Harris mocks Trump after rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon

Harris mocks Trump after rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon
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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem dance to the song "Y.M.C.A." at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds. (AP)
Harris mocks Trump after rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon
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Democratic presidential nominee US Vice President Kamala Harris. (Reuters)
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Updated 16 October 2024

Harris mocks Trump after rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon

Harris mocks Trump after rally turns into bizarre dance-a-thon

WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris spent much of Tuesday questioning Donald Trump’s mental state and fitness for office after the 78-year-old Republican’s latest televised town hall veered into a surreal, impromptu music session.
“Hope he’s okay,” the Democratic candidate posted on X.
Harris’s campaign, which has begun to aggressively challenge Trump on his health and mental stability, said that he appeared “lost, confused, and frozen on stage” during the Monday event.
Former president Trump defended the event in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, saying it was “so different.”
“It was amazing! The Q and A was almost finished when people began fainting from the excitement and heat,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
“We started playing music while we waited, and just kept it going. So different, but it ended up being a GREAT EVENING!“
He hit out at Vice President Harris, who released a White House medical report at the weekend that said she was fit for the highest office and challenged Trump to do the same.
“With all of the problems that she has, there is a real question as to whether or not she should be running for President! MY REPORT IS PERFECT — NO PROBLEMS!!!” Trump wrote.
For about half an hour, the event in Oaks near Philadelphia was standard fare ahead of the November 5 election, as Trump took friendly questions from supporters on the economy and cost of living.
But it ended with a bizarre 39 minutes of music and dancing as Trump swayed awkwardly on stage following interruptions because of medical emergencies in the crowd.
“Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?” he said.
Trump has made a brief, jerky dance his signature at the end of rallies for years, nearly always to his exit song — the Village People’s 1978 disco anthem “YMCA.”
On Monday, however, he stayed on stage for nine songs, ranging from opera to Guns N’ Roses and Elvis, with the ex-president alternating his dance moves with standing in place and staring into the crowd.
Harris and Trump are locked in a dead heat, according to polls, and the election is set to be decided by seven swing states where the margins could come down to barely 10,000 votes each.
With only three weeks to go, the 59-year-old Democrat has increasingly been homing in on Trump’s health and age.
It was the topic of her closing argument as she sat down with popular radio host Charlamagne tha God in an effort to boost her messaging to Black male voters — a part of the electorate where Trump has made gains.
After setting out her policies for improving the lives of Black men, she turned to Trump’s rallies and repeated a claim that riled him during their September debate — that bored supporters were leaving his rallies early.
“I will point out what everyone knows, which is that the people who worked the closest with Donald Trump when he was president — worked with him in the Oval Office, saw him at play in the Situation Room, his chief of staff, two secretaries of defense, his national security adviser and his former vice president — have all said he is dangerous and unfit to serve,” Harris said.
Trump’s own campaign schedule began with an Economic Club of Chicago event, where he said he was for slapping “obnoxious” tariffs on trading partners like Mexico so that companies move factories to the US.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff,” Trump said, before heading for a rally in swing-state Georgia.
Trump is now the oldest person ever to be nominated for a presidential bid, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate that sparked fears about his own age.
He has not released a recent comprehensive report on his state of health, prompting fierce criticism from Harris.


Colombia’s foreign minister ‘renounces’ her US visa as tensions between both nations escalate

Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio. (Wikipedia)
Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio. (Wikipedia)
Updated 7 sec ago

Colombia’s foreign minister ‘renounces’ her US visa as tensions between both nations escalate

Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio. (Wikipedia)
  • Holding a megaphone and wearing a kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, Petro called on US soldiers to “disobey” President Donald Trump’s orders, adding that they should “not point their rifles against humanity”

