Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate

Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport on September 07, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (AFP)
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Updated 08 September 2024
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Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate

Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate
  • Trump’s message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term
  • Trump has repeatedly defended those who have been jailed for crimes including violent attacks on law enforcement
  • Trump also warned, as he has in previous rallies, that the 2024 election could be the nation’s last

MOSINEE, Wisconsin: With just days to go before his first — and likely only — debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.
“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote, again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.
“Please beware,” he went on, “that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
Trump’s message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term. There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election; in fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly.
Just days ago, Trump himself acknowledged in a podcast interview that he had indeed “lost by a whisker.”
While Trump’s campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inflation and border security, Trump in recent days has veered far off course.
On Friday, he delivered a stunning statement to news cameras in which he brought up a string of past allegations of sexual misconduct, describing several in graphic detail, even as he denied his accusers’ allegations. Earlier, he had voluntarily appeared in court for a hearing on the appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, turning focus to his legal woes in the campaign’s final stretch.
Earlier Saturday, Trump had leaned into familiar grievances about everything from his indictments to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election as he campaigned in one of the most deeply Republican swaths of battleground Wisconsin.
“The Harris-Biden DOJ is trying to throw me in jail — they want me in jail — for the crime of exposing their corruption,” Trump claimed at an outdoor rally at Central Wisconsin Airport, where he spoke behind a wall of bullet-proof glass due to new security protocols following his July assassination attempt.
There’s no evidence that President Joe Biden or Harris have had any influence over decisions by the Justice Department or state prosecutors to indict the former president.
Trump has eschewed traditional debate preparation, choosing to holding rallies and events while Harris has been cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, working with aides since Thursday.
Harris has agreed so far to a single debate, which will be hosted by ABC.
At the rally, Trump outlined his plans to “Drain the swamp” — a throwback to his winning 2016 campaign message as he ran as an outsider challenging the status quo. Though Trump spent four years in the Oval Office, he vowed anew to “cast out the corrupt political class” if he wins again and to “cut the fat out of our government for the first time, meaningfully, in 60 years.”
As part of that effort, he repeated his plan, announced Thursday, to create a new “Government Efficiency Commission” headed by Elon Musk that will be charged with conducting “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government” to root out waste.
After again maligning the Congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the nation’s capitol by his supporters after his election loss in 2020, Trump told the crowd of thousands that he would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime” and sign their pardons on his first day back in office.
Trump has repeatedly defended those who have been jailed for crimes including violent attacks on law enforcement.
And he said he would “completely overhaul” what he labeled “Kamala’s corrupt Department of Injustice.”
“Instead of persecuting Republicans, they will focus on taking down bloodthirsty cartels, transnational gangs, and radical Islamic terrorists,” he said.

Harris honored by support from disgruntled Republicans

Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika responded to his comments with a statement warning that, if Trump is reelected, he will “use his unchecked power to prosecute his enemies and pardon insurrectionists who violently attacked our Capitol on January 6.”
Both Harris and Trump have been frequent visitors to Wisconsin this year, a state where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point. Several polls of Wisconsin voters conducted after Biden withdrew showed Harris and Trump in a close race.
Democrats consider Wisconsin to be one of the must-win “blue wall” states. Biden, who was in Wisconsin on Thursday, won the state in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes. Trump carried it by a slightly larger margin, nearly 23,000 votes, in 2016.
As Trump was campaigning, Harris took a short break from debate prep to visit Penzeys Spices in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, where she bought several seasoning mixes. One customer saw the Democratic nominee and began openly weeping as Harris hugged her and said, “We’re going to be fine. We’re all in this together.”
Harris said she was honored to have endorsements from two major Republicans: former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman.
“People are exhausted, about the division and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans,” she said, adding that her main message at the debate would be that the country wants to be united.
“It’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness,” she said. “It’s time to bring our country together, to chart a new way forward.”
Trump held his rally in the central Wisconsin city of Mosinee, with a population of about 4,500 people. It is within Wisconsin’s mostly rural 7th Congressional District, a reliably Republican area in a purple state.

