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Elon Musk pledges $45 million a month to fund Donald Trump election

Elon Musk pledges $45 million a month to fund Donald Trump election
Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world with an estimated net worth of $250 billion, has grown increasingly friendly with Donald Trump over the course of the 2024 US election. (AP)
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Updated 16 July 2024
AFP
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Elon Musk pledges $45 million a month to fund Donald Trump election

Elon Musk pledges $45 million a month to fund Donald Trump election
  • Tech billionaire’s donations will go to a political group dubbed America PAC
  • Tesla founder formally endorsed Trump’s candidacy for US president on Saturday
Updated 16 July 2024
AFP
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WASHINGTON: Tech billionaire Elon Musk said he plans to commit roughly $45 million each month to a new fund backing Donald Trump for US president, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Musk’s donations will go to a political group dubbed America PAC, which will focus on promoting voter registration, early voting and mail-in ballots among residents in swing states ahead of the November general election, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Musk is one of several major backers of the new fund, with others reportedly including Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, former US ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and cryptocurrency investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
The Tesla founder formally endorsed Trump’s candidacy for US president on Saturday after the former president survived a shooting at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on the social media platform X, which he acquired in 2022.
Musk, the wealthiest man in the world with an estimated net worth of $250 billion, has grown increasingly friendly with Trump over the course of the 2024 US election.
In March, the two met in person during a donor breakfast hosted at the Florida residence of billionaire Nelson Peltz.
Though individual campaign donations in the United States are capped at $3,300 per person, loopholes in the campaign finance system allow political mega donors to contribute to funds known as political action committees or “PACs,” which support candidates.
Trump previously decried mail and absentee voting, but has backtracked on his criticisms after it became clear Democrats had an edge among mail voters.

Topics: Elon Musk Donald Trump

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Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv

Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters
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Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv

Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters

Air France is suspending services from the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including Sept. 19 due to escalating security concerns in the Middle East, the airline said on Tuesday.
The operations will resume following an assessment of the situation, Air France added.
Earlier in the day, Lufthansa Group said it is suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran and will bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including Sept. 19.

Topics: AIR FRANCE Beirut Tel Aviv

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US senator accuses Muslim advocate of supporting extremism in hearing on hate

Republican US Senator John Kennedy. (REUTERS file photo)
Republican US Senator John Kennedy. (REUTERS file photo)
Updated 29 min 55 sec ago
Reuters
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US senator accuses Muslim advocate of supporting extremism in hearing on hate

Republican US Senator John Kennedy. (REUTERS file photo)
  • “This harassment is alarming,” Muslim American advocacy group Engage Action said
Updated 29 min 55 sec ago
Reuters

WASHINGTON: Republican US Senator John Kennedy accused a leading Muslim civil rights advocate of supporting extremism during a Senate hearing on hate incidents in the US, drawing criticism from many rights groups.
“You support Hamas, do you not?” Kennedy told Arab American Institute Executive Director Maya Berry, who replied by saying: “You asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country.”
In a follow-up question, the senator asked, “You support Hezbollah, too, don’t you?” He later told her, “You should hide your head in a bag.”
Berry repeatedly said in her responses that she did not support those groups, and added that she found the line of questioning “extraordinarily disappointing.”
Islamist militant groups Hamas, which carried out a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Hezbollah are both designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the US government.
Multiple rights advocates denounced Senator Kennedy.
“It is absolutely reprehensible that a US senator would weaponize the racial identity of a witness and accuse her of supporting terrorism by using an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim trope in a hearing meant to tackle precisely that kind of bigotry,” Council on American Islamic Relations Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw told Reuters.
“This harassment is alarming,” Muslim American advocacy group Engage Action said.
The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee, which organized Tuesday’s hearing, also condemned the senator and called Berry’s response to him “powerful.”
Rights advocates have warned about rising threats against American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the eruption of Israel’s war in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
US incidents in recent months include the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Muslim girl in Texas, the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois, the stabbing of a Muslim man in Texas, the beating of a Muslim man in New York, threats of violence against Jews at Cornell University that led to a conviction and sentencing, and an unsuccessful plot to attack a New York City Jewish center.

 

Topics: Arab American Institute Executive Director Maya Berry anti-Arab and anti-Muslim in US

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Bangladesh opposition party rallies to demand a new election

Bangladesh opposition party rallies to demand a new election
Updated 17 September 2024
AP
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Bangladesh opposition party rallies to demand a new election

Bangladesh opposition party rallies to demand a new election
Updated 17 September 2024
AP

DHAKA: Thousands of activists and leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday rallied in the nation’s capital to demand a democratic transition through an election as an interim government has yet to outline a time frame for new voting.

