WASHINGTON: Election Day voting began on Tuesday after an extraordinary – and for many unnerving – US presidential race that will either make Kamala Harris the first woman president in the country’s history or hand Donald Trump a comeback that sends shock waves around the world.

As the first polling stations opened, Democratic vice president Harris, 60, and Republican former president Trump, 78, were dead-even in the tightest and most volatile White House contest of modern times.

The bitter rivals spent their final day of the campaign frenetically working to get their supporters out to the polls and trying to win over any last undecided voters in the swing states expected to decide the outcome.

But despite a series of head-spinning twists in the campaign – from Harris’s dramatic entrance when President Joe Biden dropped out in July, to Trump riding out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction – nothing has broken the deadlock in the opinion polls.

Polling stations opened from 6:00 am (1100 GMT) in states including Virginia, North Carolina and New York. Tens of millions of voters are expected to cast their ballots, on top of the more than 82 million people who have already voted early in the preceding weeks.

Thai baby hippo Moo Deng ‘predicts’ US election win for Trump

A final outcome may not be known for several days if the results are as close as the polls suggest, adding to the tension in a deeply divided nation.

And there are fears of turmoil and even violence if Trump loses, and then contests the result as he did in 2020, with barriers erected around the White House and businesses boarded up in Washington.

The world is anxiously watching, as the outcome will have major implications for conflicts in the Middle East, for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and for tackling climate change – which Trump calls a hoax.

‘Every single vote matters’

Harris and Trump are effectively tied in the seven main swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

On the eve of the vote, Harris went all-in on the must-win state of Pennsylvania, rallying on the Philadelphia steps made famous in the “Rocky” movie and declaring: “momentum is on our side.”

However “this could be one of the closest races in history – every single vote matters,” cautioned Harris, who was joined by celebrities including Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.

US states worried about election unrest take security precautions

Trump – who would become the first convicted felon and oldest person to win the presidency – cast himself as the only solution to an apocalyptic vision of the country in terminal decline and overrun by “savage” migrants.

“With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America – indeed, the world – to new heights of glory,” Trump told his closing rally in Grand Rapids in the key swing state of Michigan, after touring North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Harris meanwhile hammered home her opposition to Trump-backed abortion bans across the United States – one of her key vote-winning positions with crucial women voters.

Georgia poll worker threatened to bomb election workers, US prosecutors say

But she also struck an upbeat note – and notably avoided mentioning Trump, after weeks of targeting him directly as a threat to democracy for his dark rhetoric and repeated threats to exact retribution on his political opponents.

History to be made

A Trump comeback would be historic – just the second ever non-consecutive second term for a US president, since Grover Cleveland in 1893.

Trump’s return would also instantly fuel international instability, with US allies in Europe and NATO alarmed by his isolationist “America First” policies. Trading partners are nervously watching his vow to impose sweeping import tariffs.

A Harris victory would give the US its first Black woman and South Asian president – and signal an end to the Trump era which has dominated US politics for nearly a decade.

Trump has said he would not seek election again in 2028.

However, the Republican still refuses to admit he fairly lost the 2020 election to Biden, and the trauma over his supporters’ violent attack on the US Capitol to stop certification of the result remains heavy.

Trump has hinted that he would refuse to accept another loss, and in the final days of the campaign brought up baseless claims of election fraud while saying he should “never have left” the White House.

BANGKOK: The polls put the US election on a knife-edge, but as Americans go to vote, Thailand’s superstar baby hippo Moo Deng has predicted former president Donald Trump will regain the White House.

The chubby chomper took the internet by storm with her adorable antics at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, quickly becoming a staple of social media memes and inspiring a raft of merchandise.

Now Moo Deng, whose name means “bouncy pork”, has predicted a comeback victory for the Republican over Democrat Kamala Harris.

Offered two dishes of carved fruit, each emblazoned with one of the candidates’ names, the four-month-old pigmy hippo chose Trump, in video posted online by the zoo.

Georgia poll worker threatened to bomb election workers, US prosecutors say

Moo Deng has proved a particular hit in the United States, where comedian Bowen Yang portrayed her in a “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch.

She also beat both Trump and Harris in an unofficial presidential poll run by “The Tonight Show”, taking 93 percent of the vote.

While the soothsaying skills of hippos are largely untested, other animals have achieved global fame predicting the outcome of world events, most notably the legendary Paul the Octopus.

Kamala Harris closes campaign in Philadelphia, Trump in Michigan on eve of deadlocked election

The clairvoyant cephalopod shot to global stardom by correctly predicting eight matches in the 2010 World Cup from his aquarium in Germany.

LAS VEGAS: A security fence rings a Las Vegas building where a Nevada county tabulates votes. An Arizona sheriff has his department on high alert to guard against potential violence with drones and snipers on standby.

The National Guard has been or will be activated in 19 states so far to help maintain peace.

As a tense America votes on Tuesday for either Republican Donald Trump or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president, concerns about potential political violence have prompted officials to take a variety of measures to bolster security during and after Election Day.

Many of the most visible moves can be seen in the battleground states that will decide the presidential election, states like Nevada where protests by Trump supporters broke out after the 2020 election.

This year, a security fence rings the scene of some of those protests - the Las Vegas tabulation center.

A defense official said on Monday that Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington state have current National Guard missions while Washington DC, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia have troops on standby.

In Arizona, a similar metal fence has been erected at Maricopa County vote tabulation center in downtown Phoenix, a flashpoint in 2020 for rigged election conspiracy theories and threats against election officials.

County Sheriff Russ Skinner said his department will be on “high alert” for threats and violence and he has instructed staff to be available for duty.

“We will have a lot of resources out there, a lot of staff, a lot of equipment,” he added, noting deputies will use drones to monitor activity around polling places and snipers and other reinforcements will be on standby for deployment if violence appears likely.

Georgia poll worker threatened to bomb election workers, US prosecutors say

He said “polarization” becomes more intense in the days after the election so law enforcement will remain on heightened alert and “there will be zero tolerance on anything related to criminal activity”.

Concerned about the potential for protests or even violence, several Arizona schools and churches that served as voting centers in the past will not serve as polling stations this year, a local election official told Reuters.

Church buildings

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), which has over 400,000 members in Arizona, has offered several polling locations to fill the gap.

A dozen or so community leaders from across the state and from various political backgrounds and cultures have formed a committee to focus on stemming political violence, according to member Jane Andersen, an LDS church member and Protecting Democracy Specialist for Arizona at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

The group says it is ready to tap into a broad network, including faith leaders, who can help spread factual information to counter misinformation-fueled unrest.

In the battleground state of Michigan in 2020, Trump supporters descended on the downtown Detroit convention hall and began pounding on windows as the counting of absentee ballots carried into a second day.

Yellow bicycle racks this year lined both sides of the boulevard on which it sits.

Visitors must go through metal detectors and about 15 police officers are patrolling the cavernous hall.

Daniel Baxter, Detroit’s chief operating officer for absentee voting and special projects, said police also are on the roof and surrounding the building. Eight days of early pre-processing of mail-in ballots have passed peacefully, Baxter said.

Peter Simi, a sociology professor at Chapman University in California who has researched threats against public officials, said the worst scenario would be Trump losing and not conceding defeat.

Kamala Harris closes campaign in Philadelphia, Trump in Michigan on eve of deadlocked election

Rather than a repeat of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters, he said conflict could be “dispersed, diffuse events across multiple locations” that would be more difficult for law enforcement to address.

Precautions stretch beyond the battleground states. Oregon and Washington state authorities have said they have activated the National Guard.

Some storefront windows in Washington, DC and elsewhere have been covered by plywood. Back in Las Vegas, Faviola Garibay surveyed the security fence around the linen-colored building where Clark County officials tabulate the votes and where voters such as her can drop election ballots.

“The fencing, the presence of police here, it seems secure,” she said. “I feel safe voting.”

A Georgia poll worker was arrested on Monday on US charges that he sent a letter threatening to bomb election workers that he wrote to appear as if it came from a voter in the presidential election battleground state.

Federal prosecutors said Nicholas Wimbish, 25, had been serving as a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office in Gray, Georgia, on Oct. 16 when he got into a verbal altercation with a voter.

The next day, Wimbish mailed a letter to the county’s elections superintendent that was drafted to appear as if it came from that same voter, prosecutors said.

The letter complained that Wimbish was a “closeted liberal election fraudster” who had been distracting voters in line to cast ballots, according to charging papers.

Authorities said the letter, signed by a “Jones county voter,” said Wimbish and others “should look over their shoulder” and warned that people would “learn a violent lesson about stealing our elections!” Prosecutors said the letter ended with a handwritten note: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”

Kamala Harris closes campaign in Philadelphia, Trump in Michigan on eve of deadlocked election

Wimbish was charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter, and making false statements to the FBI, prosecutors said.

A lawyer for Wimbish could not be immediately identified. Georgia is one of seven closely contested states expected to decide the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election match up between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Concerns about potential political violence have prompted officials to take a variety of measures to bolster security during and after Election Day.

WASHINGTON: False or misleading claims by billionaire Elon Musk about the US election have amassed 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by non-profit group Center for Countering Digital Hate.

The platform is also playing a central role in enabling the spread of false information about the critical battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential race, election and misinformation experts said on Monday.

A spokesperson for X said the company’s Community Notes feature, which lets users add additional context to posts, is more effective at helping people identify misleading content than traditional warning flags on posts.

Kamala Harris closes campaign in Philadelphia, Trump in Michigan on eve of deadlocked election

Since taking over the company formerly known as Twitter, Musk has curtailed content moderation and laid off thousands of employees.

He has thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump, who is locked in an exceptionally close race against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Musk’s massive reach with nearly 203 million followers helps enable “network effects” in which content on X can jump to other social media and messaging platforms such as Reddit and Telegram, said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and expert on disinformation.

“X is a conduit from one platform to another,” she said.

At least 87 of Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the US election that fact-checkers have rated as false or misleading, amassing 2 billion views, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s report.