BOGOTA, Colombia: Colombia’s foreign minister has “renounced” her US visa to protest a decision by the US State Department to revoke the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, the Colombian government said Monday.
The decision by Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio comes as tensions between both nations escalate over issues that include drug policy, the war in Gaza and a US naval build up in neighboring Venezuela.
Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry did not respond to questions about what kind of visa Villavicencio held, but said in a statement that it was not interested in “diplomatic visas that limit opinions” or curtail the nation’s “sovereignty.”
Later on Monday, Colombian Finance Minister Germán Ávila wrote in an X message that he would stop using his visa in “solidarity” with Petro, and because of the “aggression” he was subjected to by the United States. “To work for our people, we do not need visas” Ávila wrote.
The US State Department revoked Petro’s visa Friday after he participated in a protest in New York against the war in Gaza, in which Petro called for the creation of an international army to liberate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Holding a megaphone and wearing a kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, Petro called on US soldiers to “disobey” President Donald Trump’s orders, adding that they should “not point their rifles against humanity.”
Hours after the protest, the State Department said on social media that it would cancel Petro’s visa “due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
Petro was back in Colombia when the visa announcement was made, after having spent several days in New York attending the UN General Assembly. He wrote on X that he “didn’t care” about the punishment because he is also an Italian citizen, and could possibly travel to the USwithout a visa.
The revocation of Petro’s visa marks a new low in the leftist leader’s relations with the Trump administration, which earlier this month placed Colombia on a list of countries that it says are not fulfilling their international commitments to curb drug trafficking.
Geoff Ramsey, a Colombia analyst at the Atlantic Council, said the foreign minister’s decision to ban herself from visiting the United States places more obstacles in the relationship. He said it also reflects an effort by the Petro administration to distance itself from the US government, as Colombia heads into congressional and presidential elections next year.
“Petro is not even remotely interested in repairing the relationship with Washington,” Ramsey said. “He’s clearly betting that confrontation with Trump will score points for his coalition in the upcoming election cycle, and is willing to torch the bilateral relationship with the United States in the process.”
David Hart, an immigration attorney based in Miami, said it is very rare for non-immigrant visa holders — such as those with tourist or diplomatic visas — to renounce their travel permit.
He said that people who do not want to travel to the US can simply let their visas expire and then choose to not renew them.
“They are doing this for the media and to show solidarity” with Petro, Hart said of the foreign minister’s efforts to renounce her visa.
Wilfredo Allen, an immigration attorney from Miami, said that there is no formal procedure for quitting on a non-immigrant visa. He added that Colombia’s foreign affairs minister will likely have to send a letter to the US Embassy seeking the cancelation of her travel permit.
“If you don’t want to travel to the US you can simply choose not to come,” Allen said. “I had never seen someone take the time to renounce a non-immigrant visa.”

 


Serbia arrests 11 for placing pig heads outside mosques in France

Serbia arrests 11 for placing pig heads outside mosques in France
Updated 42 min 56 sec ago

Serbia arrests 11 for placing pig heads outside mosques in France

Serbia arrests 11 for placing pig heads outside mosques in France
  • The suspects were trained in Serbia and are all Serbian, the interior ministry said
  • A police investigation in France, which has Europe’s largest population of Muslims, for whom eating pork is forbidden, found that the pig heads had been placed there by foreign nationals who immediately left the country

BELGRADE: Serbian police have arrested 11 people suspected of placing pig heads outside mosques and targeting Jewish sites in and around Paris this month on the orders of a foreign intelligence service, the interior ministry said in a statement on Monday.
As well as placing the pig heads outside at least nine mosques, those arrested are suspected of throwing green paint on the Holocaust Museum, several synagogues and a Jewish restaurant, all in Paris, and putting concrete “skeletons” in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The suspects were trained in Serbia and are all Serbian, the interior ministry said.
Another suspect, identified in the statement by the initials M.G., is suspected of training them “on the instructions of a foreign intelligence service” and is on the run, it said.
“Their goal was also to spread ideas that advocate and incite hatred, discrimination and violence based on differences in the aforementioned personal characteristics of certain groups of people,” the statement said.
It did not say which foreign intelligence service it suspected of ordering the training, or the nationality of the fugitive suspect.
A police investigation in France, which has Europe’s largest population of Muslims, for whom eating pork is forbidden, found that the pig heads had been placed there by foreign nationals who immediately left the country.
France has accused Russia of trying to sow discord in the past. Three Serbians accused of links to a “foreign power” were arrested after synagogues and a Holocaust memorial were defaced with green paint in May.
Serbia, which aims to join the EU, has close relations with Russia and is the only European country that has not introduced sanctions on Moscow.
All crimes were committed from April to September 2025, the ministry statement said.
The suspects will be brought to the premises of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Smederevo for questioning within 48 hours. 

