You are here

  • Home
  • Elon Musk promises to award $1 million each day to a signer of his petition on US constitution
US Election 2024
US Election 2024

Elon Musk promises to award $1 million each day to a signer of his petition on US constitution

Elon Musk promises to award $1 million each day to a signer of his petition on US constitution
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Republican presidential nominee former US President Donald Trump, gestures as he speaks about voting during an America PAC Town Hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 2024. (REUTERS/File Photo)
Short Url

https://arab.news/m6ww7

Updated 34 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

Elon Musk promises to award $1 million each day to a signer of his petition on US constitution

Elon Musk promises to award $1 million each day to a signer of his petition on US constitution
  • Petition pledges support for the US Constitution's provisions guaranteeing "freedom of speech and the right to bear arms"
  • Musk started America PAC, a pro-Trump political action organization, to help mobilize and register voters in battleground states
  • He said on Saturday that if Harris wins, it will be “the last election,” suggesting the US will no longer exist
Updated 34 sec ago
Reuters
Follow

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: Billionaire Elon Musk promised on Saturday to give away $1 million each day until November’s election to someone who signs his online petition supporting the US Constitution.
And he wasted no time, awarding a $1 million check to an attendee of his event in Pennsylvania aimed at rallying supporters behind Republican Donald Trump. The winner was a man named John Dreher, according to event staff.
“By the way, John had no idea. So anyway, you’re welcome,” the Tesla founder said as he handed Dreher the check.
The money is the latest example of Musk using his extraordinary wealth to influence the tightly-contested presidential race between Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
Musk started America PAC, a political action organization he founded in support of Trump’s presidential campaign. The group is helping mobilize and register voters in battleground states, but there are signs it is having trouble meeting its goals.
The Harrisburg event is the third in as many days in Pennsylvania, where Musk is painting November’s election in stark terms and encouraging supporters to vote early and get others to do the same.
He said on Saturday that if Harris wins, it will be “the last election,” suggesting the US will no longer exist.
He also said the two assassination attempts against Trump prove he is ruffling feathers and upending the status quo in ways Harris won’t. He said that’s why no one is trying to kill Harris.
“Assassinating a puppet is worthless,” Musk said, reiterating an argument he has made in a social media post.
The petition Musk is asking people to sign reads: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments.”
Attendees of Saturday’s event had to sign the petition, which allows America PAC to garner contact details for more potential voters that it can work to get to the polls for Trump.
Musk, ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest person, so far has supplied at least $75 million to America PAC, according to federal disclosures, making the group a crucial part of Trump’s bid to regain the White House.
The entrepreneur behind carmaker Tesla TSLA.O and rocket and satellite venture SpaceX has increasingly supported Republican causes and this year became an outspoken Trump supporter.
Trump in turn has said if elected he would appoint Musk to head a government efficiency commission.

 

Topics: US Election 2024 Elon Musk Donald Trump

Related

Pro-Trump group funded by Elon Musk struggles with outreach targets, inflation of doorknocking figures
World
Pro-Trump group funded by Elon Musk struggles with outreach targets, inflation of doorknocking figures
Musk gave $75 million to pro-Trump group, becoming a Republican mega donor
World
Musk gave $75 million to pro-Trump group, becoming a Republican mega donor

Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling

Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling
Updated 46 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling

Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling
  • The elections are a litmus test of the former Soviet republic’s pro-European turn under incumbent President Maia Sandu
  • ncumbent President Maia Sandu cut ties with Moscow and applied for Moldova to join the EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Updated 46 sec ago
AFP

CHISINAU: Moldovans vote on Sunday in a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union, with fears of Russian meddling in the two key electoral tests amid the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The elections are a litmus test of the former Soviet republic’s pro-European turn under incumbent President Maia Sandu, who is seeking a second term in the country of 2.6 million.
Police have made hundreds of arrests after discovering a massive vote-buying scheme, warning this week that up to a quarter of the ballots cast could be tainted by Russian cash.
“Our country is at a crossroads... A group of thieves are trying to deceive people, promise them money, give them false information,” Prime Minister Dorin Recean said, urging Moldovans “to be vigilant.”
Sandu, who beat a Moscow-backed incumbent in 2020, cut ties with Moscow and applied for Moldova to join the EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
She has repeatedly sounded the alarm on Russian efforts to interfere in the vote — a claim Moscow has rejected.
Washington also issued a fresh warning this week, while the EU passed new sanctions on several Moldovans.