In Pennsylvania, one of the seven key swing states, some X users have seized on instances of local election administrators flagging incomplete voter registration forms that would not be processed, falsely casting the events as examples of election interference, said Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania executive director at Common Cause, during a press briefing on Monday.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization that promotes accountable government and voting rights.

Musk a no-show at $1 mn giveaway US court hearing

Some X accounts implied “that there was voter fraud, when in fact, we know very clearly that election officials and election administrators in all of our counties were following the rules and … therefore only eligible voters are voting,” Hensley-Robin said.

Cyabra, a firm that uses AI to detect online disinformation, said on Monday that an X account with 117,000 followers played a key role in helping spread a fake video purporting to show Pennsylvania mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed. X’s spokesperson said the platform took action against many accounts that shared the video.

PHILADELPHIA/GRAND RAPIDS: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both predicted victory as they campaigned across Pennsylvania and other battleground states on Monday in the final, frantic day of an exceptionally close US presidential election.

The campaign has seen head-spinning twists: two assassination attempts and a felony conviction for Republican former President Trump, and Democratic Vice President Harris’ surprise elevation to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under pressure from his own party.

Harris appeals to Christians and Arab Americans, Trump embraces violent rhetoric

More than $2.6 billion has been spent to sway voters’ minds since March, according to AdImpact, an analytics firm.

Nevertheless, opinion polls show Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, virtually even.

The winner may not be known for days after Tuesday’s vote, though Trump has already signaled that he will attempt to fight any defeat, as he did in 2020.

Both candidates converged on Pennsylvania on Monday to urge supporters who have not yet cast their ballots to show up on Election Day.

The state offers the largest share of votes in the Electoral College of any of the seven battleground states expected to determine the outcome.

Trump campaigned in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan on the final full day of the campaign and was due to return to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, to vote and await election results.

Harris scheduled five campaign stops in Pennsylvania, including two cities where Trump also visited, Reading and Pittsburgh.

She ended the day in Philadelphia with a star-studded event at the “Rocky steps” of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the site of a famous scene from the movie “Rocky.”

Kamala Harris tops Trump in Iowa in latest Des Moines Register poll

Despite enjoying the support of A-list celebrities including Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey, both of whom rallied the Philadelphia crowd before Harris took the stage, Harris called herself the underdog who like Rocky was ready to “climb to victory.”

“The momentum is on our side,” Harris told a crowd that chanted back, “We will win.”

“Tonight, then, we finish as we started: with optimism, with energy, with joy,” Harris said, predicting one of the closest elections in US history.

In Allentown, Harris appealed to the city’s substantial Puerto Rican community who were outraged by insults from a comedian at a Trump rally last week.

Later she went door-knocking in Reading and held a brief rally in Pittsburgh, where pop star Katy Perry played a set.

In Pittsburgh, Trump appeared before a large crowd in an arena and offered what his campaign called his final closing message to voters in the last hours before Election Day.

“We’ve been waiting four years for this,” said Trump, who mounted a 2024 comeback bid after losing the 2020 election to Biden.

Trump pushed economic themes in his Pittsburgh speech, saying Harris would bring economic misery if she is elected.

“We’re going to win the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it’s going to be over,” said Trump, who later announced on stage he had been endorsed by podcaster Joe Rogan.

The Harris campaign says its internal data shows that undecided voters are breaking in their favor, and says it has seen an increase in early voting among core parts of its coalition, including young voters and voters of color.

Tom Bonier, head of the Democratic analytics firm TargetSmart, said the early vote showed high enthusiasm among Democratic-leaning groups, especially women.

He said there was no indication of a similar surge among young men, a key target of the Trump campaign’s outreach.

Gender gap

Trump campaign officials said they were monitoring early-voting results that show more women have voted than men.

That is significant given that Harris led Trump by 50% to 38% among female registered voters, according to an October Reuters/Ipsos poll, while Trump led among men 48% to 41%.

“Men must vote!” the world’s richest person Elon Musk, a prominent Trump supporter, wrote on his X social media platform.

Trump’s campaign has outsourced most of the voter outreach work to outside groups, including one run by Musk, which have focused on contacting supporters who do not reliably participate in elections, rather than undecided voters.

A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Musk could continue his $1 million voter giveaway in the state, which a local prosecutor said amounted to an illegal lottery.

Harris opens ‘Saturday Night Live,’ urges US to ‘keep Calm-ala’ before election

Trump has vowed to protect women “whether the women like it or not” and said that the decision of whether to ban abortion should be up to individual states, after the conservative majority he cemented on the US Supreme Court in 2022 ended the nationwide right to abortion.

In Reading, he vowed to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports, as supporters waved pink “Women for Trump” signs behind him.

One Trump campaign official said they thought the Republican would carry North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona, which would still require him to carry one of battleground states in the Rust Belt - Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania - to win the White House.

Republicans also appeared to be posting strong early-vote results in Nevada, and have been heartened by robust early-voting numbers in the hurricane-ravaged western counties of North Carolina.

“The numbers show that President Trump is going to win this race,” senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters.

“We feel very good about where things are.”

Trump and his allies, who falsely claim his 2020 defeat was the result of fraud, have spent months laying the groundwork to again challenge the result if he loses.

He has promised “retribution” if elected, spoken of prosecuting his political rivals and described Democrats as the “enemy from within.”

Harris campaign officials said his attempts to allege fraud will fail.

“Voters select the president, not Donald Trump,” Dana Remus, a campaign legal adviser, told reporters.

WASHINGTON: Popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who recently interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for nearly three hours, said on Monday he has endorsed the former president in the race to the White House.

Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 US election in what polls show to be a tight race. Harris has got multiple celebrity endorsements.

“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump,” Rogan said on X while posting a clip of his interview with billionaire Elon Musk, who has also endorsed Trump. Rogan said in his post that Musk made the “most compelling case for Trump.”

Trump’s recent interview with Rogan lasted about 3 hours and was released on YouTube and Spotify in late October.

The two discussed a range of topics and the interview got over 45 million views on YouTube.

The former president criticized Rogan in August on Truth Social, his social media platform, after the podcaster praised then-independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has since pulled out of the race and endorsed Trump. Trump later called Rogan a “good guy.”

Trump and Harris have courted voters with appearances on podcasts, in addition to more traditional rallies and media interviews.

In election, Hollywood is about cash not endorsements

Spotify said in March “The Joe Rogan Experience” had 14.5 million followers, almost triple the platform’s second most popular program.

Rogan also has more than 19 million followers on Instagram and 18 million followers on YouTube.

A poll by YouGov last year found that 81% of his listeners are male and 56% are under 35 years old, a demographic that tends to support Trump over Harris.

Harris’ team had been in touch with Rogan’s program about a possible appearance but her campaign said in late October she will not appear on his podcast.

Rogan joins a list of celebrities like Musk and wrestler Hulk Hogan to have endorsed Trump.

Harris has a much bigger list of celebrity endorsements - ranging from basketball superstar Lebron James and actress Meryl Streep to comedian Chris Rock and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Superstar singers Beyonce and Taylor Swift have also endorsed her.

BERLIN: NATO will stay united no matter who wins the US election, the alliance’s secretary general Mark Rutte said in Berlin Monday, as Washington’s allies nervously await the outcome of the vote.

“Whoever wins those elections, we will work with Kamala Harris, we will work with Donald Trump, and make sure that the alliance stays united,” Rutte said alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Rutte said he had “no doubt” that whoever wins the election would continue to support NATO because it is “in the interest of the United States”.

Western allies fear turbulent times ahead for the defence alliance formed at the start of the Cold War if Trump wins Tuesday’s knife-edge election.

The alliance took a hit under Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency as he berated allies for what he said was insufficient spending.

US election 2024 outcome uncertain in seven key states

Trump warned in February he would encourage the Russians to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not pay more on joint defence.

Harris meanwhile has frequently pointed to Trump’s remarks as she promises, like President Joe Biden, to work with allies and stand by NATO.

Western allies also fear a Trump presidency could mean a reduction in military aid for Ukraine from the US, which has driven NATO-wide support for Kyiv and been its biggest backer.

Rutte said reports of North Korean troops in Russia meant it was important to do “everything we can to keep not only the Euro-Atlantic but also the Indo-Pacific safe”.

“This motivates us to step up to do even more,” he said, labelling support by Pyongyang a “very serious development and an escalation”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a request to join NATO when he recently presented his “Victory Plan” to Western allies.

Rutte said bilateral security agreements signed between several countries and Ukraine were “a bridge to NATO membership in the longer term”.

“I’m absolutely convinced that one day Ukraine will be a member of NATO,” he said.

SCRANTON: Bitter rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump embark on a final frenzied campaign blitz Monday with both hitting must-win Pennsylvania on the last day of the tightest and most volatile US presidential election in memory.

Republican Trump has promised a “landslide” as he seeks a sensational return to the White House, while Democrat Harris said the “momentum” was on the side of her bid to be America’s first woman president.

But the polls suggest a different story on the eve of Election Day – total deadlock in surveys nationally and in the seven swing states where the result is expected to be decided.

Now a race of dramatic twists, including two bids to kill Trump and Harris’s shock late entrance, is coming down to the most viciously fought-over battleground.

Harris appeals to Christians and Arab Americans, Trump embraces violent rhetoric

Harris will spend the whole day campaigning in the rust-belt state of Pennsylvania, culminating in a huge rally in its biggest city Philadelphia featuring singer Lady Gaga. Trump will travel to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and then Michigan.

In a sign of how crucial Pennsylvania is to their chances of occupying the Oval Office, Trump and Harris will even hold dueling rallies in the industrial city of Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania is the single biggest swing state prize under the US Electoral College system, which awards influence in line with population.

‘You’re fired’

Both sides say they are encouraged by huge early turnout numbers, with over 78 million people having voted already, around half of the total number of ballots cast in 2020.

