Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris

Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about "No Tax on Tips" at "Il Toro E La Capra" Restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 24 August 2024
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Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris

Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris
  • Trump's speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to dislodge the spotlight from Harris and received little attention, a stunning turnabout for a politician used to dominating headlines
  • Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with polling aggregator website FiveThirtyEight putting her ahead of Trump in six of seven key battleground states

Donald Trump touted his plan to end taxation on tips at a stop in Las Vegas on Friday, trying to turn the page on a week in which he was overshadowed by Kamala Harris and struggled to keep focus on policy issues and not personal attacks on his opponent.
From a lectern set up at a Mexican restaurant, the Republican presidential candidate spoke about his plan to eliminate taxes on 100 percent of tips to waiters and other service employees. He also talked about his campaign’s efforts to court Hispanic voters in Nevada, a battleground state that could help determine the Nov. 5 election, and nationwide.
The tax proposal is one pillar of Trump’s economic agenda and the kind of issue his advisers have been pressing him to focus on rather than his frequent personal attacks against Harris’ looks, heritage and intelligence, warning they could turn off the moderate voters he needs to win.
Trump’s comments come one day after Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination with a muscular speech that laid down broad foreign policy principles and sharp contrasts with Trump with 11 weeks left until Election Day.
Throughout the four-day Democratic convention Trump counter-programmed with events of his own around the country, hoping to steal some media attention from Harris. However, his speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to dislodge the spotlight from Harris and received little attention, a stunning turnabout for a politician used to dominating headlines.
Trump and his aides are hoping Thursday’s boisterous convention finale marks the end of the “honeymoon” period for Harris, who emerged as the Democratic candidate little more than a month ago after President Joe Biden exited the race.
During Harris’ acceptance speech in Chicago, Trump attacked her with dozens of posts on his Truth Social platform, calling her a liar, a “Marxist” and “Comrade Kamala Harris.” With one post in all caps he simply asked: “IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?”
William Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University, said Trump’s personal attacks on Harris underscored his frustration with having to face a biracial woman, a task complicated by his history of making racist remarks.
“His anger and his words speak volumes,” Rosenberg said. “He’s navigating a path which is full of problems for him.”
Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with polling aggregator website FiveThirtyEight putting her ahead of Trump in six of seven key battleground states.
She is also outraising her Republican counterpart. Her campaign told the Federal Election Commission this week that it raised $204 million last month, compared to $48 million reported to the body by Trump’s main fundraising group.
One question still to be answered is whether Harris will also outpace Trump on the trail in the coming weeks. Biden made relatively few campaign stops, easing pressure on Trump to travel more around the country. That may now change with Harris.
Trump will travel to Detroit on Monday to address a conference of the National Guard Association of the United States and is scheduled to give a speech at a conservative women’s group’s annual summit in Washington on Friday.
Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump would hold at least one additional campaign stop in between those two events, without providing details.
The Harris campaign has not yet released details of her movements for next week.
Leavitt blamed the media for focusing their stories on Trump’s personal attacks, which she said made up a fraction of his otherwise policy-heavy rallies and speeches.
At an event on Wednesday in Asheboro, North Carolina, where his speech was billed as one on national security, Trump rejected the recommendations of his advisers to focus on policy and insulted Harris and other Democrats in personal terms.
One outside adviser to Trump, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that several advisers had told the former president that a continued focus on insults rather than policy could doom his chances in November.
Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump could still win the race, which he predicted would be close, but to do that he should focus on inflation, illegal immigration and other issues that polling show many voters give him higher marks on.