Sandu, 52, a former World Bank economist, is the clear favorite in the race.
But with only 35.8 percent of voter support, she is predicted to fall short of the majority needed to avoid a second round on November 3, according to the latest polls by the WatchDog think tank.
Her 10 competitors include Alexandr Stoianoglo, a 57-year-old former prosecutor supported by the pro-Russian Socialists, who is polling at nine percent.
Renato Usatii, a 45-year-old former mayor of Moldova’s second largest city of Balti, is predicted to win 6.4 percent.
Polls open at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and close at 9:00 pm, with partial results expected from around 10:00 pm.
For the referendum, 55.1 percent of those surveyed have said they would vote “yes,” while 34.5 percent said they were set on “no.”
The referendum asks if the constitution should be modified to include joining the EU as an objective. The 27-member bloc began membership talks with Chisinau this June.
For any result to be valid, participation must reach at least 33 percent. Some pro-Russian parties have campaigned for a boycott.
“The future of Moldova will depend on what the people will choose... I hope we will take firm steps toward the European Union,” accountant Lidia Ceban said.
Sandu has been touring the country to say that joining the EU will help improve life in one of Europe’s poorest nations.
“The fate of our country, for many decades to come, rests on this (Sunday’s) decision,” Sandu said at a campaign event.
Sandu’s critics say she has not done enough to fight inflation and reform the judiciary.
In his campaign, Stoianoglo — who was fired as prosecutor by Sandu — has called for the “restoration of justice,” while Usatii has said he is the best choice as he is “the only one who is not controlled either by the East or the West.”

Fears of Russian interference are looming large.
Millions of dollars from Russia to corrupt voters were funnelled into the country by people affiliated to Ilan Shor, a fugitive businessman and former politician, police said earlier this month.
The “unprecedented” scheme could taint up to 300,000 ballots, according to police.
Convicted in absentia last year for fraud, Shor regularly accuses Moldova of being a “police state” and the West’s “obedient puppet.”
“Russia is hard at work. They have never (before) put in so much money,” Romanian historian Armand Gosu, who specializes in Russia and the former Soviet space, told AFP.
In addition to the vote buying, hundreds of young people were found to have been trained in Russia and the Balkans to create “mass disorder” in Moldova, including in tactics to provoke law enforcement, according to police.
 

Topics: Moldova Maia Sandu NATO Russia

Related

Kyiv arrests Kremlin ‘ideologue’ extradited from Moldova
World
Kyiv arrests Kremlin ‘ideologue’ extradited from Moldova
Germany says Moldova could be next in line if Ukraine falls
World
Germany says Moldova could be next in line if Ukraine falls

G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support

G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support
Updated 32 min 58 sec ago
AFP
Follow

G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support

G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support
  • “We are concerned by the latest events in Lebanon and the risk of further escalation. We express concern over all threats to UNIFIL’s security,” ministers’ said in a statement
  • They also underscored the group’s “intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term”
Updated 32 min 58 sec ago
AFP

NAPLES, Italy: G7 defense ministers on Saturday met against the backdrop of multiple ongoing military conflicts, expressing concern over the escalation in Lebanon while pledging “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organized the body’s first ministerial meeting dedicated to defense, staged in the southern city of Naples that is home to a NATO base.
At the top of the agenda was Russia’s war against Ukraine, now in its third year.
“We underscore our intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term,” read the G7 defense ministers’ final statement that pledged “unwavering support.”
But the G7 defense ministers — from Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada and the United States — also warned of the dangers of further intensification in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where the United Nations has blamed Israel for strikes on UN peacekeepers.
“We are concerned by the latest events in Lebanon and the risk of further escalation. We express concern over all threats to UNIFIL’s security,” read a final statement from the ministers.
They also called on Iran to stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met a Hamas representative in Istanbul on Saturday, according to the IRNA official news agency.