The incredible closeness of the 2024 White House race reflects a deeply divided United States, as it chooses between two candidates whose visions could scarcely be more different.

US election 2024 outcome uncertain in seven key states

Former president Trump has doubled down on his dark and violent rhetoric in his pursuit of a second term which would make him the first convicted felon and, at 78, the oldest major party candidate ever elected.

Vice President Harris has meanwhile made an astonishing rise to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.

Harris is hoping abortion is a key issue that can hurt Trump, especially with woman voters, while Trump has focused on migrants and the economy and dubbed political opponents the “enemy from within.”

They have both embarked on a frenetic zig-zag through the swing states, with raucous rallies and even an appearance by Harris on the famed television show “Saturday Night Live.”

On the campaign trail Sunday, Trump mused to supporters that he wouldn’t mind if journalists were shot, raised baseless allegations of election fraud and dwelt in gory detail on crimes by undocumented immigrants.

“Kamala – you’re fired, get out,” Trump told cheering supporters in Macon, Georgia.

The seven states that will decide the US presidency

Trump also said he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after he lost his 2020 reelection bid to Biden, and then tried to overturn the results, culminating in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Fears are mounting that he would again refuse to accept defeat.

‘We have momentum’

For Harris’s part, after a series of more encouraging recent polls, she told a raucous rally in Michigan on Sunday that “we have momentum – it’s on our side.”

Harris also courted the large Arab-American community in Michigan that has denounced US handling of the Israel-Hamas war, saying she would do “everything in my power to end the war in Gaza.”

The world is anxiously watching the election, which could have profound implications for conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The final days of the campaign have meanwhile seen both candidates roll out high-profile surrogates.

Harris opens ‘Saturday Night Live,’ urges US to ‘keep Calm-ala’ before election

Right-wing tech tycoon Elon Musk has been making controversial $1 million giveaways to registered voters, while Harris has relied on the star power of former president Barack Obama and ex-first lady Michelle Obama and singer Beyonce.

But outgoing President Biden has been notably absent from the trail since a gaffe in which he referred to Trump’s supporters as “garbage” last week.

Biden will spend most of the last day of the campaign at the White House, while Harris will start her day with an event in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

DETROIT/KINSTON: Democrat Kamala Harris made her closing pitch for the U.S. presidency at a historically Black church and to Arab Americans in battleground Michigan on Sunday, while her Republican rival Donald Trump embraced violent rhetoric at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Opinion polls show the pair locked in a tight race, with Vice President Harris, 60, bolstered by strong support among female voters while former President Trump, 78, gains ground with Hispanic voters, especially men.

Voters overall view both candidates unfavorably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, but that has not dissuaded them from casting ballots.

More than 78 million Americans have already done so ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, approaching half the total 160 million votes cast in 2020, in which U.S. voter turnout was the highest in more than a century.

Kamala Harris tops Trump in Iowa in latest Des Moines Register poll

Control of Congress is also up for grabs on Tuesday, with Republicans favored to capture a majority in the Senate while Democrats are seen as having an even chance of flipping Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Presidents whose parties fail to control both chambers have struggled to pass major legislation.

“In just two days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” Harris told parishioners at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. “We must act. It’s not enough to only pray; not enough to just talk.”

Later in a rally in East Lansing, Michigan, she addressed the state’s 200,000 Arab Americans, starting her speech with a nod to civilian victims of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“This year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating. And as president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza,” Harris said to applause.

Many Arab and Muslim Americans as well as anti-war activist groups have condemned U.S. support for Israel amid the tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza and Lebanon, and the displacement of millions. Israel says it is targeting militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

US election 2024 outcome uncertain in seven key states

Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of the Arab American community, on Friday and vowed to end the conflict in the Middle East without saying how.

Instead of mentioning Trump by name, Harris chose to highlight her opponent’s record during her last Sunday on the campaign trail.

Trump goes off script

Trump, at his first of three rallies on Sunday, frequently abandoned his teleprompter with off-the-cuff remarks in which he denounced opinion polls showing movement for Harris. He called Democrats a “demonic party,” ridiculed Democratic President Joe Biden and talked about the high price of apples.

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in July when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday complained to supporters about gaps in the bulletproof glass surrounding him as he spoke and mused that an assassin would have to shoot through the news media to get him.

“To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much,” said Trump, who has long criticized the media and sought to rile public sentiment against them.

Harris opens ‘Saturday Night Live,’ urges US to ‘keep Calm-ala’ before election

Last week he suggested prominent Republican critic, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, should face gunfire in combat over her hawkish foreign policy, leading an Arizona prosecutor to open an investigation.

Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement saying Trump’s comment was not directed toward the media but rather, “It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats.”

Trump later spoke in Kinston, North Carolina, and in Macon, Georgia, where he seized on last week’s jobs report that showed the U.S. economy only produced 12,000 jobs last month.

He told a large crowd gathered in an amphitheater that the report showed that the United States was a “nation in decline” and he warned darkly without evidence of a potentially looming repeat of the 1929 Great Depression with “people jumping off buildings.”

Senior Harris campaign officials have said her closing argument is designed to reach a narrow slice of undecided voters. That stood in contrast to Trump, who varied little from his standard speech aimed at inspiring his loyal supporters.

“Kamala’s campaign is run on hate and demonization,” Trump said.

Trump, Harris clash over rhetoric as they battle for swing state votes

Near the end of his Pennsylvania speech, Trump - whose false claims that his 2020 loss was the result of fraud inspired his supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol – mused that he would have preferred not to have handed over power.

“We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well,” Trump said.

Trump said during his remarks that election results should be announced on Election Night, despite warnings by officials in multiple states that it could take days to ascertain the final outcome.

Democrats say they have plans in place should Trump try to prematurely claim victory this time.

DETROIT/LITITZ, (Pen-nsylvania): Democrat Kamala Harris made her closing pitch for the US presidency at a historically Black church in the swing state of Michigan on Sunday, while her Republican rival Donald Trump rallied in Pennsylvania. Opinion polls show the pair locked in a tight race, with Vice President Harris, 60, bolstered by strong support among women voters while former President Trump, 78, gains ground with Hispanic voters, particularly men. Voters overall view both candidates unfavorably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, but that so far has not dissuaded them from casting ballots.

More than 76 million Americans have already done so ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, approaching half the total 160 million votes cast in 2020, in which US voter turnout was the highest in more than a century. Control of the US Congress is also up for grabs on Tuesday, with Republicans favored to capture a majority in the Senate while Democrats are seen as having an even chance of flipping Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Presidents whose parties have not controlled both chambers have struggled to pass major new legislation over the past decade.

“In just two days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” Harris told parishioners at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. “We must act. It’s not enough to only pray; not enough to just talk. We must act on the plans He has in store for us, and we must make them real through our works, in our daily choices, in services to our communities, in our democracy.” Trump, at his first of three rallies on Sunday, frequently abandoned his teleprompter with off-the-cuff remarks in which he denounced polls showing movement for Harris. He called Democrats a “demonic party,” joked about the news media covering him being shot, ridiculed Democratic President Joe Biden and complained about the price of apples.

Kamala Harris tops Trump in Iowa in latest Des Moines Register pol

“Here’s all you need to know: Kamala broke it and we’re going to fix it,” said Trump, his voice raspy. In a speech where he repeatedly criticized the US election process, he added, “It’s a damn shame and I’m the only one who talks about it because everyone is damn afraid to talk about it.”

Trump is later due to speak in Kinston, North Carolina, before ending his day with an evening rally in Macon, Georgia. Of the seven US states seen as competitive, Georgia and North Carolina are the second-biggest prizes up for grabs on Tuesday, with each holding 16 of the 270 votes a candidate needs to win in the state-by-state Electoral College to secure the presidency. Pennsylvania offers 19 electors.

Nonpartisan US election analysts reckon Harris would need to win about 45 electoral votes in the seven swing states to win the White House, while Trump would need about 51, when accounting for the states they are forecast to win easily.

HARRIS’ MICHIGAN WOES

After her Detroit appearance, Harris is due to head to East Lansing, a college town in an industrial state that is viewed as a must-win for the Democrat. She faces skepticism from some of the state’s 200,000 Arab Americans who are frustrated Harris has not done more to help end the war in Gaza and scale back aid to Israel. Trump visited Dearborn, the heart of the Arab American community, on Friday and vowed to end the wars in the Middle East.

Harris, who has met behind closed doors with selected Arab American and Muslim leaders, will focus her energy on Black neighborhoods on Sunday.

Samah Noureddine, 44, a Lebanese American from Grosse Ile, a town near Detroit, said she voted for Biden in 2020 but was casting a ballot for Jill Stein of the Green Party this year.

“I’m upset because Harris is funding the genocide and if we get Trump we’re going to suffer too,” she said. “I’m sick of both of them.” In the campaign’s final days, Harris has sought to convince voters that she will bring down the cost of living, a top concern after several years of high inflation.

Trump has argued that Harris, as the sitting vice president, should be held responsible for rising prices and the high levels of immigration of the past several years, which he has portrayed as an existential threat to the country.

WASHINGTON: More than 90 company executives, including the chief executives of Yelp and Chobani as well as the former CEOs of PepsiCo, Ford Motor Co and Yahoo!, endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter released on Friday.

The group, which includes top sports and investment executives, said they were confident that the Democrat, who faces Republican former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election, would continue to bolster the economy and preserve American democracy.

“Harris has a strong record of advancing actions to spur business investment in the United States and ensure American businesses can compete and win in the global market,” they wrote in the letter, first reported by CNBC.

“She will continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment, and she will strive to give every American the opportunity to pursue the American dream,” the group added.

Kamala Harris gears up for debate as Trump talks economy

Among those backing the vice president were billionaire Mark Cuban, former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, according to the letter provided by the Harris campaign.

Laurene Powell Jobs, head of the Emerson Collective and widow of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, also endorsed Harris as did the former chief executives of Merck, Aetna, GoDaddy, Blackstone and Starbucks, among others.

