Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • Harris raises rival’s age after report of exhaustion. ‘I’m not even tired,’ Trump reacts


Harris raises rival’s age after report of exhaustion. ‘I’m not even tired,’ Trump reacts

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris campaigns in Waterford Township, Michigan while her Republican rival Donald Trump holds a rally at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan, on October 18, 2024. (AFP/REUTERS)
Short Url

https://arab.news/b2gwp

Updated 19 October 2024
Reuters
Follow

Harris raises rival’s age after report of exhaustion. ‘I’m not even tired,’ Trump reacts

  • Trump, now 78 years old, has skipped some appearances, but his campaign has not provided reasons
  • Trump says Harris is making an issue of his age because, ‘We’re killing her in the polls, because the American people don’t want her’
Updated 19 October 2024
Reuters

DETROIT/WATERFORD, Michigan: Democrat Kamala Harris raised questions about Republican Donald Trump’s physical stamina to serve effectively as president as the two rivals tore through the deadlocked battleground state of Michigan on Friday, with Trump lashing back about the energy he’s shown on the campaign trail.
Harris, who turns 60 on Sunday, pressed the case to raise doubts about the 78-year-old Trump. Age had been an issue when President Joe Biden, 81, was still in the race, but had faded after he dropped his election bid.
Harris said on Friday news reports that former President Trump was skipping interviews because he was tired and had passed on the chance of a second debate with her raised questions about his fitness for office.
“It should be a concern. If he can’t handle the rigors of the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” she told reporters before a rally in Grand Rapids. “That’s a legitimate question.”
Trump, now 78 years old, has skipped some appearances, but his campaign has not provided reasons.

‘American people don’t want her’
Trump, talking to reporters as he arrived in Detroit, rejected such talk. “I’ve gone 48 days now without a rest,” he said.
“I’m not even tired. I’m really exhilarated. You know why? We’re killing her in the polls, because the American people don’t want her.”
Polls in the election’s most competitive states are effectively tied with just 18 days remaining until the election .
In a Fox & Friends interview, Trump also griped about negative television ads on Fox about him and said he would ask Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corp. NWSA.O and who also launched Fox News, to ensure such ads are not broadcast until Election Day on Nov. 5.
“I’m going to say, ‘Rupert, please do it this way and then we’re going to have a victory, cause everyone wants that,’” Trump said.
Trump visited a campaign office in Hamtramck, where he heard praise from the Detroit suburb’s first Muslim mayor, Amer Ghalib. Trump was seeking support from Arab Americans in Michigan disenchanted with Democrats, Harris and Biden over US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
“We all ultimately want one thing. We want peace in the Middle East. We’re going to get peace in the Middle East. It’s going to happen very fast. It can happen with the right leadership in Washington,” Trump said, without elaborating.
In Oakland County, Harris welcomed members of the Arab American community to her rally and touted prospects for peace in the aftermath of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar .

Mic issues
In the evening, Trump returned to Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, for a rally after saying on Oct. 10 that the rest of the US would turn into Detroit if Harris won.
There, Trump’s microphone stopped working and the former president roamed around the stage for some 20 minutes.
“I won’t pay the bill for this stupid company that rented us this crap,” Trump said after the audio started working again. “This is the worst mic I’ve ever had in my life.”
The dead-mic incident took place days after Trump stopped talking and swayed and bopped to his musical playlist at a Pennsylvania town hall event after two people in the audience fell ill.
Harris, after speaking in Grand Rapids, the heart of more conservative western Michigan, headed east to Lansing and then Oakland County, encompassing suburbs northwest of Detroit, on Friday night.
The Midwestern state has about 8.4 million voters and would bring the winner 15 Electoral College votes out of the 270 needed to win, which could be a decisive number. Harris and Trump are battling fiercely for the state’s Arab American, senior, union and working-class voters.
Public and internal campaign polls show razor-thin margins for either Harris or Trump in Michigan and other battleground states. That is worrying Democrats.
Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in the state by 155,000 votes.
Harris is shifting the strategy of her whirlwind campaign to win over more Republicans and men of all races. She’s also enlisting popular former first lady Michelle Obama, who will campaign for Harris in Michigan on Oct. 26.
“I understand why people are looking to shake things up,” former President Barack Obama said at an Arizona campaign event in support of Harris on Friday. “What I cannot understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you.”
Nationally, Harris’ edge has narrowed from a late September lead of 7 percentage points over Trump to just 3 points, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with high food and rent prices still worrying Americans and Trump amplifying fears related to migrants crossing the US-Mexico border with increasingly extreme rhetoric.

