Bill Clinton returns to DNC to tear into Trump before the introduction of Tim Walz, Harris’ VP pick

Bill Clinton returns to DNC to tear into Trump before the introduction of Tim Walz, Harris’ VP pick
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Former US President Bill Clinton takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 22 August 2024
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Bill Clinton returns to DNC to tear into Trump before the introduction of Tim Walz, Harris’ VP pick

Bill Clinton returns to DNC to tear into Trump before the introduction of Tim Walz, Harris’ VP pick
  • The 42nd president of the US faulted Trump for talking and thinking only of himself, in addition to spewing a lot of falsehoods
  • Democrats are hoping to build on the momentum that VP Kamala Harris has brought since taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket last month

CHICAGO: Former President Bill Clinton returned to the Democratic National Convention stage to denounce Donald Trump as selfish and praise Kamala Harris as focused on the needs of Americans, giving another of his emblematic, off-the-cuff addresses.

Clinton said November’s election would be “‘We The People’ versus ‘Me, Myself and I,’” firing up Wednesday’s third night of the DNC before vice presidential nominee Tim Walz got the chance to introduce himself to a national audience.

Democrats are hoping to build on the momentum that Vice President Kamala Harris has brought since taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket last month. They want to harness the exuberance that has swept over their party since President Joe Biden stepped aside while also making clear to their supporters that they face a fierce battle with Republicans and former President Donald Trump.

Clinton, the nation’s 42nd president and a veteran of his party’s political convention going back decades, was once declared the “secretary of explaining stuff” by Barack Obama, whose reelection bid in 2012 was bolstered by a Clinton stemwinder at that year’s DNC. Now 78 — the same age as Trump — Clinton’s delivery was sometimes halting and his movements slower, but he delivered homespun lines about the election and urged Democrats to back Harris.

“What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself,” Clinton said. “So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I’s.”




Former US President Bill Clinton takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (REUTERS)

Clinton also said he was glad to have “a coach on our team,” warming up for Walz, the Minnesota governor who has become known among supporters as a folksy, Midwestern teacher, football coach and dad. He’s also been the target of Republican criticism over how he’s portrayed his National Guard service and his personal story.

Organizers dubbed the night “a fight for our freedoms,” with the programming focusing on abortion access and other rights that Democrats want to center in their campaign against Trump. Speaker after speaker argued that their party wants to defend freedoms — especially abortion access and voting rights — while Republicans want to take them away.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used a prop that has become a staple at the convention, an oversized book meant to represent the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a sweeping set of goals to shrink government and push it to the right, if Trump wins. Polis even ripped a page from the ceremonial volume and said he was going to keep it and show it to undecided voters.

The former president has distanced himself from Project 2025, but its key authors include his former top advisers. His running mate, JD Vance, wrote the foreword for the Heritage Foundation CEO’s new book.

The oversized Project 2025 book returned for an appearance with comedian Kenan Thompson, who joked of the prop’s heft, “You ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?”

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the story of a woman in her state, which enacted new abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, who was forced to carry to term a child with a fatal illness, only to watch the newborn die just hours after birth.

Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general and an openly gay woman, declared, “I got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the US Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.”

And Stevie Wonder implored the crowd, “We must choose courage over complacency” before performing “Higher Ground” as a troupe of dancers grooved nearby. Country music star Maren Morris sang her ballad “Better Than We Found It.”

Trump bashed the convention as a “charade” and noted the fact that he has been a frequent topic of conversation. He also singled out his predecessor, Barack Obama, for a highly critical convention speech Tuesday night, saying Obama had been “nasty.”

Also speaking Wednesday were Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Theyt appeared alongside videos of what organizers called “everyday Americans” describing how their freedoms hinge on the result of the upcoming election. Legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey was also making an appearance.

Democrats recognized the hostages still being held by Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed. Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin brought some in the arena to tears as they paid tribute to their son Hersh, who was abducted in the attack.