Frankfurt airport warns of disruptions due to air traffic system fault

Frankfurt airport warns of disruptions due to air traffic system fault
Updated 1 min 1 sec ago
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Frankfurt airport warns of disruptions due to air traffic system fault

Frankfurt airport warns of disruptions due to air traffic system fault
  • DFS, which operates German air traffic control, has detected a nationwide problem in data transmission but it appears to be improving
  • Frankfurt is Germany’s busiest airport, with some 60 million people traveling via the airport last year

BERLIN: Flight delays and cancelations are expected at Frankfurt airport due to a technical problem with the German traffic control system, the airport said in a post on its social media platform X on Friday.
DFS, which operates German air traffic control, has detected a nationwide problem in data transmission but it appears to be improving, a spokesperson told Reuters, adding that other airports including Dusseldorf could be affected.
A spokesperson for airport operator Fraport said technical faults had been affecting the system since around 10 am (0800 GMT).
The airport advised travelers to check the status of their flight with their airline website.
Frankfurt is Germany’s busiest airport, with some 60 million people traveling via the airport last year.


12 bodies found in Mexico’s Guanajuato state in latest cartel violence

12 bodies found in Mexico’s Guanajuato state in latest cartel violence
Updated 48 min 18 sec ago
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12 bodies found in Mexico’s Guanajuato state in latest cartel violence

12 bodies found in Mexico’s Guanajuato state in latest cartel violence
  • Guanajuato, a thriving industrial center that is also home to popular tourist destinations, is currently Mexico’s most violent state
  • In Guanajuato, two cartels, the Santa Rosa de Lima and the Jalisco New Generation, are currently at war

CELAYA, Mexico: Twelve bodies were found on Thursday in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, local authorities said, attributing the killings to disputes between organized crime groups.
Guanajuato, a thriving industrial center that is also home to popular tourist destinations, is currently Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics.
The 12 bodies were found within two hours in five locations in the city of Salamanca, according to the state prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the crime.
The victims — three women and nine men — were found on roads, bridges and avenues, their bodies bearing gunshot wounds and signs of torture, while one was dismembered.
The state prosecutor’s office also said the perpetrators left messages in which a cartel claimed responsibility.
The bodies were found less than 24 hours after gunmen attacked a residential center for people suffering from addictions in the same municipality, killing four.
“This month of October has started with very high crime rates here. That makes 16 people (murdered) so far,” Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto told reporters.
But he said the violence affecting the city was “a temporary issue” that flares up “when one group decides to attack another.”
In Guanajuato, two cartels, the Santa Rosa de Lima and the Jalisco New Generation, are currently at war.
Hit by spiraling violence linked to organized crime, Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since December 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched.
New President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she will present her national security plan next Tuesday.


Pakistan seals off capital, blocks cellphones ahead of protest by Imran Khan’s party

Pakistan seals off capital, blocks cellphones ahead of protest by Imran Khan’s party
Updated 04 October 2024
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Pakistan seals off capital, blocks cellphones ahead of protest by Imran Khan’s party

Pakistan seals off capital, blocks cellphones ahead of protest by Imran Khan’s party
  • It would be the latest in a series of protest rallies since last month to press for Khan’s release
  • Islamabad police warn they would take action against anyone attempting to disturb the peace in the capital

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan sealed off the capital, Islamabad, and blocked cellphone services on Friday to prevent an anti-government rally by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, officials said.
It would be the latest in a series of protest rallies since last month to press for Khan’s release and agitate against the ruling coalition government, which the party calls illegitimate, saying it was formed after a fraudulent election.
Shipping containers have been placed to block Islamabad’s entry and exit points, guarded by large numbers of police and paramilitary troops, the officials said, while police banned any gathering in the capital.
“If someone plans to storm Islamabad, we wouldn’t let that happen,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told a news conference late on Thursday.
He urged Khan’s party to shift the rally to later dates, to avoid disrupting Islamabad’s preparations to host a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is visiting, to be followed by a high-profile Saudi delegation and Chinese Premier Li Qiang ahead of the conference, Naqvi said, adding, “We can’t allow any chaos.”
Any agitation in the capital would not send a good signal to the world ahead of the conference, Naqvi said.
Disregarding the appeal, Khan asked his supporters to gather outside parliament regardless of obstacles.
“I want you all to reach D-Chowk today for a peaceful protest rally,” he posted on X on Friday, referring to a spot outside parliament. “This war has entered a decisive phase.”
Even though Khan has been in jail since Aug 2023, candidates backed by him won the most seats in February’s general election, though their numbers were insufficient to form a government.
His opponents, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, formed a coalition government instead.
In a statement on Friday, Islamabad police warned they would take action against anyone attempting to disturb the peace in the capital, adding that any gathering had been banned.
Schools were shut and cellphone services suspended in Islamabad and the adjacent garrison city of Rawalpindi.
A telecoms official said cellphone services were blocked on directions from the interior ministry. A ministry spokesman did not respond to a request for a comment.


WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test

WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test
Updated 04 October 2024
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WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test

WHO approves first mpox diagnostic test
  • More than 800 people have died across Africa from mpox, where the disease has been officially detected in 16 countries, according to the African Union’s disease control center

GENEVA: The UN health agency said on Friday that it had approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox, a key tool in countries battling outbreaks.
More than 800 people have died across Africa from mpox, where the disease has been officially detected in 16 countries, according to the African Union’s disease control center.
“The approval for emergency use” of the test “will be pivotal in expanding diagnostic capacity in countries facing mpox outbreaks, where the need for quick and accurate testing has risen sharply,” the World Health Organization said in a statement.
The test, called the Alinity m MPXV assay and manufactured by Abbott Molecular Inc., enables the detection of the mpox virus from swabs taken from human lesions.
“By detecting DNA from pustular or vesicular rash samples, laboratory and health workers can confirm suspected mpox cases efficiently and effectively,” the WHO said.
“Limited testing capacity and delays in confirming mpox cases persist in Africa, contributing to the continued spread of the virus,” it said.
The approval of the test “represents a significant milestone in expanding testing availability in affected countries,” the statement quoted Yukiko Nakatani, an assistant director-general of WHO, as saying.
“Increasing access to quality-assured medical products is central to our efforts in assisting countries to contain the spread of the virus and protect their people, especially in underserved regions,” Nakatani said.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly.


Philippines detains more than 250 in scam hub raid

Philippines detains more than 250 in scam hub raid
Updated 04 October 2024
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Philippines detains more than 250 in scam hub raid

Philippines detains more than 250 in scam hub raid
  • International concern has been growing over similar scam farms in Asia, often staffed by victims of trafficking who were tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments and other cons

MANILA: Philippine authorities have detained more than 250 people, most of them Chinese, in a raid on a suspected online scam farm in Manila, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Police and other authorities raided the office building late Thursday to find staff with hundreds of phones, computers, and pre-registered international and local SIM cards, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said.
“These are red flags of love scamming that victimizes foreign nationals,” the commission said in a statement, referring to schemes in which scammers pretend to have romantic feelings for their victims in order to earn their trust and eventually steal their money.
International concern has been growing over similar scam farms in Asia, often staffed by victims of trafficking who were tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments and other cons.
In July, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos outlawed all forms of offshore gaming operators, including Internet gaming license holders, after the gambling industry was found to be linked to financial scams, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, torture and murder.
Thousands of foreign workers at the outlawed firms were given two months to leave the Philippines.
In the Manila raid on Thursday, 190 Chinese, two Taiwanese and 62 Filipinos were detained at the offices of a company called 3D Analyzer Information Technologies Inc.
The company used to have an Internet gaming license but subsequently told regulators it had “ceased operations,” Gilberto Cruz, the executive director of the anti-crime commission, told AFP.
“We’re looking for their passports or working visas, but they couldn’t show us anything,” Cruz added.
The commission will liaise with the Beijing and Taipei missions to help identify and arrange the deportation of the foreigners, the official said.
Meanwhile, Filipinos found to be involved in scamming activities will be charged in court, he added.
Cruz said the commission would also apply to the courts for warrants to search computers found inside the office.