Topics: Trump Returns Kamala Harris Donald Trump

Related

World
Harris and Trump seek Arab American votes in Michigan in effort to shore up battleground states
World
Trump couldn’t pronounce ‘Assyrians.’ The community is happy to be in the spotlight

Singapore says 3 men detained since October for seeking to join Mideast conflict

Updated 4 sec ago
Follow

Singapore says 3 men detained since October for seeking to join Mideast conflict

Updated 4 sec ago
SINGAPORE: Singapore said on Thursday it had detained three men since October last year who were preparing to travel to the Middle East to fight against Israel.
The Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement the three Singaporean men were not linked to one other and had been “radicalized” online, but there was no indication others had been recruited.
It was not immediately clear why the ministry announced the detention on Thursday.
Following their arrest in October, they were detained under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial.
The three were a director of a digital marketing company, a lift mechanic, and a security guard, aged 41, 21, and 44, respectively.
One of the men had visited a shooting range in Thailand to learn to operate firearms, while two planned to visit shooting ranges in Indonesia, it said.
The ministry said restrictions were placed on two other Singaporeans in June and July last year under the security law, related to the conflict in Gaza.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials.
Much of the enclave has been laid waste, and most of the territory’s 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian
agencies say.

Zelensky meets Meloni for talks in Rome

Updated 14 min 58 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Zelensky meets Meloni for talks in Rome

  • Meloni “reiterated the all-round support that Italy ensures and will continue to provide to the legitimate defense of Ukraine... ,” her office said
  • She also “expressed solidarity for the victims of the recent Russian bombings“
Updated 14 min 58 sec ago
AFP

ROME: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks in Rome Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after meeting other allies in Germany.
Meloni “reiterated the all-round support that Italy ensures and will continue to provide to the legitimate defense of Ukraine... to put Kyiv in the best possible condition to build a just and lasting peace,” her office said.
She also “expressed solidarity for the victims of the recent Russian bombings,” it said in a statement, as the grinding war nears the three-year mark.
Zelensky had earlier Thursday joined a meeting of about 50 allies at the US air base Ramstein in Germany — the last such gathering before Trump takes office on January 20.
The US president-elect has criticized the large amount of US aid for Kyiv and vowed to bring the war to a swift end, without making any concrete proposals for a ceasefire or peace agreement.
In Germany, Zelensky said Trump’s return to the White House would open a “new chapter” and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help “force Russia to peace.”
In a post on X, Zelensky thanked Italy for its “unwavering support,” saying: “Together, we can bring a just peace closer and strengthen our collective positions.”
He and Meloni discussed “strengthening security, addressing global developments, and preparing for this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Rome,” he said.
Meloni, who has led NATO and EU member Italy since October 2022, has strongly supported Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but is also politically close to Trump.
At a press conference in Rome earlier, Meloni — who visited Trump at his Florida home last weekend — said she did not believe the president-elect would abandon Kyiv.
“Frankly I don’t foresee a disengagement,” she said, adding that Trump had previously “said precisely because we want peace, we will not abandon Ukraine.”
She added that she would support options for peace that Ukraine would support.
NATO and EU member Italy has sent arms and aid to Ukraine to help fight off Russia’s invading forces, but has refused to allow Kyiv to use its weapons inside Russian territory.
Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said the Ukrainian president would meet Friday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, the country’s largely ceremonial head of state.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also in the Italian capital on Thursday for separate talks with European counterparts on Syria. It was not clear if he planned to meet Zelensky during his trip.
US President Joe Biden had also been due to visit Rome in what was expected to be his final overseas trip in office, but canceled to focus on the federal response to wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Related

World
In their final meeting, Zelensky and Austin say military aid to Ukraine must continue under Trump
Saudi Arabia
Saudi crown prince receives call from Ukraine’s Zelensky

Scotland leader refuses to be drawn on Lockerbie bombing inquiry

Updated 09 January 2025
Arab News
Follow

Scotland leader refuses to be drawn on Lockerbie bombing inquiry

  • John Swinney would not speculate on backing public inquiry into 1988 attack while criminal case against suspected bomb maker underway in US
  • Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over UK that killed 270 people blamed on Libyan intelligence officials
Updated 09 January 2025
Arab News

LONDON: Scotland’s first minister has refused to be drawn on whether he supports a public inquiry into the 1988 bombing of a passenger plane blamed on Libyan intelligence officials.

The downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie killed 270 people and remains by far the most deadly terror attack on British soil.

Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Baset Ali Al-Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for his role in the plot to place the bomb on board the flight. Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, always insisted he was innocent and doubts have been raised about his conviction.

A television series released last week in the UK, which tells the story of the investigation by one of the victim’s fathers, has renewed interest in the case, as has an upcoming court case in the US of the alleged bomb maker, the Libyan Abu Agila Masud.

A member of the Scottish Parliament, Christine Grahame, asked First Minister John Swinney on Thursday if he supported a UK inquiry into the bombing given the “remaining concerns for some, including myself, about the credibility of the conviction” of Al-Megrahi.

She also highlighted what she described as the resistance of the UK Government to releasing relevant documents in relation to the bombing, the Daily Record reported.