Freeing hostages “is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Jon Polin said, adding that “in a competition of pain there are no winners.”

The Israel-Hamas war has split the Democratic base, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating outside the United Center and several speakers this week acknowledging civilian deaths in the Israeli offensive in Gaza. More than 40,000 people have died in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

In another contrast with the GOP, Democrats argued that they are offering “real leadership” on the US-Mexico border, working toward policy solutions rather than simply demonizing immigrants and trying to use the issue as a political motivator for their base. That was part of a larger effort to defuse Trump’s effort to make cracking down on the border a centerpiece of his campaign.

Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, from the border city of El Paso, said, “Forget what you hear on the news, I’m from there” and added, “When it comes to the border, hear me when I say, you know nothing, Donald Trump.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, spoke about the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Thompson chaired a congressional committee that investigated the mob overrunning the Capitol, saying, “They wanted to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history.”

“Thank God they failed,” Thompson said.

Two high-profile governors, Wes Moore of Maryland and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, were speaking, as did a string of high-profile senators.

Democrats are trying to demonstrate that they have a large number of future potential contenders for the White House beyond Harris, and that includes others who have gotten huge cheers while appearing throughout the week at the convention, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Walz hasn’t been as high-profile. In fact, many Americans had never heard of the governor until Harris chose him to join her ticket. In his first weeks of campaigning, he’s charmed supporters with his background and helped to balance Harris’ coastal background as a cultural representative of Midwestern states whose voters she needs this fall.

But Walz also has faced scrutiny, including questions about embellishing his background. His wife this week clarified that she did not undergo in vitro fertilization, as Walz has repeatedly claimed, but used other fertility treatments. Republicans also have criticized Walz for a 2018 comment he made about carrying weapons in war. Though he served in the National Guard for 24 years, he did not deploy to a war zone.

Walz has been working on his speech to the convention for about a week and planned to use a teleprompter for a first time, which he practiced in preparation. He plans to talk about growing up in Nebraska, his National Guard service, his work as a teacher and coach and his time in Congress before he was elected governor two years ago.


Trump says he is disappointed in Putin

Trump says he is disappointed in Putin
Updated 3 sec ago
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Trump says he is disappointed in Putin

Trump says he is disappointed in Putin
  • US leader will also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday
  • The Kremlin earlier said Putin told Trump that Moscow will not ‘give up’ on its aims in Ukraine

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump told reporters early on Friday he is disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and does not think Putin will stop the war in Ukraine.

Trump also said he will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump said that a phone call Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“No, I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked if he had moved closer toward a deal to end Russia’s invasion, adding that he was “not happy” about the ongoing war.

The Kremlin earlier said Putin told Trump that Moscow will not “give up” on its aims in Ukraine.

The pair spoke as US-led peace talks on ending the more than three-year-old conflict in Ukraine have stalled and after Washington paused some weapons shipments to Kyiv.

The Kremlin said the call lasted almost an hour.

Trump has been frustrated with both Moscow and Kyiv as US efforts to end fighting have yielded no breakthrough.

“Our president said that Russia will achieve the aims it set, that is to say the elimination of the root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

“Russia will not give up on these aims.”

Moscow has long described its maximalist aims in Ukraine as getting rid of the “root causes” of the conflict, demanding that Kyiv give up its NATO ambitions.

Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of people and Russia now controls large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Even so, Putin told Trump that Moscow would continue to take part in negotiations.

“He also spoke of the readiness of the Russian side to continue the negotiation process,” Ushakov added.

“Vladimir Putin said that we are continuing to look for a political, negotiated solution to the conflict,” Ushakov said.

Moscow has for months refused to agree to a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine.

Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Putin of dragging out the process while pushing on with Russia’s advance in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said that Putin had also “stressed” to Trump that all conflicts in the Middle East should be solved “diplomatically,” after the US struck nuclear sites in Russia’s ally Iran.