Harris faces a tight race against Trump in a critical election as the economy weighs heavily on some voters as does the future of U.S. democratic systems. Both candidates are laying out their vision for jobs and economic growth ahead of November’s contest even as some early voting is poised to begin in some U.S. states.

The vice president’s economic plan would aim to cut taxes for most Americans, tackle grocery “price gouging,” bolster housing and offer new child tax credits. She would also seek to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. Key labor groups have also endorsed her.

Putin backs Harris for US president, with wry smile

Trump in remarks this week to the New York Economic Club said he would lower companies’ tax rate to 15% and hire billionaire Elon Musk to audit the U.S. government. He also said he would open up U.S. national lands to allow large scale housing construction and said he would declare a national emergency to eliminate regulations for energy projects.

Goldman Sachs, in a note this week, said economic output was likely to take a hit next year if Trump wins, mostly from increased tariffs on imports and tighter immigration policies.

Under a Harris presidency, the United States would likely see stronger job grown and a “very slight boost to GDP” investment and growth, its analysts said.

PITTSBURGH: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said on Monday that US Steel should remain in domestic hands, making a pitch alongside President Joe Biden to working-class voters in Pennsylvania who are also being courted by her rival.

The event on Labor Day, a US holiday that signifies the start of the post-summer sprint to the Nov. 5 election, marked Harris and Biden’s first appearance together at a campaign rally since she officially became the Democratic nominee.

Harris used campaign events on Monday in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two battleground states, to court the crucial labor vote.

At a packed union hall in Pittsburgh, she echoed Biden’s concern over US Steel Corp being acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel.

“US Steel is a historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies,” Harris said at the rally.

Kamala Harris says she supports eliminating taxes on tips, like Trump

“US Steel should remain American-owned and American-operated.” Biden said Harris would build on the progress they had made during his administration to improve the lives of union workers and that he would do everything he could to help.

“I’ll be on the sidelines,” he said. The Harris campaign has sought to appeal to union workers in much the same way as Biden has throughout his presidency.

The Democrats aim to keep union workers from being tempted to vote for former Republican President Donald Trump, who also has blue-collar appeal.

At the rally in Pittsburgh, Todd Hamer, 48, said he thought Biden’s support for labor would help Harris.

“She’s new,” Hamer said. “We’re all still learning (about her), but she does have a deep history and I think she’s going to continue to stand by labor leaders and unions to help support unions and their cause.”

Trump, who is locked in a tight race with Harris, stayed off the campaign trail on Monday. His campaign has announced several events for later in the week, including in North Carolina and Wisconsin.

The Harris campaign mocked Trump’s lack of public appearances on Monday.

“Trump … golfing?” the Harris campaign said on X. A Trump campaign aide said Harris’ decision to rally voters with Biden gave the Trump team another opportunity to tie the Democrats together politically.

Trump has said he would move to block the US Steel deal, a potential merger that has stirred anxiety among some unionized workers, a key voting bloc in Pennsylvania and the other “Rust Belt” swing states likely to determine the results of the election.

Responding to Harris’ criticism, US Steel said it was committed to the deal with Nippon Steel. Both companies aim to close the deal by the end of the year depending on regulatory approvals.

In emailed comments, Nippon Steel said that acquisition of US Steel will revitalize the American steel rust belt, benefit local workers and communities along with national security “in a way no other alternative can.”

“We believe that a fair and objective regulatory review process will support this outcome, and we look forward to closing the transaction as soon as possible,” it said.

Gaza war casts shadow

Both Harris and Trump are expected to ramp up outreach to voters in the coming weeks, especially in swing states that could prove decisive in the election.

Kamala Harris vows tougher approach on migration, supports weapons for Israel

Harris is hoping to keep up the enthusiasm her entry into the race has sparked among Democrats, who are donating record amounts of money and volunteering by the tens of thousands.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found Harris was leading Trump nationally 45% to 41%.

On Monday, developments in the Middle East over talks on a deal to reach a Gaza ceasefire and release hostages cast a shadow on campaigning.

Over the weekend, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza where it said they were recently killed by Palestinian group Hamas, sparking sharp criticism of the Biden administration’s Gaza ceasefire strategy.

Biden told reporters earlier on Monday he did not think Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.

Late on Monday, Biden said he would “eventually” talk to Netanyahu but declined to specify when.

Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 and around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Kamala Harris calls Trump cemetery visit disrespectful ‘political stunt’

Health authorities in Gaza say more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on the enclave since that has also displaced nearly its entire 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

Biden and Harris also met with the US hostage negotiation team in Washington on Monday and discussed the next steps in efforts to free the remaining captives.

The war is weighing on the US election, with pro-Palestinian activists threatening to ramp up protests against Harris on the campaign trail.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists opposing US support for Israel’s war in Gaza held a protest in New York City on Monday.

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail together for the first time Monday, in a public display of unity after she replaced him as candidate and revived Democratic election hopes.

The 81-year-old president bowed out in late July under mounting pressure after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

His rapid endorsement of Vice President Harris, 59, saw her quickly shore up party support and she became the formal Democratic nominee last month.

Riding a wave of fresh enthusiasm, she has held packed rallies in key swing states across the country and raked in cash donations for the final two-month stretch of the campaign.

Polls show her entry improving the party’s chances at defeating Republican Trump, but with the race still neck and neck.

Kamala Harris says she supports eliminating taxes on tips, like Trump

Harris last appeared with Biden after his speech two weeks ago at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

As she works to define her platform, the vice president has sought to promise changes, while avoiding criticism of Biden’s tenure.

With Monday the national Labor Day holiday, Biden and Harris were expected to argue she would be better for workers than Trump, choosing the union-heavy city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the backdrop.

“The most pro-labor administration in history, under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, support for union membership has grown to its highest level in half a century,” her campaign said in a statement previewing the day’s events.

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that will decide the election, and is viewed as possibly the one on which the outcome will hinge.

Close race

Harris and Biden will speak at a union hall where they will meet local members.

Harris is expected to say that US Steel – which Japan’s Nippon Steel is seeking to buy – should remain domestically owned, a campaign official said.

During a campaign tour last week in swing-state Georgia, Harris held her first in-depth interview since becoming the party standard-bearer, accompanied by her running-mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Harris aimed to stake out a centrist position in the CNN sit-down, insisting she will be tough on illegal immigration and support oil and gas fracking – but not abandon her longtime liberal values.

In her 2020 campaign, she had pledged to ban fracking – a major source of income in Pennsylvania.

Monday’s joint appearance with Biden is also seen as launching the two-month sprint to the November vote, with Labor Day marking the traditional end to the US summer.

Before the Pittsburgh rally, Biden and Harris received a briefing at the White House on ceasefire negotiations in the Israel-Hamas war.

The meeting was added to their schedules late Sunday after six hostages were killed in Gaza over the weekend, including a US citizen.

After the briefing, Harris headed to Detroit, Michigan for another event with union leaders, before joining Biden in Pittsburgh.

Walz was separately to hold an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while Trump and his VP pick J.D. Vance had stops scheduled for later in the week.

MOSCOW: Russia sees US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as a more predictable opponent than Republican Donald Trump, though in any case there is no prospect of an improvement in relations with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a TV reporter with favoured access to the Kremlin, Peskov also appeared dismissive of Trump’s boast that he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if US voters returned him to the White House.

Before Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November’s election and threw his support behind Harris, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that Moscow preferred Biden over Trump, describing the former as an experienced “old school” type of politician.

With Biden out of the running, Zarubin asked Peskov, laughing: “Then who is our candidate now?”

Peskov, also laughing, replied: “We have no candidate. But, of course, the Democrats are more predictable. And what Putin said about Biden’s predictability applies to almost all Democrats, including Ms. Harris.”

While stating that the election was an internal US matter, Putin and Peskov have offered a variety of opinions at different times.

WASHINGTON: Iran was behind a recent hack targeting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, US security agencies said Monday, accusing Tehran of seeking to influence the 2024 election.

The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed the Trump campaign claim from earlier this month that it had been targeted, potentially by Iran.

“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns,” the security agencies said.

“This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former president Trump’s campaign, which the (intelligence community) attributes to Iran,” they said.

In response, Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the country’s role in the hack and challenged Washington to release evidence for the claim.

“Such allegations are unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing,” the mission said in a statement.

“As we have previously announced, the Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intention nor the motive to interfere with the US presidential election.

“Should the US government genuinely believe in the validity of its claims, it should furnish us with the pertinent evidence — if any — to which we will respond accordingly.”

The United States goes to the polls on November 5, with both Trump’s and Democratic rival Kamala Harris’s campaigns saying they had been targeted by cyber attacks in recent weeks.

US-based tech companies have also said they detected such attacks.

The US intelligence community said Monday it was “confident” that Iran had used social engineering and other methods to target individuals in both campaigns, and that the attempts were “intended to influence the US election process.”

Trump’s campaign said on August 10 that it had been hacked, blaming “foreign sources” for distributing internal communications and a dossier on running mate J.D. Vance.

WASHINGTON/ BEDMINSTER, New Jersey: Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last meeting in July to quickly end Israel’s war in Gaza, but the former president also criticized ceasefire demands.

“He knows what he’s doing, I did encourage him to get this over with,” Trump told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. “It has to get over with fast. ... Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop.”

Trump was referring to his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July, when Netanyahu visited the United States. He also met President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during his trip.

There has been an increased risk of a broader war in the Middle East after the recent killings of Palestinian group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

In an event later on Thursday about tackling antisemitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris’ months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel’s hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire,” Trump said, adding it “would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack.”

Trump added: “I will give Israel the support that it needs to win but I do want them to win fast.”

In the same event, Trump also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to US support for Israel’s war as “pro-Hamas thugs” and “jihad sympathizers.” He threatened to arrest and deport them from the US if he became president.

Netanyahu’s office and Trump both separately denied on Thursday an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

The Axios report cited two US sources. One source said the reported call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations this week.