The supporters gathered in front of BNP headquarters in Dhaka, where they chanted slogans demanding a new election.

The interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has rolled out a number of plans to reform various sectors of the country, from the Election Commission to financial institutions. But major political parties — including the BNP, which is headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia — want the new election sometime soon.

Yunus took the helm after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a mass uprising last month, ending a 15-year spell in power. The protests began in July and later morphed into an anti-government movement. Hasina has been living in India since.

In his recent speeches, Yunus hasn’t outlined a time frame for a new national election and said they would stay in power as long as the people want them to stay. A team of newspaper editors recently said that Yunus should complete crucial reforms first and stay in power for at least two years.

The BNP initially demanded an election in three months, but later said it wants to allow the interim government some time for reforms to be undertaken. The country’s main Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was once officially an alliance partner under Zia’s party, also wants to give the Yunus-led government more time before an election is conducted.

Topics: Bangladesh

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Afghanistan reopens its embassy in Oman, the Taliban say

An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
Updated 17 September 2024
AP
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Afghanistan reopens its embassy in Oman, the Taliban say

An exterior view of Afghanistan's Embassy in Muscat, Oman. (Twitter @HafizZiaAhmad)
  • The Foreign Ministry said that 39 diplomatic missions are now under Taliban control
Updated 17 September 2024
AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Afghanistan’s Embassy in Oman has reopened, an official in Kabul said Tuesday, the latest sign of the growing inclusion of the Taliban among Gulf Arab countries following the United Arab Emirates’ acceptance of a Taliban ambassador last month.
The development also comes after the Taliban said in July that they no longer recognize diplomatic missions set up by the former, Western-backed government. Most countries still have not accepted the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
According to Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman of the Foreign Ministry in Kabul, the embassy in Muscat, Oman’s capital, resumed operations on Sunday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Omani authorities and no reports from the sultanate’s state-run news agency about the embassy’s reopening.
“The work of the embassy is carried out regularly by diplomats of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” said Takal, using the Taliban name for their government.
“The resumption of embassy activities in cooperation with the host country will play a constructive role in strengthening the political, economic, social and religious relations between Kabul and Muscat,” Takal added.
The Foreign Ministry said that 39 diplomatic missions are now under Taliban control.
There is a deepening divide in the international community on how to deal with the Taliban, who have been in power for three years and face no internal or external opposition. And even though the Taliban and the West remain at loggerheads, Afghanistan’s rulers have pursued bilateral ties with major regional powers.
Last month, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov arrived in Afghanistan in the highest-level visit by a foreign official since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
As part of expanding their reach, the Taliban have moved to take control of the country’s embassies and consulates overseas.
The embassies in London and Oslo announced their closures this month, while others in Europe and beyond have continued to operate.

 

Topics: Sultanate of Oman Afghanistan

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12-year-old boy youngest to be sentenced over UK riots

12-year-old boy youngest to be sentenced over UK riots
Updated 17 September 2024
AP
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12-year-old boy youngest to be sentenced over UK riots

12-year-old boy youngest to be sentenced over UK riots
  • The boy had earlier admitted to a charge of violent disorder in the town of Southport on July 31
  • District Judge Wendy Lloyd sentenced the boy Tuesday to a three-month curfew order and a 12-month referral order, which requires him to commit to a rehabilitative program
Updated 17 September 2024
AP

LONDON: A 12-year-old boy who threw stones at police during rioting outside a mosque has become the youngest person to be sentenced so far over far-right riots that erupted in England this summer.
The boy, who can’t be identified because of his age, had earlier admitted to a charge of violent disorder in the town of Southport on July 31.
District Judge Wendy Lloyd sentenced the boy Tuesday to a three-month curfew order and a 12-month referral order, which requires him to commit to a rehabilitative program.
She told the boy the riots had “shaken society to the core.” “It was an angry mob and you chose to be part of it,” she said.
Rioting in Southport kicked off soon after a stabbing attack at a dance class in the town that left three young girls dead. False rumors spread online that the suspect in the attack was an asylum-seeker.
The boy was part of a crowd of hundreds of rioters who set a police van on fire and tried to storm the Southport Islamic Society Mosque.
The violence quickly spread around towns and cities around the country, but the unrest fizzled out after the swift charging and sentencing of those found to be involved.
Police have made more than 1,000 arrests and brought more than 800 charges.

Topics: UK far-right riots Southport Islamic Society Mosque

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