Putin and Trump spoke as Kyiv said that Russian strikes on Thursday killed at least eight people in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visiting ally Denmark on Thursday.

A senior Ukrainian official said that Trump and Zelensky planned to speak to each other on Friday.

The US deciding to pause some weapons shipments has severely hampered Kyiv, which has been reliant on Western military support since Moscow launched its offensive in 2022.

Zelensky told EU allies in Denmark that doubts over US military aid reinforced the need for greater cooperation with Brussels and NATO.

He stressed again that Kyiv had always supported Trump’s “unconditional ceasefire.”

On Wednesday, Kyiv scrambled to clarify with the US what a White House announcement on pausing some weapons shipments meant.

“Continued American support for Ukraine, for our defense, for our people is in our common interest,” Zelensky had said on Wednesday.

Russia has consistently called for Western countries to stop sending weapons to Kyiv.


North Korean detained after crossing land border: Seoul military

North Korean detained after crossing land border: Seoul military
Updated 32 min 38 sec ago
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North Korean detained after crossing land border: Seoul military

North Korean detained after crossing land border: Seoul military
  • The Military Demarcation Line is the de facto border area separating the two Koreas
  • ‘Relevant authorities’ to investigate the detailed circumstances of the incident

SEOUL: A North Korean who crossed the heavily fortified land border into the South has been detained and taken into custody, Seoul’s military said Friday.

The North Korean, identified as a male civilian, managed to cross the Military Demarcation Line in the midwestern part of the Demilitarized Zone on Thursday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The MDL is the de facto border, which runs through the middle of the DMZ – the border area separating the two Koreas, which is one of the most heavily mined places on earth.

“The military identified the individual near the MDL, conducted tracking and surveillance,” the JCS said in a statement.

It then “successfully carried out a standard guiding operation to secure custody,” it added.

The operation took about 20 hours, according to Seoul, after the man was detected by a military surveillance device sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. Thursday (1800 to 1900 GMT).

The mission to safely guide him to the South involved a considerable number of South Korean troops, the JCS said, and took place in an area difficult to navigate due to dense vegetation and land mine risks.

The man stayed mostly still during the day, and South Korea’s military approached him at night.

He willingly followed the troops after they offered to guide him safely out of the DMZ, according to the JCS.

It said “relevant authorities” will investigate the detailed circumstances of the incident.

North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul’s intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South.

The incident comes after a North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the MDL in August last year.

Also last year, another North Korean defected to the South across the de facto border in the Yellow Sea, arriving on Gyodong island off the peninsula’s west coast near the border between the Koreas.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, with most going overland to neighboring China first, then entering a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.

Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare.

The number of successful escapes dropped significantly from 2020 after the North sealed its borders – purportedly with shoot-on-sight orders along the land frontier with China – to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

No unusual activities by the North Korean military have been detected, the JCS said Friday.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, has vowed a more dovish approach toward Pyongyang compared with his hawkish predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol.

“Politics and diplomacy must be handled without emotion and approached with reason and logic,” Lee said Thursday.

“Completely cutting off dialogue is really a foolish thing to do.”


Trump orders national park entry fees hike for foreign tourists

Trump orders national park entry fees hike for foreign tourists
Updated 59 min 13 sec ago
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Trump orders national park entry fees hike for foreign tourists

Trump orders national park entry fees hike for foreign tourists
  • US president: ‘The national parks will be about America First’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said national parks would hike entry fees for foreign tourists to “improve affordability” for Americans, as he launched the country’s year-long 250th birthday celebrations.

“For this anniversary, I’ve just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists while keeping prices low for Americans,” Trump told a cheering crowd at a rally in Iowa.

“The national parks will be about America First,” the Republican leader said, after issuing an executive order.

In it, Trump also instructed the interior and state departments to “encourage international tourism to America’s national parks.”