Washington, Israel’s most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was back on social media platform X ahead of his interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday in an event that could inject more surprises into the turbulent US presidential election.

The interview, scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 GMT Tuesday), could give the former president an opportunity to seize the limelight at a time when his campaign is seen as sagging.

His Democratic rival for the Nov. 5 election, Vice President Kamala Harris, has erased Trump’s lead in opinion polls and energized Democratic voters with a series of high-energy rallies.

Meta lifts restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts

On Monday morning, Trump returned to X for the first time in a year, posting a video that highlighted his claim that the four criminal prosecutions he faces are politically motivated. He quickly followed with a half-dozen other posts, a potential indication he will be more active on X going forward.

His last X post before Monday was one in August 2023 appealing for donations and showing a mug shot after he was booked at an Atlanta jail in relation to felony charges tied to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.

Trump’s access to his account, @realDonald Trump, was restored a month into Musk’s ownership of X after being suspended by the platform’s previous owners following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress by his supporters.

Trump frequently posts on his Truth Social platform, which was launched in February 2022, but his posts there reach a much smaller audience than on X.

PALM BEACH, (United States): Donald Trump on Thursday voiced frustration at the independence of the Federal Reserve and suggested that the US president should have “at least a say” over the course of monetary policy.

Trump, who is running against Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election, has frequently criticized the actions of Fed Chair Jerome Powell — whom he nominated to lead the independent US central bank — and suggested he may not look to renominate him once his current term expires in 2026.

The Fed has “sort of gotten it wrong a lot,” Trump told reporters Thursday during a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.

“I feel the president should have at least a say” about monetary policy, he said, adding he had “fought him very hard” on some occasions — an apparent reference to Powell.

“I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve, or the chairman,” he added.

Congress has given the Fed a dual mandate to tackle inflation and unemployment through monetary policy, and the independence to set interest rates without input from politicians in the White House or on Capitol Hill.

Trump’s remarks follow a series of similar comments about Powell and the Fed in recent years that have highlighted his unhappiness with some of the decisions the bank has taken.

He has previously accused Powell — without evidence — of displaying favoritism toward the Democratic party — something the Fed chair has repeatedly denied.

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris effectively secured the Democratic party’s presidential nomination Friday, confirming her remarkable rise to party standard bearer in November’s showdown against Republican Donald Trump.

Harris was the sole candidate on the ballot for a five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 party convention delegates. She will be officially crowned at a Chicago convention later this month.

“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States,” Harris, 59, said on a phone-in to a party celebration after securing enough votes by the second day of the marathon vote.

BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised US Vice President Kamala Harris as a “competent and experienced” politician who could well win the US election, but he stopped short of endorsing her over Republican Donald Trump.

Scholz had been unusually direct in his endorsement of US Joe Biden before the latter dropped his reelection bid last weekend and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s candidate to face Trump in the November election.

Many German politicians fear Trump could impose higher tariffs on imports if he returned to office, and they have raised questions about US support for the NATO military alliance.

Germany was frequently the focus of Trump’s ire during his first term due to its trade surplus with the United States and low spending on defence. Berlin has however in recent years upped its defence spending.

Kamala Harris closes in on nomination with delegates secured, to campaign in Wisconsin

“The election campaign in the USA will certainly be exciting, now with a slightly new line-up and a new constellation,” Scholz told an annual summer news conference on Wednesday.

“I think it is very possible that Kamala Harris will win the election, but the American voters will decide.”

Scholz said he had met Harris several times.

“This is a competent and experienced politician who knows exactly what she is doing,” he said. “She knows what she wants and what she can do.”

Trump takes fight against Harris to North Carolina rally

Separately Scholz defended his government’s economic policy and assured he would be standing for reelection in next year’s federal vote despite poor poll ratings.

Asked if like Biden, he might consider renouncing his bid for reelection, he joked “thank you for the very nice and friendly question.”

“And no, the SPD is a very united party. We are all determined to go into the next general election campaign together and win. And I will run as chancellor to become chancellor again.”

Scholz, 66, has seen his personal popularity, along with that of his coalition, plunge since taking office in late 2021. Polls frequently place him behind the leader of the opposition conservatives.

The chancellor has battled an array of major crises, in particular Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting influx of more than one million refugees and end of cheap Russian gas imports upon which the German economy relied.

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has so far watched from the sidelines as Vice President Kamala Harris galvanized and re-energized Democrats by stepping in as their likely presidential nominee. On Wednesday, Trump gets back in the game.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will hold his first campaign rally since Harris emerged as his near-certain Democratic foe in the 2024 election. The former president will appear at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina, a state that will be an important battleground in the Nov. 5 election.

The Trump campaign has insisted that it is prepared for Harris’ candidacy, arguing that she serves as a proxy for President Joe Biden on the economic and immigration policies that contributed to his sinking popularity with voters.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed the newly re-jiggered race to be in a statistical dead heat.

Biden was ‘not fit to run’ for president: Trump

The poll, taken in the two days since Biden decided to stand down from reelection, showed Harris with a two-percentage-point lead over Trump, 44% to 42%. Other recent national polls have shown Trump with an advantage.

Biden, who came back to Washington after isolating at his home in Delaware with COVID, will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night to explain his reasons for dropping out of the race on Sunday after intense pressure from his party.

A person familiar with the matter said the legacy-defining speech was still being crafted on Tuesday night when Biden returned to the White House after his convalescence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he ended his reelection bid with a letter posted to social media.

On Tuesday, Trump took the unusual step of speaking to reporters on a conference call to underscore his campaign’s line of attack on the border, saying Harris was partially responsible for a record flow of migrants.

Biden put Harris in charge of working with countries in Central America to help stem the tide of migration, but she was not made responsible for border security.

US Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination bid

“She’s a radical left person, and this country doesn’t want a radical left person to destroy it,” Trump said on the call. “She wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants.”

Harris has not called for the removal of border controls.

Harris addresses black sorority

Harris on Wednesday will head to Indianapolis to speak at an event hosted by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, which was founded at Howard University, the historically Black college that Harris attended. She hopes to tap sororities’ multi-generational network of Black women to deliver strong voter turnout for Democrats in November.

Harris held an energetic first rally as the likely nominee on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which hosted the Republican National Convention last week. She assailed Trump and said he would take the nation “backward.”

Donald Trump recounts attempt on his life, then abandons unity theme in marathon convention speech

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?” she asked the crowd.

Harris ticked through a list of liberal priorities, saying that if elected she would act to expand abortion access, make it easier for workers to join unions and address gun violence, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump.

Democrats will formally nominate their new ticket at next month’s convention in Chicago after an Aug. 7 virtual vote. Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s Democratic governor, is considered to be on the short list to serve as Harris’ running mate.

Harris and her campaign have worked at a breakneck pace to consolidate support among Democrats in Congress and delegates across the country. Candidates who could have been potential rivals for the nomination have fallen in line and endorsed her.

Trump, coming off a triumphant week in which his party unified around his presidential bid after a failed assassination attempt two weekends ago, has had to watch as Biden’s sudden departure from the race dramatically shifted the narrative and sparked a surge of attention toward Harris at his expense.

Harris hits trail with Democratic nomination locked in

The Harris campaign said it has raised over $100 million since Sunday.

Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday for the first time as a presidential candidate after enough Democratic delegates pledged to endorse her, clearing her path to the nomination.

Harris has become the party’s presumed nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from his reeelction campaign on Sunday, following weeks of party acrimony and internal polls showed his support collapsing in a battle against Republican rival Donald Trump.

Less than 36 hours after Biden endorsed Harris, she secured the nomination on Monday night by winning the pledged support of a majority of the party’s delegates who will determine the nomination, the campaign said.

“Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee,” Harris said in a statement late Monday night.

“I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”

An unofficial survey of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well over the 1,976 needed to win a vote in the coming weeks.

Delegates could still, technically, change their minds but nobody else received any votes in the AP survey; 54 delegates said they were undecided.

The Wisconsin trip offers another opportunity for the 59-year-old former California prosecutor to reset the Democrats’ campaign and make the case that she is best positioned to beat Trump.

Harris is scheduled to deliver remarks at a political event in Milwaukee at 1:05 p.m. CDT (1805 GMT).

Backed by Biden, Kamala Harris moves to lock up White House bid

She offered a sense of how she plans to attack Trump on Monday, referring to her past of pursuing “predators” and “fraudsters” as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general.

“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said of her rival, a convicted felon who was found liable for sexual assault in civil court.

Other courts have found fraud was committed in his business, charitable foundation and private university.

Wisconsin is among a trio of Rust-Belt states that include Michigan and Pennsylvania widely considered as must-wins for any candidate, and where Biden was lagging Trump.

“There are independents and young people who did not like their choices, and Harris has a chance to win them,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising, which does routine polling in the battleground states where voting preferences can swing either way.

Fundraising windfall

Harris has also been raking in campaign contributions. Her campaign said Monday she had raised $81 million since Biden stepped aside on Sunday, nearly equaling the $95 million that the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.

Hollywood donors ended their “Dembargo” on political donations, as fundraisers and celebrities from rapper Cardi B to Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis and TV producer Shonda Rhimes endorsed Harris.

Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have tried to keep Harris tethered to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, such as immigration “Kamala Harris’ dismal record is one of complete failure and utter incompetence.

Her policies are Biden’s policies, and vice versa,“ Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.

Joe Biden, 81, pulls out of US presidential race

Whether she can turn around slumping polls in key states remains an open question.

In interviews with half-dozen leading Democrats in Wisconsin, they said Harris offers the party the opportunity to push the reset button and animate voters who were unenthused about Biden and Trump.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said Harris, the first Black American and first South Asian American to be elected vice president, will also help bring back crucial Black voters.

“Many of them didn’t come along because they were distracted by his age, distracted by his appearance,” Crowley said. Replacing Biden atop the ticket has also revved up speculation about who might join Harris as a vice presidential candidate.

