Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election

Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
With just one month left in a deadlocked US presidential election, Donald Trump urged supporters Sunday in battleground Wisconsin to get out the vote, as Kamala Harris kicked off a week-long media interview blitz with a focus on reproductive rights. (AP)
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Updated 07 October 2024
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Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election

Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
  • Harris has faced criticism for seemingly avoiding one-on-one interviews with national media since she took over as the Democratic nominee, and Trump hammered away at this Sunday

WASHINGTON: With just one month left in a deadlocked US presidential election, Donald Trump urged supporters Sunday in battleground Wisconsin to get out the vote, as Kamala Harris kicked off a week-long media interview blitz with a focus on reproductive rights.
Polls have the Republican and Democrat candidates neck and neck, fueling a high-cost, high-intensity scramble for each and every wavering voter in the seven key states that are likely to decide the outcome on November 5.
Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 and this was his fourth visit in eight days. Harris was there earlier this week, holding a rally in Ripon, birthplace of the Republican Party, where she appealed to moderate and disgruntled conservatives.
“I’m only asking you to do one thing,” Trump told the crowd in the town of Juneau. “Just go out and vote.”
Trump also repeated false allegations that the Biden-Harris administration had redirected relief funds for areas devastated by Hurricane Helene and spent it on migrant programs.
Harris, he said, is “someone who steals your wealth and abandons your family when the flood waters rise.”
Harris has faced criticism for seemingly avoiding one-on-one interviews with national media since she took over as the Democratic nominee, and Trump hammered away at this Sunday.
“She doesn’t do interviews because she can’t answer the questions. She can’t answer anything,” he said.
In her bid to reach key voters, the vice president is taking to the airwaves in the coming week with a host of television, radio and podcast appearances.
Harris began her media flurry with an appearance Sunday on the podcast “Call Her Daddy” — one of the most popular programs on Spotify — that focuses on advice and issues affecting women.
She addressed reproductive rights — which Democrats view as a major vote winner among undecided voters, especially women.
At one point Harris was asked how she felt when she heard Trump, in their presidential debate last month, say that some Democratic states allow the “execution” of babies after birth.
In an impassioned reply, Harris denounced that as “a bold-faced lie,” something “outrageously inaccurate” and “insulting to women.”
“This guy,” she added, “is full of lies.”
Asked how she was feeling with just a month to go before the election, the vice president replied, “nervous” — then jokingly mentioned what she called an old adage: “there are only two ways to run: without an opponent or scared.”
Trump’s visit to Wisconsin came on the back of a theatrical campaign return on Saturday to the same venue in Butler, Pennsylvania where he narrowly avoided a would-be assassin’s bullet back in July.
The former president campaign’s team had hoped to recapture the momentum he enjoyed at that time — riding high in the polls before President Joe Biden upended the race by withdrawing and being replaced by Harris.
In a long, often rambling speech delivered from behind bulletproof glass, Trump suggested his political opponents may have been behind the failed assassination bid.
“Those who want to stop us... have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” he told tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered for the event.
The gunman, who was shot dead, was a registered Republican and investigators have found no motive — and no political link — to his attempt on the former president’s life.
Harris spent Saturday in North Carolina, meeting relief workers and residents in one of the areas most impacted by Helene, which left a trail of destruction across half a dozen states and more than 220 people dead.
Later in the week, she will also be a guest on ABC’s “The View,” as well as “The Howard Stern Show” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — all of which are seen as generally sympathetic to the Harris campaign.
And former president Barack Obama will add his star power by stumping for Harris in key swing states from Thursday right through until election day, the campaign says.


