By Michael Mathes MILWAUKEE, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump has put a youthful, loyal gladiator for his Make America Great Again movement on the Republican ticket, hoping J.D. Vance’s transformation from blue-collar Rust Belter to senator can help him secure victory. A White House candidate often chooses a vice presidential running mate who can appeal to new categories of voters or compensate for acknowledged weaknesses in terms of image or policy. Trump, though, […]
International
Bangladesh turns back fleeing Myanmar soldiers at border
TEKNAF, Bangladesh, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Bangladesh stopped dozens of Myanmar security personnel from crossing into its territory to flee advancing rebel forces, a local government official based near their river border said Tuesday. Clashes have rocked Myanmar’s western frontiers since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the country’s 2021 military coup. Hundreds of Myanmar troops have taken refuge in India and Bangladesh […]
DEVELOPING STORY: Six found dead in Bangkok hotel room: senior police officer
BANGKOK, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Six people believed to be Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans were found dead in a hotel room in central Bangkok on Tuesday, a senior police officer said “Hotel staff found their bodies in a room around 5:00 pm (1000 GMT) today,” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He denied initial reports that the six had been killed in a shooting, saying the investigation was currently focused on a “link […]
Six killed in rare Oman attack near Shiite mosque
MUSCAT, Oman, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Six people including four Pakistanis were killed and nearly 30 wounded in a shooting near a Shiite mosque in the Omani capital Muscat, officials said Tuesday, a rare attack in the otherwise stable Gulf sultanate. Monday’s mosque attack, which has yet to be claimed, came as Shiites this week mark Ashura, an annual day of mourning that commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of Imam Hussein, regarded by […]
Melania Trump says rally shooter a ‘monster’
WASHINGTON, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – Former first lady Melania Trump said Sunday that a gunman who opened fire at a Donald Trump rally was a “monster,” as she condemned the assassination attempt in which the Republican presidential candidate was injured. “A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” Melania Trump said in a statement shared on […]
UN says world population to peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s
NEW YORK (AFP) – Earth’s population will peak in the mid-2080s at around 10.3 billion people, then drop slightly to a level much lower than anticipated a decade ago, the United Nations said. The current population of 8.2 billion people will rise to that maximum over the next 60 years, then dip to 10.2 billion by the end of the century, says a report released Thursday entitled “World Population Prospects 2024.” It said the size […]
Myanmar alliance says agreed 4-day ceasefire with junta in Shan state
YANGON, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – An alliance of Myanmar ethnic minority armed groups said Sunday it had agreed a four-day ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state following clashes in which its fighters seized territory from the military along a strategic highway to China. The area has been rocked by fighting since late last month, when the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against junta troops along the road to China’s Yunnan […]
‘Cool it down,’ Biden tells nation after Trump assassination bid
By Danny Kemp with Frankie Taggart in Milwaukee WASHINGTON, July 15, 2024 (AFP) – President Joe Biden sought to calm a divided nation after his rival Donald Trump survived an assassination bid, saying in a rare Oval Office address Sunday it was time to lower the temperature of America’s hostile politics. “You know, the political record in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” Biden said in the televised speech, […]
Republicans blame Biden for Trump shooting amid escalating rhetoric
WASHINGTON, July 15, 2024 (AFP) – Within hours of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his Republican supporters in Congress claimed they knew exactly who was responsible: Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Biden’s campaign “rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” Senator J.D. Vance, on Trump’s shortlist for vice president, alleged shortly after Saturday’s shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former US leader was wounded and one bystander killed. Vance’s […]
Trump urges Americans to unite after assassination attempt
By Gregory WALTON BUTLER, United States, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump called on Americans Sunday to stand united after he was injured in an assassination attempt – a shocking incident that opened a dark new chapter in an already polarized US presidential race. The 78-year-old former president was hit in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, while the shooter and a bystander were killed and two spectators critically injured in […]
Trump rally shooting will impact security at events, may pause political rancor: Expert
Ramped up security, less partisan political rancor, a different media focus: political analyst Aaron Kall talks to AFP about the implications of the wounding of Donald Trump in an assassination attempt against the former US president at an election rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. “It’s hard to predict long-term,” Kall tells AFP during an online interview. “Any politician in a situation like this, you want to go on as business as normal and not allow this […]
China, Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
BEIJING, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – China and Russia conducted a joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific, Beijing’s defence ministry said Sunday, adding that the exercise was not “targeted” at any other nation. The two countries have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having “no limits”. Both share hostile relations with US-led Western defence alliance NATO. Beijing has further strengthened its diplomatic, economic and military ties with […]