The short list of people being discussed included Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with internal policy discussions.

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris was moving swiftly on Monday to try to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination, the day after President Joe Biden, 81, abandoned his reelection bid in the face of growing opposition by his own party.

Harris, 59, was due to speak at the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT) on Monday, her first public remarks since she entered the race on Sunday.

Campaign officials and allies have already made hundreds of calls on her behalf, urging delegates to next month’s Democratic Party convention to join in nominating her for president in the Nov. 5 election against Republican Donald Trump.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as a possible rival for the Democratic nomination after Biden’s exit, endorsed Harris on Monday in a post on X, saying the vice president had her full support. Several other potential Democratic challengers, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, have backed Harris’ bid.

Biden’s departure was the latest shock to a White House race that included the near-assassination of former President Trump by a gunman during a campaign stop and the nomination of Trump’s fellow hardliner, US Senator J.D. Vance, as his running mate.

“My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump.” Harris, who is Black and Asian-American, would fashion an entirely new dynamic with Trump, 78, offering a vivid generational and cultural split-screen.

The Trump campaign has been preparing for her possible rise for weeks, sources told Reuters, and planned to try to tie her closely to Biden’s policies on immigration and the economy.

Biden, the oldest person ever to have occupied the Oval Office, said he would remain in the presidency until his term ends on Jan. 20, 2025, while endorsing Harris to run in his place.

Biden’s shaky June 27 debate performance against Trump led the president’s fellow Democrats to urge him to end his run, but senior Republicans have demanded he resign from office, arguing that if he is not fit to campaign, he is not fit to govern.

Harris spent Sunday working the phones, dressed in a Howard University sweatshirt and eating pizza with anchovies as she spoke with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a potential vice presidential running mate, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Congressional Black Caucus chair Representative Steven Horsford, according to sources.

Biden’s withdrawal leaves less than four months to wage a campaign.

Trump, whose false claims that his 2020 loss to Biden was the result of fraud inspired the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol, on Monday questioned Democrats’ right to change candidates.

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Asia this week to reassure allies and partners of U.S. support, the State Department’s top official for Asia said on Monday, as the November U.S. presidential election casts uncertainty over Washington’s foreign policy.

U.S. tensions with China will provide the backdrop to the trip. Blinken is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of regional meetings in Laos, according to Assistant Secretary of State Dan Kritenbrink, who briefed reporters on the trip.

Blinken will hold security talks with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines before visiting Singapore and Mongolia, Kritenbrink said.

He will also stop in Vietnam to attend the funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who died last week, the State Department said.

The trip comes at the end of a tumultuous month in Washington. President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he will not run for reelection as expected and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to replace him. The Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, survived an assassination attempt.

In China, Blinken urges fair treatment of American companies

Asked what Blinken will say to allies about Biden’s decision to step aside and whether that could bring changes in policy, Kritenbrink said the message would be that America is “all-in on the Indo-Pacific.”

“We do try to reassure allies and partners that there are certain fundamentals, I think, about America’s engagement that are not going to change that have been consistent,” he said, citing American investments and bipartisan support in Washington for the administration’s approach to the region.

Trump, who has been leading in the polls ahead of the Nov. 5 election, launched a trade war against China while in the White House, and as a candidate has suggested he would impose tariffs of 60% or higher on all Chinese goods.

Trump has signaled he would demand Taiwan boost its defense spending in the face of potential Chinese aggression if elected. Allies of the former president have assured Japan and South Korea he would continue Biden’s engagement with them aimed at countering China and North Korea.

Regional security

In Laos’ capital, Vientiane, Blinken will attend meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on July 26-27, where China’s Wang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also expected to attend. A North Korean official would also likely be in attendance, Kritenbrink said.

China, US relations stable despite US ‘interference’, Chinese official says

Officials there are expected to discuss the conflict in Myanmar after a military junta seized power three years ago. The U.S. expects Myanmar to be represented by a nonpolitical official as it has been at previous meetings since the coup, Kritenbrink said.

Kritenbrink said Washington welcomed an announcement by Manila on Sunday that it had reached an understanding on the resupply of a Filipino naval ship beached on the Second Thomas Shoal.

In Tokyo, Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet their Japanese counterparts on July 28 to build on the success of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit to Washington in April by focusing on implementation of key outcomes from the prime minister’s visit, he said.

At a summit in April, Japan and the U.S. announced plans to upgrade their military alliance, including the U.S. military command in Japan and more joint development of defense equipment.

BRASÍLIA: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday he hoped that November elections in the United States, from which Joe Biden has withdrawn as a candidate, will be as “civilized as possible.”

“Whether (the winner) is a Democratic candidate or (Donald) Trump, our relationship will be a civilized one… I hope that the contest happens in the most civilized way possible… I hope nothing will happen that can put the symbol of democracy at risk,” Lula told international press agencies in Brasilia.

The Democratic Party has promised a “transparent and orderly process” to replace 81-year-old Biden, after the president bowed Sunday to concerns over his age and mental acuity following a disastrous debate performance against Republican Trump in June.

Trump nominated for president, picks J D Vance for running mate

Biden has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as candidate.

Harris must still win over some key hold-outs if she is to wrap up the nomination, which could happen as early as August 1, although some Democrats are still calling for the party to hold an open primary.

The last election in 2020, in which Biden beat then-president Trump, was followed by a violent mob storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump currently faces felony charges over his alleged efforts to overturn the vote outcome.

This is apropos two back-to-back letters titled ‘The King of the World is not safe in his fortress’ to the Editor by this writer carried by the newspaper on last Wednesday and Friday.

Globally, the incident could affect perceptions of US stability and the effectiveness of its democracy, potentially weakening its moral authority on the world stage.

Countries might reassess their relationships with the US, considering the internal vulnerabilities exposed by such incidents, leading to shifts in alliances and diplomatic strategies.

The attack could influence global counterterrorism strategies, emphasizing the need to address internal threats and domestic radicalization. For Trump, the incident could garner increased sympathy and support from his base, energize his supporters, and potentially attract undecided voters who see him as a strong leader facing unfair attacks.

Conversely, it might also highlight the deep divisions and volatility within the country, raising concerns about his polarizing effect.

For Biden, any missteps in addressing the incident could be detrimental to his campaign, intensifying the political climate, making security, stability, and national unity even more central issues in the election. For the rest of the world, the message is clear: their “king” is not safe even in his own highly guarded fortress.

Qamar Bashir

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024

MILWAUKEE: Donald Trump chose Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance on Monday to be his vice presidential running mate, as the Republican Party officially nominated the former president to run again for the White House at the start of the party’s national convention in Milwaukee.

“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The four-day convention opened in downtown Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum two days after Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, and hours after he secured a major legal victory when a federal judge dismissed one of Trump’s criminal prosecutions.

Trump is due to formally accept the party’s nomination in a prime-time address on Thursday and will challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

Vance, 39, was a fierce Trump critic in 2016 but has since become one of the president’s staunchest defenders, embracing his false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud.

Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, are locked in what opinion polls show to be a tight election rematch. Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the election were he to lose.

In the wake of the assassination attempt, Trump said he is revising his acceptance speech to emphasize national unity, rather than highlight his differences with Biden.

“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. The would-be assassin’s bullet clipped Trump’s right ear but did no major harm.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision on Monday to throw out federal charges against Trump for retaining classified documents after leaving the White House was the latest in a string of legal wins for the former president, who is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday strongly condemned an attack on former US President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.

He expressed deep shock over the attack saying that such violence had no place in politics, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release.

The president expressed his best wishes for the speedy recovery of Donald Trump and also offered heartfelt condolences over the loss of life in the attack.

Trump survives assassination attempt at campaign rally after major security lapse

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday strongly condemned an attack on former US President Donald Trump during an election rally and expressed his deep grief.

The prime minister, on X account, said that he just learnt that former President Trump was shot at an election rally. “This is a shocking development. I condemn all violence in politics. Wish the former President swift recovery and good health,” he further posted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024

WASHINGTON: World leaders and governments reacted with shock to the wounding of former US president Donald Trump in an assassination attempt at an election rally.

Leaders globally spoke out against political violence and expressed their support for those affected by Saturday’s shooting, which killed one bystander and left two other spectators critically wounded.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply shocked” by the attack.

“Political violence has no place in a democracy,” she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the shooting “despicable” and said “such acts of violence threaten democracy.”

In neighbouring France, President Emmanuel Macron called the assassination attempt a “tragedy for our democracies.”

“France shares the shock and indignation of the American people,” he said.

Russia strongly condemned any violence in the context of politics, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

“After numerous attempts to eliminate candidate Trump from the political arena using, first, all legal tools... it is obvious to all outside observers that his life is in danger,” Peskov said.

He added, however, that “we do not at all believe that the attempt was organized by the current power.”

From Pakistan, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan “strongly” condemned the attack, saying, “Political violence is a tool of cowards and has no place in a democracy.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “appalled to learn about the shooting” and wished Trump a “speedy recovery.”

“Such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world. Never should violence prevail,” he said.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed confidence “that the investigation into the attack will be carried out in the most effective way and that the perpetrators and their instigators will be brought to justice as soon as possible in order not to cast a shadow on the US elections and global stability.”

The Vatican, meanwhile, voiced “its concern following yesterday’s violent episode which injures people and democracy, provoking suffering and death.”

Argentina’s President Javier Milei blamed the “international left” after the assassination attempt.

“In panic of losing at the polls, they resort to terrorism to impose their backward and authoritarian agenda,” said the populist president.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the shooting “must be strongly condemned by all defenders of democracy and political dialogue.”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric also expressed his condemnation, calling violence “a threat to democracies” which “we must all reject.”

Colombia expressed its “solidarity with the United States at this difficult time.”

“As a country that has suffered from violence, we reaffirm that it has no place in the political and electoral debate,” the government said.

In Bolivia, President Luis Arce said, “Despite our deep ideological and political differences, violence, wherever it comes from, must always be rejected by everyone.”

