arranged ammunition shipments to Ukraine are increasing, says government

French army leaves Senegal, ending military presence in west Africa

French army leaves Senegal, ending military presence in west Africa
Updated 17 July 2025
Agence France-Presse
Follow

French army leaves Senegal, ending military presence in west Africa

French army leaves Senegal, ending military presence in west Africa
  • France returned Camp Geille on Thursday, its largest base in the west African country, and its airfield at Dakar airport
  • Senegalese chief of staff said handover marked “an important turning point” in the two countries’ military partnership
Updated 17 July 2025
Agence France-Presse

DAKAR: France on Thursday formally handed back its last two military bases in Senegal, leaving Paris with no permanent army camps in either west or central Africa.
Ending the French army’s 65 years in independent Senegal, the pull-out comes after similar withdrawals across the continent, with former colonies increasingly turning their backs on their former ruler.
The move comes as the Sahel region faces a growing jihadist conflict across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger that is threatening the wider west African region.
A recent string of attacks this month in Mali included an assault on a town on the border with Senegal.
France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in the west African country, and its airfield at Dakar airport, in a ceremony attended by top French and Senegalese officials.
They included Senegalese chief of staff General Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa.
Cisse said the handover marked “an important turning point in the rich and long military journey of our two countries.”
He said the “new objectives” were aimed at “giving new content to the security partnership.”
Senegalese troops were working “to consolidate the numerous skills gained it its quest for strategic autonomy,” he added.
The general ended his speech with a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French author of “The Little Prince,” who spent several months in Dakar: “For each ending there is always a new departure.”
Ianni said Paris was “reinventing partnerships in a dynamic Africa.”
“We have to do things differently, and we don’t need permanent bases to do so,” he said.
The French general however insisted that the pull-out “takes nothing away from the sacrifices made yesterday by our brothers-in-arms in Africa for our respective interests.”
Around 350 French soldiers, primarily tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving, marking the end of a three-month departure process that began in March.
After storming to victory in 2024 elections promising radical change, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw troops from the country by 2025.
Unlike the leaders of other former colonies such as junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, however, Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris.
Reinventing partnerships
Senegal was one of France’s first colonies in Africa.
After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France’s staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its modern history.
Faye’s predecessor, Macky Sall, continued that tradition.
However Faye, who ran on a ticket promising a clean break with the Sall era, has said that Senegal will treat France like any other foreign partner.
Pledging to make his country more self-sufficient, the president gave a deadline of the end of 2025 for all foreign armies to withdraw.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye said at the end of 2024.
He maintained nonetheless that France remained “an important partner for Senegal.”
Faye has also urged Paris to apologize for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African soldiers who had fought for France in World War II.
A lawmaker from the president’s ruling Pastef party, Guy Marius Sagna, hailed Thursday’s “end to the presence of the French occupying army.”
“Bravo to President Diomaye Faye!... Bravo to the patriots! Decolonization continues,” he told the press.
French former empire
With governments across Africa increasingly questioning the presence of French soldiers, Paris has closed or reduced numbers at bases across its former empire.
In February, Paris handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence at the site.
The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the unrest-hit Sahel region.
Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali between 2020 and 2023 have swept military strongmen to power.
All have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel’s decade-long jihadist insurgency.
The Central African Republic, also a former French colony to which the Kremlin has sent mercenaries, has likewise demanded a French pull-out.
Meanwhile, the army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with the central African nation focused on training.
Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will play host to a permanent French army base following Thursday’s withdrawal.
France intends to make its base in Djibouti, home to some 1,500 people, its military headquarters for Africa.

Topics: France Senegal West Africa Sahel region

Related

Trump promises West African leaders a pivot to trade as the region reels from sweeping aid cuts
World
Trump promises West African leaders a pivot to trade as the region reels from sweeping aid cuts
Senegal leader ‘did everything’ to bring Sahel trio back to regional group
World
Senegal leader ‘did everything’ to bring Sahel trio back to regional group

Latest updates

Why the US might finally start calling soccer ‘football’
Why the US might finally start calling soccer ‘football’
Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports
Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports
Israel has refused to renew visas for heads of at least 3 UN agencies in Gaza
Israel has refused to renew visas for heads of at least 3 UN agencies in Gaza
Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer
Trump will visit Scotland, where his family has golf courses, and will talk trade with Starmer
Saudi youth engineer their way to STEM Racing triumph
Saudi youth engineer their way to STEM Racing triumph

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.