Demonstrators hold a banner which read as "Against the G7, wars and all the states, always and everywhere freedom," as the Group of Seven (G7) Defense Ministers summit is being held, in Naples on October 19, 2024.  (ANSA/AFP)

The many, concurrent conflicts “highlight a deteriorated security framework with forecasts for the near future that cannot be positive,” said Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto at the start of the one-day meeting.
Those conflicts include instability in sub-Saharan Africa and growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.
The summit came two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.
Also in attendance were NATO chief Mark Rutte and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. Both echoed the words of US President Joe Biden that the death of Sinwar could mark an opportunity to bring about the end of hostilities.
“Certainly after the killing of Yahya Sinwar, a new perspective is open and we have to use it in order to reach a ceasefire, to release the remaining hostages and to look for a political perspective,” Borrell told journalists.
The morning session included discussions over recent strikes on UN peacekeepers UNIFIL in Lebanon, where Israel is also at war with Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Borrell suggested that the peacekeepers’ mandate should be beefed up by the UN Security Council to give them more scope to act amid repeated attacks on their positions, which they blame on Israeli forces.
“They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Borrell wrote on social media that “a more robust mandate for UNIFIL” was needed.
In Lebanon on Friday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni slammed as “unacceptable” the recent strikes on UNIFIL.
Italy has around 1,000 troops in the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has soldiers from more than 50 countries.

The G7’s pledge of continued support for Ukraine comes as the country enters its third winter at war.
It is suffering battlefield losses in the east and faces the prospect of reduced US military support should Donald Trump be elected to the White House next month.
Biden urged NATO allies during a visit to Berlin on Friday not to step down in backing Ukraine. Supporters of Kyiv “cannot let up,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Western allies to forge a winning strategy against Russia, on Thursday presented what he called a “victory plan” to the European Union and NATO.
Its main thrust is a call for immediate NATO membership, deemed unfeasible by alliance members.
It also seeks the clearance to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons, and an undefined “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian territory.
Another worry for Ukraine are reports, based on South Korean intelligence, that North Korea is deploying large numbers of troops to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
NATO was not as yet able to confirm that intelligence, Rutte said on Friday.
Outside the meeting, in the streets of Naples, demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and the keffiyeh, a traditional scarf symbolising the Palestinian struggle against Israel. Some protesters clashed with police.
 

Topics: Ukraine UNIFIL Battlefield Lebanon G7

Related

Update Italy defense minister warns G7 over ‘deteriorated’ security framework
World
Italy defense minister warns G7 over ‘deteriorated’ security framework
G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast
Middle-East
G7 voices ‘deep concern’ over ‘deteriorating situation’ in Mideast

Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say

Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say
Updated 20 October 2024
Reuters
Follow

Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say

Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say
  • Russia’s air-defense units destroyed at least one drone flying toward Moscow, said the mayor of the Russian capital
  • Hours earlier, the mayor of Kyiv said Ukraine's air-defense units were trying to repel a new Russian air attack on the Ukrainiancapital
Updated 20 October 2024
Reuters

KYIV: Ukraine launched a series of drones targeting Moscow and western Russia, regional officials said early on Sunday, adding that there were no injuries or significant damage reported.
Russia’s air-defense units destroyed at least one drone flying toward Moscow, the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app.
According to preliminary information, there was no damage or casualties where debris fell in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region.
Drone debris sparked several short-lived fires in the Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia, the region’s governor said on Telegram. There were no injuries reported, he added.

Hours earlier, the mayor of Kyiv said Ukraine's air-defense units were in operation trying to repel a new Russian air attack on the capital city.
“Stay in shelters!” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.
Governors of the Bryansk and Oryol region, also in western parts of Russia, reported that air defense units destroyed several drones there.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Kyiv has often said in the past that its air attacks target infrastructure key to Russia’s war efforts and are a response to Moscow’s continued air attacks on Ukraine.
Russian officials often do not disclose full extent of damage inflicted by the drone attacks, especially on military, transport or energy infrastructure.