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also condemned the shooting, saying, “Violence is irrational and inhumane.”

China’s Xi Jinping expressed his “compassion and sympathy” for Trump, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying Beijing was “closely following” the incident.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply concerned by the attack on my friend.”

“Violence has no place in politics and democracies,” said Modi.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also spoke out against political attacks, saying “we must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy.”

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te offered his “sincere condolences” to the shooting victims.

“Political violence of any form is never acceptable in our democracies,” he said.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said it was “with great relief” that he had learned that “Trump is fine and well after the attempt to assassinate him.”

“Together with all democracy-loving peoples around the world, we condemn all forms of political violence. The voice of the people must always remain supreme,” Marcos said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife Sara “were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump.”

“We pray for his safety and speedy recovery,” Netanyahu said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described the shooting as a “treacherous incident.”

Sisi wished the US “election campaigns to continue in a peaceful and healthy atmosphere, free of any manifestations of terrorism, violence or hatred.”

Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry said regardless of the motives of the attack, it underlined “the necessity of adopting dialogue and peaceful means and avoiding political violence and hatred to resolve conflicts at all levels.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the attempt served as “a stark reminder of the dangers of political extremism.”

“Political violence is the antithesis of democracy,” he wrote on social media platform X, wishing Trump a “speedy recovery.” “We unequivocally denounce this political violence and earnestly hope that the citizens and leaders of America will have the fortitude and sagacity to reject violence and seek peaceful solutions.”

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called the attack on Trump “distasteful,” adding that it “goes beyond the pale of democratic norms.”

“I extend my sympathies to the former president and wish him relief,” he added.

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Joe Biden mixed up the name of his vice president, Kamala Harris, and his Republican rival Donald Trump on Thursday as more of the 81-year-old incumbent's Democratic colleagues call on him to end his re-election bid.

Biden faces growing doubts from donors, supporters and fellow Democrats, who fear he no longer has the ability to beat former President Trump in the Nov. 5 election, or to lead the country for another four-year term.

"Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president. So start there," Biden said as he responded to a question from Reuters about his confidence in Harris.

That came a few hours after Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as "President Putin."

Pelosi, Clooney, Democratic senators raise new doubts about Biden

"Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," Biden said at the NATO summit in Washington, drawing gasps from those in the room before correcting himself.

NATO members are wrapping up a summit in Washington where they extended support to Ukraine to combat the invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched in February 2022.

Biden's campaign has been on the ropes for two weeks, since his poor debate performance against Trump, 78. So far, 13 of the 213 Democrats in the House and one of the Senate's 51 Democrats have appealed publicly to the president to withdraw from the race. More could make their concerns public if he fares poorly.

Biden coughed frequently and occasionally garbled his responses at the outset of the news conference, but his responses grew steadier as he fielded questions from reporters. Biden overcame a childhood stutter and has frequently mangled names and misspoke throughout his political career.

'PACE MYSELF'

He said he needed to "pace myself" a little more and complained that his aides sometimes overscheduled him. "I'm catching hell from my wife," he said.

The news conference gave Biden an opportunity to tout his successes on the world stage and criticize Trump. Biden argued Trump would weaken NATO and drive up prices for U.S. consumers by imposing steep tariffs on imported goods.

He took credit for bringing Sweden and Finland into the NATO alliance, and said he brought together 50 nations to support Ukraine. "I think I'm the best qualified person to do the job. To make sure that Ukraine does not fall," he said.

United Auto Workers union officials met on Thursday to discuss their concerns with his candidacy, three sources familiar with the matter said, after endorsing Biden in January. The 400,000-member union has a big presence in industrial states like Michigan that Biden will need to carry to win re-election.

Biden's campaign argued that the debate has not dramatically shifted the race, even as it laid out a narrow path to re-election that acknowledged that it faced an uphill climb in many states he won in 2020. That did not stop four more Democrats in the House of Representatives from calling on Biden to end his campaign:

Brad Schneider of Illinois, Greg Stanton of Arizona, Ed Case of Hawaii, and Hillary Scholten of Michigan. "For our country's sake, it is time for the President to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders," Stanton said in a statement.

None of the party's leaders in Congress have called for Biden to end his candidacy, though former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday declined to say he should stay in the race.

The campaign has commissioned a survey to test how Vice President Kamala Harris would fare if she were to replace Biden as candidate, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found Harris would fare no better than Biden if she were the Democratic nominee, as both were statistically tied with Trump.

Prominent donors like actor George Clooney have called on Biden to drop out, and there were signs that concerns are growing within Biden's campaign operation as well.

The New York Times reported that some longtime advisers were considering ways to convince him to drop his reelection bid, while NBC News reported that some campaign staffers thought he stood no chance of winning the election.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found Biden and Trump tied at 40% each. Other opinion polls have found Trump leading Biden, and some strategists have warned that Trump stood a chance of winning reliably Democratic states like New Hampshire and Minnesota.

In their strategy memo, the campaign argued that it has always expected a close election and could win by focusing on three battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

If he won those states, along with others considered to be reliably Democratic, he would win 270 electoral votes -- the bare minimum needed to secure the presidency. Biden won 306 electoral votes in 2020.

The campaign characterized other battleground states he won in 2020 as "not out of reach."

WASHINGTON: Democrats shocked by Joe Biden’s dismal debate performance urged the US president Tuesday to be transparent about his mental fitness as he faced the first call from his own side to drop out of the election.

Some supporters have expressed growing doubts about the 81-year-old following last week’s televised showdown with Donald Trump, after Biden stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought — exacerbating fears about his age.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic lawmaker to publicly call on Biden to make way for another candidate.

WASHINGTON: Democratic leaders rallied Sunday behind US President Joe Biden following his poor debate performance last week, as the White House denied a report he was meeting with family to assess his candidacy.

No major party figures have broken ranks to call for Biden to step down, with prominent Democrats including past presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton voicing full-throated support amid a torrent of doubts from everyday Americans — and even a call from the New York Times editorial board to move aside.

The wave of party backing follows the 81-year-old’s stumbling performance Thursday in the debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump, in which Biden often hesitated, tripped over words and lost his train of thought, highlighting concerns about his age.

“It’s not about performance in terms of a debate, it’s about performance in a presidency,” Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

On “one side of the screen, you have integrity, the other side you have dishonesty,” she said, echoing a number of party figures attempting to shift the focus from what they say was Biden’s unfortunate performance to the barrage of lies that came from Donald Trump during the debate.

According to a CBS News poll conducted in the two days following the debate, nearly three-quarters of registered voters now believe Biden should not be running for president, including 46 percent of Democrats.

Biden and his family traveled to the Camp David presidential retreat late Saturday, where NBC News reported he was expected to assess the future of his reelection campaign following his performance.

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, however, posted on X that the trip had been planned since before the debate, questioning the publication and claiming it had failed to ask for comment on the matter.

The Biden campaign has meanwhile reported that it has raised $33 million since the debate, including $26 million from grassroots donors.

Biden should “absolutely not” drop out of the race, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“It’s our assignment to make sure that he gets over the finish line come November. Not for his sake but the country’s sake.”

On Friday, Biden attempted to tamp down the nay-saying with a fiery campaign speech in North Carolina in which he pledged to keep fighting.

He appeared alongside his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, who has fiercely defended her husband amid calls for him to step aside.

“On that campaign stage in North Carolina, I saw a forceful, engaged and capable Joe Biden,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons, from Biden’s home state of Delaware, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think it was a weak debate performance by President Biden,” Coons said, adding that nonetheless “side by side, Donald Trump had a horrifying debate performance where, yes, he spoke plainly, but what he said was lie after lie after lie.” Biden, he added, is “the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump.”

LONDON: The Bank for International Settlements warned on Sunday that rising government debt levels amid a number of major elections this year could roil global financial markets.

Dubbed the central bankers’ central bank, the BIS said the world economy was on course for the “smooth landing” that many economists doubted when interest rates shot up, but said policymakers, especially politicians, needed to be careful.

Global government debt is already at record levels and elections ranging from the US presidential vote in November, through recent polls in Mexico and South Africa, to votes in France and Britain in the coming week, all carry risks.

BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens said with interest rates not about to go back to ultra-low levels, and cost pressures from aging populations, climate change and rebuilding defence capabilities, economic stimulus plans and a general rise in protectionism could unsettle sensitive markets.

“They can surprise you with not much notice,” Carstens told reporters as the BIS published its annual report, pointing to the turbulence in Britain’s markets following then Prime Minister Liz Truss’ budget plans which put some pension funds at risk of collapse. “You really want to avoid that.”

As well as persistent concerns over US debt levels, the French debt risk premium has surged this month to its highest level since the euro zone crisis in 2022, after French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election being held on Sunday that could bring in a far right government.

Carstens said the BIS was not calling out any “one or two” governments but that the message was clear.

“They (governments) must cut short the rise in public debt and accept that interest rates may not return to the pre-pandemic ultra low levels,” he said. “We need a solid foundation to build upon”.

The positive, however, is that central banks are successfully reining in inflation that had hit decades-long highs after the COVID-19 pandemic, and then Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which riled commodity markets.

“Compared to last year, I have to say we are in a much better place,” the former Mexican central bank governor said.

Although Carstens said central banks deserved praise for navigating a difficult path that could have resulted in a wave of recessions, he added they needed to persevere, likening the inflation fight to a course of antibiotics to tackle an illness.

He described an “extreme” scenario where inflation races up again and central banks need to raise rates further. But that is not what the BIS expects.

Some things will be key, however, including goods and services prices, which, relative to core goods, remain well below the pre-pandemic trend in many countries. Real wages relative to the cost of those goods and services have also lost ground during the surge in inflation.

“An overly rapid reversion of either – or both – of these relative prices could create material inflationary pressures”, Carstens said, adding it would mean “fewer and more gradual rate cuts or even, in the extreme, rate increases.”