The order outlined that revenue raised was to be used to improve the infrastructure and “enhance enjoyment” of the country’s vast national park system.

It is a rare move by the climate skeptic president to promote the environment and green spaces.

In the executive order, Trump also revoked a 2017 directive by former president Barack Obama on “promoting diversity and inclusion in our national parks,” in his latest attack on DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives.

Some conservation groups have however voiced concerns about hundreds of National Park Service permanent staff members being laid off since Trump took office in January, ahead of peak tourist season in summer.


Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say

Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say
Updated 04 July 2025
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Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say

Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say
  • The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in California
  • Homeland Security said Chavez had overstayed a tourist visa that he entered the US with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024

LOS ANGELES: Famed Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been arrested for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, US federal officials said Thursday.

The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California. The Department of Homeland Security said officials determined Chavez should be arrested on June 27, a day before the fight. It was unclear why they waited to act for days after the high-profile event.

The boxer was riding a scooter when agents detained him

The 39-year-old boxer, according to his attorney Michael Goldstein, was picked up Wednesday by a large number of federal agents while he was riding a scooter in front of a home where he resides in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City near Hollywood.

“The current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.

Many people across Southern California are on edge as immigration arrests have ramped up, prompting protests and the federal deployment of National Guard troops and US Marines to downtown Los Angeles.

Goldstein did not know where Chavez was being detained as of Thursday morning, but said he and his client were due in court Monday in connection with prior gun possession charges.

Before his recent bout, Chavez fought once since 2021

Before his bout with Paul on Saturday, Chavez had fought just once since 2021, having fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career conducted in the shadow of his father, Julio César Chavez, one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame who won championships in several weight classes.

The son, who has battled drug addiction for much of his career, has been arrested repeatedly. In 2012, he was convicted of drunk driving in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail and in January 2024 he was arrested on gun charges. Police said he possessed two AR-style ghost rifles. He was later freed on a $50,000 bond and on condition he went to a residential drug treatment facility. The case is still pending, with Chavez reporting his progress regularly.

He split his time between both countries. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Chavez for overstaying a tourist visa that he entered the US with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The agency also said Chavez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent residency on April 2, 2024, based on his marriage to a US citizen, Frida Muñoz. She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

US officials said he is believed to be an affiliate of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel that is blamed for a significant portion of Mexico’s drug violence.

Federal officials called Chavez a public safety threat

US Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Chavez on Dec. 17, saying he “is an egregious public safety threat,” and yet he was allowed back into the country without a visa on Jan. 4 under the Biden administration, the agency said.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said that an arrest warrant against “Julio “C was issued in Mexico in March 2023 in an investigation of organized crime and arms trafficking allegations and that Mexico on Thursday initiated extradition proceedings.

A federal agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Associated Press that “Julio C” is Chavez. The agent declined to explain why Chavez was not arrested earlier in Mexico despite going back and forth between the two countries multiple times.

In Mexico, mixed feelings followed the arrest

In Mexico, word of US agents arresting a well-known athlete prompted mixed feelings.

Martín Sandoval Peñaloza, a newspaper seller in Mexico City, said he believes President Donald Trump wanted to make him an example.

“I think that the US government — in this case, Trump – is up to something,” he said, adding that it was “to attract media attention.”

Oscar Tienda, a Mexico City storekeeper, said he wasn’t surprised given the boxer’s troubles.

“I think it was predictable because he has had a lifetime of drug use,” he said.

Despite widely being criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport, Chavez still rose to its heights. He won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times. Chavez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.

Chavez claimed to be clean for the Paul fight. He looked in his best shape in years while preparing for the match.

Chavez said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ahead of his fight with Paul that he and his trainers were shaken by the immigration arrests.

“There are a lot of good people, and you’re giving the community an example of violence,” Chavez said. “After everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t want to be deported.”