 

Topics: Russian invasion in Ukraine Ukraine

Related

Russia, Ukraine each swap 95 prisoners of war, Russian Defense Ministry says
World
Russia, Ukraine each swap 95 prisoners of war, Russian Defense Ministry says
Update Saudi Arabia is ‘sincere’ and an ‘acceptable’ venue for potential Ukraine peace talks, Putin says video
World
Saudi Arabia is ‘sincere’ and an ‘acceptable’ venue for potential Ukraine peace talks, Putin says

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans
Updated 20 October 2024
AP
Follow

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans

US investigating unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel attack plans
  • The documents note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike against Iran
  • Marked top secret, the documents were posted online to Telegram and first reported by CNN and Axios
Updated 20 October 2024
AP

WASHINGTON: The US is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three US officials told The Associated Press. A fourth US official said the documents appear to be legitimate.
The documents are attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the US, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted online to Telegram and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the US intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.
The documents emerged as the US has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel’s leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran’s missile attack go unanswered.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.

Topics: Israel-Iran conflict War on Gaza Battlefield Lebanon US Geospatial Intelligence Agency National Security Agency

Related

Iran says Hezbollah behind drone attack on Netanyahu’s residence
Middle-East
Iran says Hezbollah behind drone attack on Netanyahu’s residence
Update Iran Guards chief warns will hit Israel ‘painfully’ if attacks Iranian targets
Middle-East
Iran Guards chief warns will hit Israel ‘painfully’ if attacks Iranian targets

UK’s Starmer tells Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by drone attack near residence

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference at the British Embassy in Berlin, on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference at the British Embassy in Berlin, on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 20 October 2024
AFP
Follow

UK’s Starmer tells Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by drone attack near residence

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference at the British Embassy in Berlin, on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
  • Starmer also “stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza” it said, echoing similar calls made Friday in the joint statement he made along with the leaders of France, Germany and the US
Updated 20 October 2024
AFP

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that he was “alarmed to hear about the drone launched toward” his residence earlier Saturday, the UK leader’s office said.
Netanyahu has accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of trying to assassinate him, after his office said a drone was launched Saturday toward his residence in the central town of Caesarea while he and his wife were elsewhere.
Iran’s United Nations mission later said that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group — armed and financed by Tehran — was behind the drone attack, which Netanyahu’s office has noted caused no injuries.
“The prime minister said he was alarmed to hear about the drone launched toward Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home this morning,” Starmer’s office said in a summary of the two leaders’ afternoon phone call.
“They discussed the situation in the Middle East following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the prime minister said was a brutal terrorist and that the world is a better place without him,” it added.
London’s readout of the discussion noted they also talked about “the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to halt the fighting and get the hostages out.”
Starmer also “stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza” it said, echoing similar calls made Friday in the joint statement he made along with the leaders of France, Germany and the US.
 

 

Topics: War on Gaza Palestine Gaza US

Related

Israeli strikes kill 73 Palestinians in northern Gaza, Hamas media says
Middle-East
Israeli strikes kill 73 Palestinians in northern Gaza, Hamas media says
‘This is how a hero dies,’ say Gazans of Sinwar’s battlefield death
Middle-East
‘This is how a hero dies,’ say Gazans of Sinwar’s battlefield death

Latest updates

Elon Musk promises to award $1 mln each day to a signer of his petition
Elon Musk promises to award $1 mln each day to a signer of his petition
Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling
Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling
G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support
G7 defense ministers concerned by attacks on peacekeepers, vow Kyiv support
Israeli army orders evacuations in 2 neighborhoods in south Beirut
Israeli army orders evacuations in 2 neighborhoods in south Beirut
Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say
Ukraine launches drones at Moscow, western Russia, regional officials say

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.