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s allies scrambled on Friday to contain the damage from his feeble debate performance with Republican rival Donald Trump, as some Democrats considered whether they could replace him as their candidate for the 2024 US election.

Biden’s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses in the Thursday night debate heightened voter concerns that the 81-year-old incumbent might be not be fit to serve another four-year term.

“I’d be lying to you if I told you I thought it was a great debate,” Democratic Representative Jim McGovern told reporters. Asked if it was time for the party to consider another nominee, he responded, “I haven’t come to any conclusion yet.”

Biden, the oldest US president to ever hold office, faced only token opposition during the party’s months-long nominating contest, and he has secured enough support to guarantee his spot as the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 5 election.

Former President Trump, 78, likewise overcame his intra-party challengers early in the year, setting the stage for a long and bitter general election fight.

One Biden donor, who asked for anonymity, called his performance “disqualifying” and predicted that some Democrats would revisit calls for him to step aside. That would give the party time to pick another nominee at its national convention, which starts on Aug. 19.

Democratic officials played down that possibility.

“It’s not likely to happen,” Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu said on CNN.

California Governor Gavin Newsom - who could be a leading Democratic alternative - dismissed the notion that Biden could be replaced. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, another possible replacement, urged Democrats to stop worrying.

“Joe Biden had a bad debate, right, but Donald Trump was a bad president,” Shapiro said.

Interviews with undecided voters confirmed that it was a bad night for Biden. They described his showing as feeble, embarrassing and difficult to watch.

Trump at times during the debate highlighted Biden’s tangled answers, saying during an exchange about the southern US border, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

The Trump campaign released a video on Friday highlighting Biden’s stumbles. One adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the debate would help them compete in Democratic-leaning states like Virginia and Minnesota.

Questions about Trump’s fitness for office have arisen also over his conviction last month in New York for covering up hush money payments to a porn star, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his chaotic term in office.

But despite a litany of falsehoods and deflections from Trump during the debate, the focus afterwards was squarely on Biden.

The 90-minute debate at CNN headquarters in Atlanta took place far earlier in the campaign than any modern presidential debate, more than four months before the election.

That could mitigate the damage for Biden, as the memory of his performance fades and news events generate fresh headlines.

Trump, for instance, is scheduled to be sentenced in New York on July 11, just days before his party convenes to formally nominate him. He still faces three other criminal indictments, though none appears likely to reach trial before November.

At a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta after the debate, Biden told reporters he did not have concerns about his performance. “It’s hard to debate a liar,” he said.

Biden was headed for a Friday rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, a state that Democrats hope to win back from Republicans this November, before flying to New York for a fundraiser and the opening of a monument dedicated to the 1969 Stonewall riot for LGBT rights.

Trump will hold a rally on Friday in Virginia, a state he has lost twice but hopes to put into play in November.

Trump unleashed numerous familiar false claims at the debate, including that the 2020 election was fraudulent, that Democrats support infanticide and that migrants have carried out a wave of violent crime.

He defended his supporters arrested for storming the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, refused to say whether he would accept this year’s election results and suggested if he returns to the White House that he might prosecute Biden.

Biden called Trump a felon and noted that the majority of Trump’s former cabinet have declined to endorse his campaign.

Biden called Trump a “whiner” and a “child” who, he said, cheated on his wife with a porn star and had the “morals of an alley cat.” Trump said Biden was a “disaster” and a “Manchurian candidate” who favored China over the United States. At one point, the debate devolved into a fight over which man had a better golf game.

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden and Donald Trump square off for a historic US presidential debate this week, with the stage set for what could be a pivotal moment in the 2024 race as millions of potential voters tune in.

The showdown fires the starting gun on what promises to be a bruising summer on the campaign trail, in a deeply polarized and tense United States still convulsed over the chaos and violence that accompanied the 2020 election.

With only two debates this cycle, Thursday’s high-stakes clash takes on heightened significance, and both candidates have stepped up their personal attacks, with national polls showing the pair neck and neck.

“The debate is important because it’s an opportunity for two well-known candidates to ‘reintroduce’ themselves to a public that knows them well but hasn’t been paying attention,” said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and history professor at Binghamton University in New York state.

“The big question is how much of the public — beyond political aficionados — will pay attention to such an early debate.”

For Trump, the 90-minute clash is a chance to drive home worries about 81-year-old Biden’s mental alertness — although the Republican, 78, has faced age concerns of his own.

For Biden, the first ever debate between a sitting and former president will be an opportunity to underline the legal challenges engulfing Trump and to paint him as unfit for office.

The president will also be desperate to avoid any major gaffes — which, on this stage, could lose him the November election.

The debate comes in the wake of a criminal trial that has consumed Trump’s attention for months — with his sentencing on 34 convictions for falsifying business records scheduled for July 11.

Both candidates shunned the bipartisan commission that has run debates since 1988, deciding instead to go with CNN for a first showdown unusually early in the year, and another on ABC on September 10.

Abortion, the state of US democracy and foreign conflicts are all issues of concern to voters, although inflation and border security are likely to loom largest.

The last debates between the two men in 2020 were fraught, with Biden at one point snapping “will you shut up, man?” as Trump repeatedly interrupted him.

LAS VEGAS: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will hold an outdoor rally in sweltering Las Vegas on Sunday, seeking to shore up support in Nevada, a swing state he lost twice but which polls suggest is leaning his way ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

It will be Trump’s first large-scale rally since a New York jury found him guilty on May 30 of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election, making him the first former US president convicted of a crime.

Trump spoke on Thursday at a town hall in Arizona, another battleground state, telling supporters there about his plans to curb illegal immigration and blaming issues at the southern border on his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.

Immigration will be one focus of his Las Vegas speech, along with criticism of the post-pandemic surge in inflation during Biden’s term, according to a campaign statement.

Blistering heat is forecast for the event, with temperatures reaching 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) when Trump takes the stage at noon local time and climbing to 102 degrees by 3 p.m. (2200 GMT), according to the National Weather Service.

By mid-morning, several thousand Trump supporters were lined up and filing into the venue at Sunset Park. A breeze and misting stations were helping to mitigate the heat, although at least three supporters had already been taken away on stretchers.

Alex Maldonado, a 50-year-old father of three, said he was worried about the heat but wanted to come out to support Trump, for whom he plans to vote a third time. He said he feels Biden has failed in handling inflation, the southern border and crime.

“I tried to give him (Biden) a chance in 2020,” said Maldonado, a military veteran who works security at a Las Vegas casino. “But everything in life has been made harder.”

For days, Las Vegas residents have been coping with unusually high temperatures, part of a heatwave scorching the US Southwest. The National Weather Service lifted its excessive heat warning for the area, however, on Saturday evening prior to the event.

In addition to the misting machines, the campaign has set up cooling stations. At Trump’s event on Thursday, several people who had lined up outside in extreme heat had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

SWING STATES

Nevada is one of six or seven swing states likely to determine the election. A Fox News survey conducted after the guilty verdict showed Trump ahead of Biden in Nevada by five percentage points, an advantage roughly in line with an average of polls over time compiled by poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight.

Rebecca Gill, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said she was skeptical that polls were fully capturing where voters will be in a few months, given that many are not yet paying attention to the race.

Gill said she did not think Trump’s criminal conviction has fully sunk in with voters and could deter some moderate Republicans from backing him. In addition, a proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution would, if it makes it onto the ballot, likely boost Democratic turnout.

“I think that (Nevada) is 100% still in play,” Gill said.

Sunday’s rally comes on the heels of a three-day fundraising push by Trump that included stops in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, where he raised millions of dollars from technology executives and other donors.

WASHINGTON: US appeals court judges on Monday signaled skepticism toward Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a gag order imposed on the former president in a federal criminal case in which he is accused of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

As Trump lawyer D. John Sauer argued that the order violates the US Constitution’s First Amendment free speech rights, judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asked whether Trump’s charged rhetoric would threaten the integrity of his upcoming trial.

“I don’t hear you giving any weight at all to the interests in a fair trial,” Judge Cornelia Pillard told Sauer.

Pillard is one of three judges who heard Trump’s appeal of the gag order imposed by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, barring him and his lawyers from publicly criticizing prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses.

Chutkan ruled that such statements could influence witnesses and lead to threats against people involved in the case.

“The order is unprecedented, and it sets a terrible precedent on future restrictions on core political speech,” Sauer said during the two-hour hearing.

Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 US election, has assailed officials involved in the welter of criminal and civil cases he faces. He has called US Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the federal election-related charges, a “deranged lunatic” and a “thug,” among other insults.

The gag order has been suspended during Trump’s appeal. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, as well as all three other criminal cases.

The judges asked Justice Department lawyer Cecil VanDevender whether the order was written too broadly.

“We have to use a careful scalpel here,” said Judge Patricia Millett, a Democratic judicial appointee like the other two on the panel.

VanDevender said the order still allows Trump to make broad arguments about the integrity of the case.

“He can say, ‘This is a politically motivated prosecution brought by my political opponent,’ ‘The Department of Justice is corrupt, and, ‘I will be vindicated at trial,’ - all of that stuff,” VanDevender said.

The judges did not indicate when they will rule.

BAN IN SEPARATE TRIAL LIFTED

A similar restriction in a separate civil business fraud case in New York was temporarily lifted by a state appeals court judge last week. Trump promptly resumed his attacks on a court clerk involved in the case.

In social media posts and presidential campaign appearances, Trump has said court officials and others involved in his legal woes are politically biased, leading to fears that they could face physical threats from his supporters.

The Washington case is set to go to trial in March, during what night be the height of the Republican nominating contest.

Trump is charged with conspiring to interfere with the official tally of the 2020 presidential race, which he lost to Biden. Trump has accused Biden’s administration of weaponizing the US legal system against him.

The indictment accuses Trump and his allies of promoting false claims the election was rigged, pressuring officials to alter the results and assembling fake slates of electors to try to wrest electoral votes from Biden.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases, including a Georgia case that also charges him with unlawfully conspiring to overturn the election.