 


Trump administration seeks to make Harvard ineligible for federal funding

Trump administration seeks to make Harvard ineligible for federal funding
Updated 30 September 2025

Trump administration seeks to make Harvard ineligible for federal funding

Trump administration seeks to make Harvard ineligible for federal funding
  • HHS refers Harvard for potential federal funding ineligibility
  • Harvard accused of failing to address discrimination against Jewish students

BOSTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration expanded its campaign against Harvard University on Monday as the Department of Health and Human Services said it would start a process that could lead to the school becoming ineligible for federal funding. HHS’ Office for Civil Rights said it had referred Harvard to the office within the department responsible for administrative suspension and debarment proceedings, a move that opened the door to the Ivy League school being barred from entering into contracts with all government agencies or receiving federal funding.
Its announcement came after the Office for Civil Rights in July referred the school to the US Department of Justice to address allegations it failed to address discrimination and harassment against Jewish and Israeli students on its campus.
Paula Stannard, the director of the Office for Civil Rights, said her office had notified Harvard of its right to a formal administrative hearing, where an administrative law judge would determine whether it violated the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It has 20 days to seek a hearing. “OCR’s referral of Harvard for formal administrative proceedings reflects OCR’s commitment to safeguard both taxpayer investments and the broader public interest,” Stannard said in a statement.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard did not respond to requests for comment. The university has said it aims to combat discrimination.
Trump’s administration has launched a campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at Harvard and other universities, which the president says are gripped by antisemitic and “radical left” ideologies. Harvard has sued over some of those actions, leading a judge to rule earlier this month that the administration had unlawfully terminated more than $2 billion in research grants awarded to the school.
US District Judge Allison Burroughs in her ruling said that the Trump administration “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
The administration has been seeking a settlement with Harvard. Trump during a recent cabinet meeting said the university should pay “nothing less than $500 million” as it had “been very bad.” The administration says universities allowed displays of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories should not be characterized as antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights should not be equated with extremism.


Judge suspends Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs

Judge suspends Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs
Updated 30 September 2025

Judge suspends Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs

Judge suspends Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs

WASHINGTON: A federal judge agreed Monday to temporarily suspend the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of jobs at the agency that oversees Voice of America, the government-funded broadcaster founded to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II.
US District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ruled that the US Agency for Global Media cannot implement a reduction in force eliminating 532 jobs for full-time government employees on Tuesday. Those employees represent the vast majority of its remaining staff.
Kari Lake, the agency’s acting CEO, announced in late August that the job cuts would take effect Tuesday. But the judge’s ruling preserves the status quo at the agency until he rules on a plaintiffs’ underlying motion to block the reduction in force.
Lamberth previously ruled that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration must restore VOA programming to levels commensurate with its statutory mandate to “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news.” He also blocked Lake from removing Michael Abramowitz as VOA’s director.


YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump

YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump
Updated 30 September 2025

YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump

YouTube to pay $22 million in settlement with Trump
  • The settlement will go toward Trump’s latest construction project at the White House

NEW YORK: YouTube has agreed to pay $22 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump after it suspended his account over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, according to a court document released Monday.
The online video platform, a Google subsidiary, is the latest Big Tech firm to settle with Trump after he went to court in July 2021 over his suspension.
Major platforms removed Trump at the time due to concerns he would promote further violence with bogus claims that voter fraud caused his loss to former president Joe Biden in 2020.
The 79-year-old Republican took social media companies and YouTube to court, claiming he was wrongfully censored.
The settlement will go toward Trump’s latest construction project at the White House, through a nonprofit called Trust for the National Mall, which is “dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom,” per the filing.
Trump’s posting privileges were curbed after more than 140 police officers were injured in hours of clashes with pro-Trump rioters wielding flagpoles, baseball bats, hockey sticks and other makeshift weapons, along with Tasers and canisters of bear spray.
In February, Elon Musk’s X settled for about $10 million, in a lawsuit against the company and its former chief executive Jack Dorsey.
In January, days after Trump’s inauguration, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle the 79-year-old Republican’s complaint, with $22 million of the payment going toward funding Trump’s future presidential library.
Parent company Alphabet reported the online video platform’s ad sales alone accounted for more than $36 billion in revenue in 2024, per its 2025 annual report filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.