MAGA faithful cheer Trump for pausing Ukraine weapons after bristling at Iran strikes

MAGA faithful cheer Trump for pausing Ukraine weapons after bristling at Iran strikes
Updated 04 July 2025
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MAGA faithful cheer Trump for pausing Ukraine weapons after bristling at Iran strikes

MAGA faithful cheer Trump for pausing Ukraine weapons after bristling at Iran strikes
  • With the Ukraine pause, Trump is sending the message to his MAGA backers that he is committed to following through on his campaign pledge to wind down American support for Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is getting praise from his most ardent supporters for withholding some weapons from Ukraine after they recently questioned the Republican leader’s commitment to keeping the US out of foreign conflicts.

This week’s announcement pausing deliveries of key air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other equipment to Ukraine comes just a few weeks after Trump ordered the US military to carry out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Bombing those sites in Iran had some hardcore supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement openly questioning whether Trump was betraying his vow to keep America out of “stupid wars” as he inserted the US military into Israel’s conflict with Tehran.

With the Ukraine pause, which affects a crucial resupply of Patriot missiles, Trump is sending the message to his most enthusiastic backers that he is committed to following through on his campaign pledge to wind down American support for Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia, a conflict he has repeatedly described as a costly boondoggle for US taxpayers.

“The choice was this: either prioritize equipping our own troops with a munition in short supply (and which was used to defend US troops last week) or provide them to a country where there are limited US interests,” Dan Caldwell, who was ousted as a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, posted on X.

Caldwell publicly worried before the Iran strikes that US involvement could incite a major war and ultimately cost American lives.

Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec, another ardent MAGA backer, warned as Trump weighed whether to carry out strikes on Iran last month that such a move “would disastrously split the Trump coalition.”

He was quick to cheer the news about pausing some weapons deliveries to Ukraine: “America FIRST,” Posobiec posted on X.

Both the White House and the Pentagon have justified the move as being consistent with Trump’s campaign pledge to limit US involvement in foreign wars.

“The president was elected on an America first platform to put America first,” Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said.

At the same time, the decision is stirring anxiety among those in the more hawkish wing of the Republican Party. Many are flummoxed by Trump’s halting the flow of US arms just as Russia accelerates its unrelenting assault on Ukraine.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who hails from a district that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024, wrote to Trump and the Pentagon on Wednesday expressing “serious concern” about the decision and requesting an emergency briefing.

“We can’t let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin prevail now. President Trump knows that too and it’s why he’s been advocating for peace,” Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, wrote on X. “Now is the time to show Putin we mean business. And that starts with ensuring Ukraine has the weapons Congress authorized to pressure Putin to the negotiating table.”

Trump spoke by phone with Putin on Thursday, the sixth call between the leaders since Trump’s return to office. The leaders discussed Iran, Ukraine and other issues but did not specifically address the suspension of some US weapons shipments to Ukraine, according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser.

Zelensky said in Denmark after meeting with major European Union backers that he hopes to talk to Trump in the coming days about the suspension.

The administration says it is part of global review of the US stockpile and is a necessary audit after sending nearly $70 billion in arms to Ukraine since Putin launched the war on Ukraine in February 2022.

The pause was coordinated by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby.

Colby, before taking his position, spoke publicly about the need to focus US strategy more on China, widely seen as the United States’ biggest economic and military competitor. At his Senate confirmation hearing in March, he said the US doesn’t have a “multi-war military.”

“This is the restrainers like Colby flexing their muscle and saying, ‘Hey, the Pacific is more important,’” said retired Navy Adm. Mark Montgomery, an analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Backers of a more restrained US foreign policy say the move is necessary, given an unsettled Middle East, rising challenges in Asia and the stress placed on the US defense industrial complex after more than three years of war in Ukraine.

“You’re really coming up to the point where continuing to provide aid to Ukraine is putting at risk the US ability to operate in future crises,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. “And you don’t know when those crises are going to happen.”

“So you have to be a little bit cautious,” she added.