Swinney said that while there was a criminal case underway in the US, “I would prefer not to speculate on possible inquiries.”

Al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted for the attack and there has been no public inquiry in the UK.

His trial by a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands took place more than 11 years after the bombing and followed long negotiations with the then Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to hand him over along with another suspect.

The recent TV series “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth” stars British actor Colin Firth as Jim Swire, whose daughter was killed on the flight as it flew from London Heathrow to New York City four days before Christmas.

Swire believes that Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012 three years after being released on compassionate grounds, was innocent.

Two-thirds of the victims of the bombing were American and 11 residents in the town of Lockerbie were killed when sections of the aircraft fell on residential areas.

Topics: Lockerbie bombing Pan Am flight 103

Related

Middle-East
UK archives reveal government unease at Mandela mediation over Lockerbie
Special
World
Handover of a Libyan suspect opens a new chapter in Lockerbie bombing horror story

Russia breaches frontline river in east Ukraine, official says

Updated 09 January 2025
AFP
Follow

Russia breaches frontline river in east Ukraine, official says

  • The Oskil river is the de-facto front line in parts of the eastern Kharkiv region
  • The major of the local hub, Kupiansk, said the situation was “extremely difficult”
Updated 09 January 2025
AFP

KYIV: Russian forces have established a bridgehead on the Ukrainian-held side of a frontline river in the east of the country, a local official said Thursday, pointing to Kyiv’s mounting battlefield struggles.
The Oskil river is the de-facto front line in parts of the eastern Kharkiv region, with Ukrainian troops entrenched mainly on the western bank and Russian forces moving to capture the eastern side.
Kremlin forces have been launching audacious attempts to cross, and local Ukrainian official Andrii Besedin told state television Thursday they had managed to cross and establish positions.
“The enemy is trying to gain a foothold in the town of Dvorichna, which is already on the right bank of the Oskil, and expand the entire bridgehead,” he said.
Besedin, the major of the local hub, Kupiansk, said the situation was “extremely difficult” and warned that Russian troops could use the bridgehead to flank Ukrainian positions.
He said Russian forces were now just two kilometers (about one mile) outside of Kupiansk, which was one of the main prizes of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in late 2022.
“The enemy is constantly trying to carry out assault operations,” he said.
The advances conceded by the local official come at a precarious time for Ukrainian forces across the sprawling front, where Russian forces have been advancing at their fastest pace in around two years.
If Russia captures more territory around Kupiansk or in the wider Kharkiv area it would undo gains that Ukraine secured in a sweeping 2022 offensive that embarrassed the Kremlin.
Both sides are looking to secure a better position on the battlefield before incoming US president Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, almost three years after Russia invaded.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Kharkiv Oskil river

Related

World
Russian air attacks kill four in Kharkiv, injure six in Kyiv
World
Nine wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv: local officials

Putin says more needs to be done to clean up Black Sea oil spill

Updated 09 January 2025
Reuters
Follow

Putin says more needs to be done to clean up Black Sea oil spill

  • The oil leaked from two aging tankers after they were hit by a storm on Dec. 15 in the Kerch Strait
  • One sank and the other ran aground
Updated 09 January 2025
Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that more needed to be done to clean up an oil spill in the Black Sea, saying efforts so far appeared to have been insufficient to deal with the ecological disaster.
The oil leaked from two aging tankers after they were hit by a storm on Dec. 15 in the Kerch Strait. One sank and the other ran aground.
Approximately 2,400 metric tons of oil products spilled into the sea, Russian investigators said last week, in what Putin on Thursday called “one of the most serious environmental challenges we have faced in years.”
When the disaster struck, state media reported that the stricken tankers, both more than 50-years old, were carrying some 9,200 metric tons (62,000 barrels) of oil products in total.
Since the spill, thousands of emergency workers and volunteers have been working to clear tons of contaminated sand and earth on either side of the Kerch Strait. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises and sea birds.
The Kerch Strait runs between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and separates Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula from Russia’s Krasnodar region.
Putin told a government meeting that the clean-up efforts had been poorly coordinated between regional and federal bodies.
“From what I see and from the information I receive, I conclude that everything being done to minimize the damage is clearly not enough yet,” the Kremlin leader told officials.
He called for a commission to be formed to mitigate the disaster and prevent oil products from leaking from flooded tankers in the future.

Topics: Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin oil spill Black Sea

Related

Business & Economy
Iranian authorities working on controlling oil spill off Kharg Island, says IRNA
Middle-East
Oil spills pile on pressure for Iraq’s farmers

Latest updates

Singapore says 3 men detained since October for seeking to join Mideast conflict
Polish government to protect Israel's Netanyahu from arrest if he attends Auschwitz event
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning’
Zelensky meets Meloni for talks in Rome
US, French troops could secure Syria’s northern border, Syrian Kurdish official says

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.