Senseless ramblings

During his speech, he railed against Harris in dark and ominous language, claiming that if the woman he calls “Comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living (in) a full-blown Banana Republic” ruled by “anarchy” and “tyranny.”
Trump also railed against the administration’s border policies, calling the Democrats’ approach “suicidal” and accusing them of having “imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from all over the planet.”
Many studies have found immigrants, including those in the country illegally, commit fewer violent crimes than native-born citizens. Violent crime in the US dropped again last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike.
He dismissed warnings from US officials about ongoing Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of November’s election, including an indictment this past week that alleged a media company linked to six conservative influencers was secretly funded by Russian state media employees.
“The Justice Department said Russia may be involved in our elections again,” Trump told the crowd. “And, you know, the whole world laughed at it this time.”
Among those in the crowd was Dale Osuldsen, who was celebrating his 68th birthday Saturday at his first ever Trump rally. He hopes a second Trump administration will take on “cancel culture” and bring the country back to its “foundational past.
“We’ve had past administrations say they want to fundamentally change America,” Osulden said. “Fundamentally changing America is a bad thing.”
Many supporters embarked on hours-long drives from across Wisconsin to see Trump speak. Some came from even further.
Sean Moon, a Tennessee musician who releases MAGA-themed rap music under the stage name, “King Bullethead,” blasted his songs from a truck in the event parking lot. As a musician, he said Trump rallies approximate the experience of a raucous concert.
“Trump is a rockstar,” Moon said. “He’s incredible. People see he represents them and the deep state trying to kill him and take him out. But he’s standing strong, and he stands for the normal person.”
Democrats have relied on massive turnout in the state’s two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison, to counter Republican strength in rural areas like Mosinee and the Milwaukee suburbs. Trump must win the votes in places like Mosinee to have any chance of cutting into the Democrats’ advantage in urban areas.
Republicans held their national convention in Milwaukee in July and Trump has made four previous stops to the state, most recently just last week in the western Wisconsin city of La Crosse.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, last month filled the same Milwaukee arena where Republicans held their national convention for a rally that coincided with the Democratic National Convention just 90 miles away in Chicago. Walz returned Monday to Milwaukee, where he spoke at a Labor Day rally organized by unions.


Moscow denies ‘baseless’ claim Russia behind fake US election video

Moscow denies ‘baseless’ claim Russia behind fake US election video
Updated 17 sec ago
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Moscow denies ‘baseless’ claim Russia behind fake US election video

Moscow denies ‘baseless’ claim Russia behind fake US election video
  • Russian embassy in the United States: ‘We view these allegations as baseless’
MOSCOW: Moscow on Saturday denied it was behind fake videos about the US election after American intelligence said Russia was behind a fake video showing a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times.
Three US intelligence agencies on Friday said in a joint statement that “Russian influence actors” created the video as part of “Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election.”
The statement also said Russian actors were behind another fake video.
“We have noticed the statement of the US intelligence services accusing our country of disseminating fabricated videos about electoral violations in the United States. We view these allegations as baseless,” the Russian embassy in the United States said in a statement on Telegram.
The 20-second clip features a man saying in a stilted, robotic delivery: “We are from Haiti. We came to America six months ago, and we already have our American citizenship — we’re voting Kamala Harris.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the top election official in the swing state, said Friday the video was an example of “targeted disinformation.”
Raffensperger said the “obviously fake” video was likely a production of “Russian troll farms.”
The embassy said that Russia had not received “any proof for these claims during its communications with US officials.”
“As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed, we respect the will of the American people. All insinuations about ‘Russian machinations’ are malicious slander,” the embassy said in a statement also released by the Russian foreign ministry.

Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit
Updated 02 November 2024
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Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times WHO limit

LAHORE: Air pollution in Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday more than 80 times over the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO), with an official calling it record high.
The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning, with anything above 10 considered unhealthy by the WHO.
“We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.
For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.
“The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.
On Wednesday, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city.
Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters.
Government offices and private companies will have half their staff work from home from Monday.
Construction work has been halted and street and food vendors, who often cook over open fires, must close at 8 pm.
Smog is particularly pronounced in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.


Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain

Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain
Updated 02 November 2024
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Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain

Japan urges 200,000 people to evacuate due to heavy rain
  • Japan’s highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred

Tokyo: Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were urged to evacuate on Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods while the remnants of a tropical storm trickle over the country.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said “warm, moist air... was causing heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in western Japan” partly due to Kong-rey, which was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system from a typhoon.
The city of Matsuyama “issued the top-level warning, urging 189,552 residents in its 10 districts to evacuate and immediately secure safety,” a city official told AFP.
While the evacuation was not mandatory, Japan’s highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred.
Forecasters warned that landslides and floods could affect western Japan on Saturday and eastern Japan on Sunday.
Due to rain, shinkansen bullet trains were briefly suspended between Tokyo and southern Fukuoka region in the morning before resuming on a delayed schedule.
Kong-rey smashed into Taiwan on Thursday as one of the biggest storms to hit the island in decades. It claimed at least two lives and knocked out power to tens of thousands of households.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.


Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election
Updated 02 November 2024
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Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

Ukrainians anxious over war aid if Trump wins US election

KYIV: Ukrainians are nervously following the final days of the US presidential election campaign, some fearing a victory for Donald Trump could halt Washington’s vital aid.
Tuesday’s US vote will take place as the war with Russia grinds through its third year, with the outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian army on the back foot against Russia’s advancing troops.
Moscow’s alliance with Pyongyang appears more solid than ever, with Washington and Seoul saying thousands of North Korean troops have been sent to Russia.
By contrast, Ukraine’s war-fatigued backers could be further disheartened by the potential return to the White House of Trump, who has given no assurance of support to Kyiv.
“A Trump victory would create grave risks. The situation would be alarming,” former Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oleg Shamshur told AFP.
Washington has driven NATO-wide support to Ukraine, with Kyiv receiving billions of dollars in financial and military aid enabling it to keep up the fight against a much more powerful Russia.
That support has however been eroded in Europe and the United States over the past few months.
Trump’s repeated criticism of US support for Ukraine and claims that he would end the fighting within 24 hours, have only raised Ukraine’s fears.
“Neither he nor his team believe in Ukraine’s victory,” Shamshur said.
Trump has refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win, and has not published any strategy on how to end the war.
His running mate JD Vance has advocated freezing combat along current lines, around which a demilitarised zone would be set up.
Trump’s plan would also put pressure on Kyiv to give up its aspiration to join NATO, as the Kremlin wishes, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to further attacks.
“This will be a respite for Putin,” said Shamshur, adding that he believed Russia would use that time to rebuild its army and resume, when ready, its plans “aimed at the complete destruction of Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already ruled out the territorial concessions demanded by Russia.
“Ukraine will not recognize these territories (as Russian), no matter who wants it to, no matter who wins in the US,” he said in an interview for the South Korean TV channel KBS.
A senior Ukrainian presidency official, however, expressed more conciliatory views in a conversation with AFP.
He said the meeting between Trump and Zelensky, which took place in the United States in September, had gone “very well.”
“Trump will surely not want to be the man that led America to lose face to Putin,” he said, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine is preparing for all possible outcomes and fostering relations with teams of both candidates, the official added.
Whoever wins the election will have to tackle the war in Ukraine, where the tide seems to be turning in favor of Moscow.
Russia has advanced 478 square kilometers (185 square miles) into Ukrainian territory in October alone — a record since March 2022 — according to an AFP analysis of data from the American Institute for the Study of War.
In the Donetsk region, where two-thirds of these gains were claimed, 51-year-old Ukrainian sergeant Sergiy said he took a pragmatic view.
He told AFP he did not care who won so long as “the US continues to help us.”
But he predicted that a Trump victory “could be a catastrophe not only for Ukraine, but for the United States.”
Ukrainian troops had a first taste of Republican foot-dragging between late 2023 and early 2024, when Trump’s supporters blocked US military assistance.
That forced Ukrainian forces to ration shells and allowed Russia to build momentum.
“If it is like it was at the beginning of the year, it will be very, very bad,” Sergiy said.
Bogdan, a young soldier fighting in the same region, said he hopes Trump will “just want to show America’s strength, determination and capabilities.”
Rodion, another soldier interviewed in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, was also confident.
“I know they won’t betray us,” he said.
He vowed to fight “until the end, until our victory.”


Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali

Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali
Updated 02 November 2024
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Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali

Despite bans, firecrackers sizzle across India for Diwali
  • Firecracker bans have been difficult to implement, especially during Diwali, despite the threat of jail and fines
  • While the bans didn’t stop people using firecrackers, factories that make the devices say sales have fallen this year

VANCH VILLAGE: Firecrackers are central to Diwali celebrations for millions of Indian Hindus and this year was no different even as some cities, including New Delhi, banned their use to curb some of the worst pollution levels in the world.
Diwali honors the victorious return of Lord Rama, one of Hindiusm’s most revered figures, and was celebrated in India on Thursday. It is also known as the festival of lights to symbolize the triumph of light over darkness, or good over evil, explaining why fireworks are so central to the celebrations.
“Firecrackers damage the environment, but they are a way of bringing good fortune to us,” said Yash Gadani, a local business owner, in Ahmedabad, a city in western Gujarat state.
While the bans didn’t stop people using firecrackers, factories that make the devices say sales have fallen this year as the rising cost of living, including higher prices for firecrackers, dampened demand.
In the village of Vanch, near Ahmedabad, thousands of workers covered in silver gunpowder make firecrackers by hand.
The industry is largely informal with lax safety standards. Nearly all of Vanch’s 10,000 residents are involved and workers are paid 500 rupees ($5.95) a day, often for 16-hour days.
“A couple of fires in factories as well as unseasonal rains have led to an increase in raw material prices,” Dipan Patel, who runs a unit in Vanch, said.
Firecracker bans have been difficult to implement, especially during Diwali, despite the threat of jail and fines.
New Delhi, a city of 20 million people, is the world’s most polluted capital. From October each year, air quality worsens as factors including the burning of farm stubble following the harvest, car fumes, and firecracker smoke get trapped over the city.
“The incidents of stubble burning are decreasing, but ... the smoke created by firecrackers needs to be controlled,” Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai told news agency ANI.