Israel deems arrests over Amsterdam clashes ‘very low’

Israel deems arrests over Amsterdam clashes ‘very low’
Updated 2 sec ago
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Israel deems arrests over Amsterdam clashes ‘very low’

Israel deems arrests over Amsterdam clashes ‘very low’
  • Israel offered its help in the investigation into violence in Amsterdam Friday following a match between an Israeli team and a Dutch one
JERUSALEM: Newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem Monday that Israel deemed the number of arrests over clashes in Amsterdam last week “very low.”
“I was informed by the mayor of Amsterdam that they formed a special inquiry team, but I can tell that until now, the number of arrests is very low,” Saar said, adding that Israel offered its help in the investigation into violence in Amsterdam Friday following a match between an Israeli team and a Dutch one.

17 Chadian soldiers and 96 rebels killed in a Boko Haram attack, army says

17 Chadian soldiers and 96 rebels killed in a Boko Haram attack, army says
Updated 4 min 46 sec ago
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17 Chadian soldiers and 96 rebels killed in a Boko Haram attack, army says

17 Chadian soldiers and 96 rebels killed in a Boko Haram attack, army says
  • The Lake Chad region has been plagued this year by frequent attacks from insurgents, including Boko Haram and Daesh in West Africa

N’DJAMENA: Boko Haram insurgents killed 17 Chadian soldiers in a weekend attack on a military post that also left 96 of the assailants dead in the country’s west, Chad’s army said.
The attack in the Lake Chad region happened on Saturday, army spokesperson Gen. Issakh Acheikh said on national television Sunday night. He did not provide details.
The Lake Chad region has been plagued this year by frequent attacks from insurgents, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa. It has revived fears of violence after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist groups’ bases.
Last month, 40 soldiers were killed during an attack on a military base, prompting President Mahamat Deby Itno to launch an operation to dislodge Boko Haram militants from Lake Chad. In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers.
Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education, seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Chad, a country of nearly 18 million people, has been reeling from political turmoil before and after a controversial presidential election that resulted in Deby Itno’s victory. He had led the country as interim president during the period of military rule that followed the death of his father in 2021.


UN: Paris agreement climate goals ‘in great peril’

UN: Paris agreement climate goals ‘in great peril’
Updated 42 min ago
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UN: Paris agreement climate goals ‘in great peril’

UN: Paris agreement climate goals ‘in great peril’
  • The period from 2015-2024 will also be the warmest decade ever recorded
  • Long-term global warming was currently likely to be around 1.3°C

GENEVA: The Paris climate agreement’s goals “are in great peril” and 2024 is on track to break new temperature records, the United Nations warned Monday as COP29 talks opened in Baku.
The period from 2015-2024 will also be the warmest decade ever recorded, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a new report based on six international datasets.
That is accelerating the shrinking of glaciers and sea-level rise, and unleashing extreme weather that has wrought havoc on communities and economies around the world.
“The ambitions of the Paris Agreement are in great peril,” WMO said as global leaders gathered for high-stakes climate talks in Azerbaijan.
Under the Paris agreement, nearly every nation on Earth committed to work to limit warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5°C.
But the EU climate monitor Copernicus has already said that 2024 will exceed the 1.5°C.
This does not amount to an immediate breach of the Paris deal, which measures temperatures over decades, but it suggests the world is far off-track on its goals.
WMO, which relies on a broader dataset, also said 2024 would likely breach the 1.5°C limit, and break the record set just last year.
“Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
Analysis by a team of international experts established by WMO found that long-term global warming was currently likely to be around 1.3°C, compared to the 1850-1900 baseline, the agency said.
“Every fraction of a degree of warming matters,” stressed WMO chief Celeste Saulo.
“Whether it is at a level below or above 1.5°C of warming, every additional increment of global warming increases climate extremes, impacts and risks.”
Monday’s report cautioned that greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, which lock in future temperature increases even if emissions fall, hit new highs in 2023 and appeared to have climbed further this year.
Ocean heat is also likely to be comparable to the record highs seen last year, it added.
Saulo warned that a string of devastating extreme weather events across the world this year “are unfortunately our new reality.”
They are, she said, “a foretaste of our future.”


Taiwan says exploding pagers in Lebanon were not made in Taiwan

Taiwan says exploding pagers in Lebanon were not made in Taiwan
Updated 11 November 2024
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Taiwan says exploding pagers in Lebanon were not made in Taiwan

Taiwan says exploding pagers in Lebanon were not made in Taiwan

TAIPEI: The investigation bureau of Taiwan's justice ministry said on Monday that there was no evidence that Taiwanese manufacturers were involved in the pagers which exploded in Lebanon in September in a deadly blow to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo has not in recent years produced the AR-924 pager model, but they were produced by a company called Frontier Group Entity outside of Taiwan, the bureau said in a statement.


UK universities face funding ‘crunch’ as foreign students go elsewhere

UK universities face funding ‘crunch’ as foreign students go elsewhere
Updated 11 November 2024
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UK universities face funding ‘crunch’ as foreign students go elsewhere

UK universities face funding ‘crunch’ as foreign students go elsewhere
  • From July to September student visa applications slumped 16 percent compared to same period last year
  • Decline major cause of concern for higher education institutions as foreign students pay far more than British students

LONDON: UK universities are among the most prestigious in the world, but visa restrictions mean they are now attracting fewer international students — taking a heavy toll on their finances.
The restrictions are compounding problems caused by the UK’s departure from the European Union four years’ ago.
Almost 760,000 foreign students were enrolled in British universities in 2022, making Britain the second most popular destination after the US, in a highly competitive market.
Most come from India, then China and Nigeria.
But last year, the number of student visas fell by 5 percent. Between July and September, student visa applications slumped 16 percent compared to the same period last year.
The decline is a major cause of concern for higher education institutions since foreign students pay far more in fees than British students.
Leo Xui, 20 years old and from China, began studying population and health sciences at University College London in September.
“It’s good for my career,” he said of enrolling abroad. Thinking ahead to when he will return to China, he added: “I will be able to apply for a foreign company.”
His fees for the academic year are £31,000 (37,200 euros). British students attending universities in England have paid a maximum of £9,250 since 2017.
The Labour government, elected in the summer, announced last week that the cap would rise to £9,535 from next year, a move welcomed by universities who have been calling for an increase for years.
Universities UK (UUK), which represents 141 British higher education institutions, warned at its conference in September that funding per student is at its lowest level since 2004.
It estimates that the £9,250 fee is worth less than £6,000 because of inflation, leading to deficits in teaching and research.
“We are all feeling the crunch,” UUK president Sally Mapstone told the conference.
Universities have welcomed more foreign students in a bid to fill budget gaps, to the point where many are financially dependent on them.
According to a parliamentary report, foreign students make up more than half the student body at London’s University of the Arts and Cranfield University, a science and engineering institute just north of the British capital.
The Financial Times reported earlier this year that some universities, including York, have lowered their admission criteria to attract more students from abroad.
But the previous Conservative government, ousted from power in July, complicated the universities’ task by imposing restrictions on student visas as it sought to reduce record levels of regular migration.
It forbade foreign students from bringing family members with them, with a few exceptions, and prevented them from switching to work visas while studying.
In the first four months of 2024, there were 30,000 fewer applications from overseas than in the same period in 2023, according to official statistics.
“These hard numbers confirm our fear that the previous government’s changes have made the UK a less attractive study destination,” said Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank.
Provost Ian Dunn of Coventry University, where more than a third of the 30,000 students are from overseas said the Tories’ “narrative was very destructive.”
The university had already been impacted by Brexit.
“We had 4,400 students from the European Union. Now we’re probably at 10 percent of that,” he said, adding that the situation was “difficult.”
A lecturer at another English university told AFP that teaching positions as well as courses had been cut.
“The drop in international students has dramatically worsened the crisis for us,” she said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.
“Some have preferred to go to Canada, Australia or the Netherlands, where courses are taught in English,” she added.
Coventry University may have found the answer by partnering with institutions overseas to open campuses in several countries, including Egypt, Morocco, India and China.
At the end of their studies, students may not have set foot in the UK but they still “obtain a degree from Coventry University,” said Dunn.