USA (REUTERS) – US Presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will not debate Kamala Harris again before November’s election, calling the Vice President a liar and lashing out against ABC’s debate moderators.
“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” the former president wrote on social media site Truth Social. Trump had participated in a debate against President Joe Biden in June before his debate against Harris on Tuesday.
Harris, speaking at a rally shortly after Trump’s post went live, said: “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate.”
While Trump said in his post that polls showed he won the debate, several surveys showed that respondents thought Harris did better.
Among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday’s debate, 53% said Harris won and 24% said Trump won, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.
The poll showed that 54% of registered voters believed that the single debate between Trump and Harris was enough, while 46% had wanted a second debate.
Caracas, Venezuela (DT/REUTERS) — Venezuela has detained three United States citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech national over an alleged plot to destabilise the South American nation, a senior government official said.
Venezuelan Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday that the six were held on suspicion of planning an attack against President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said “a U.S. military member” had been detained in Venezuela and that it was aware of unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens being detained there, but rejected a Venezuelan claim of U.S. involvement in any plot to overthrow the government.
Spanish media reported that Spain’s government denied this claim.
The arrests come as tensions have skyrocketed in recent weeks between Venezuela and the US, Spain and other Western nations over a disputed Venezuelan election held in late July.
Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, was declared the winner of the vote, but the country’s opposition has said the contest was marred by fraud and that its candidate had defeated the longtime president.
The election results spurred massive opposition protests, leaving more than two dozen people dead and nearly 200 injured.
Cabello also accused three U.S. citizens and a Czech national of involvement in terrorist activities, including alleged plans to assassinate President Maduro and other officials. “These groups aim to seize the country’s wealth, and we will respond decisively to any attempts at destabilization,” Cabello said. He also mentioned that approximately 400 rifles, traced back to the United States, had been seized.
In response, the State Department stated that the U.S. was not involved in any efforts to remove Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
“The Spanish embassy has sent a verbal note to the Venezuelan government asking for access to the detained citizens in order to verify their identities and their nationality and in order to know what they are accused of exactly,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Spanish nationals were detained while taking photographs in the town of Puerto Ayacucho, Cabello said. “These citizens have links – we know they will say no, that it is a lie – they have links with the center,” Cabello said, referring to Spain’s intelligence arm.
“Spain will decide what to do, if it is going to keep meddling in Venezuela’s affairs.” Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Spain this week for consultations and summoned the Spanish ambassador to appear at the foreign ministry after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship,” escalating diplomatic tensions following a disputed presidential election.
Venezuela was also angered by the decision of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to meet with Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain last week after being threatened with arrest by Maduro’s regime. Caracas also has had fresh tensions with the United States, which recognized opposition candidate Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 election.
Tokyo, Japan (DT/KYODO) – One in four married adults under 40 in Japan found their partners through dating apps, making it the most common way couples meet, a recent government survey showed.
The study was conducted in July as part of the Japanese government’s efforts to devise ways to help younger generations marry and have children, as the rise of the unmarried has become a key reason behind the country’s declining birthrate.
The Children and Families Agency said it plans to step up cooperation with the private sector in promoting dating apps that adhere to safety guidelines and in publicizing their proper usage.
In an online questionnaire of 20,000 men and women aged 15 to 39 nationwide, 25.1 percent of respondents who married in the last five years said dating apps gave them the opportunity to meet the person they ended up marrying.
The Japanese government launched a dating app in July to boost the country’s birth rate. FILE PHOTO
Individuals who met their spouses through work or work-related activities accounted for 20.5 percent, while 9.9 percent met at school, 9.1 percent through friends or siblings, and 5.2 percent at parties or other social events.
The survey also showed that 56.8 percent of married people said they have experience using dating apps, compared to 26.8 percent of unmarried individuals.
An interim report compiled by a panel under the Children and Families Agency to discuss life planning for the younger generation noted that dating apps are especially popular among individuals in their 20s. The report highlighted that “Generation Z,” born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, values dating apps as a tool for prioritizing cost and time efficiency.
While dating apps offer the convenience of connecting at any time and bridging distances for those in remote areas, many people continue to express concerns about safety, the report said.
According to government data, the number of couples who married in 2023 fell below 500,000 for the first time in 90 years to 474,717, its lowest level since World War II.
Amman, Jordan (DT/AFP/ARABNEWS) – Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sunday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh’s government, ordering it to stay in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new cabinet, the Royal Hashemite Court said on Sunday.
The Jordanian King has appointed Jaafar Hassan as prime minister.
Hassan, a widely respected technocrat, was Jordan’s former planning minster. He recieved his education at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also the head of King Abdullah’s office.
He will replace veteran diplomat and former palace advisor Al-Khasawneh, who is considered the longest-serving prime minister during King Abdullah II’s reign.
Khasawneh submitted his resignation on Sunday to King Abdullah II after parliamentary elections saw some gains for the Islamist opposition.
The country’s leading Islamist party, the Islamic Action Front, came out top in Tuesday’s poll, winning 31 out of the 138 seats in parliament. The IAF is a political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, and the result gives the Islamists their largest representation since 1989.
The cabinet usually quits after a parliamentary election in line with a constitutional custom.
Khasawneh, 55, had headed the government since October 2020.
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan’s King Abdullah. (AFP)
Jordan’s parliament is bicameral. In addition to the elected parliament there is also a senate with 69 members appointed by the monarch.
In 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, becoming only the second Arab country to do so after Egypt.
Since the start of Israel’s conflict with Gaza in October 2023, Jordan has been navigating a delicate political balance. It has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel and even intervened in April when Iran retaliated by shooting down missiles that flew over Jordanian territory.
This position has sparked frustration among many Jordanians, particularly those descended from Palestinians displaced during the Nakba and the 1967 war.
The ongoing conflict has also impacted Jordan’s tourism industry, which contributes about 14 percent to the nation’s GDP. Additionally, Jordan relies significantly on foreign aid, particularly from the United States and the International Monetary Fund.
New Delhi, India (EFE) – Heavy monsoon rains have flooded parts of the gardens surrounding India’s iconic Taj Mahal, one of the “New Seven Wonders of the Modern World,” while causing a minor leak in the monument’s central marble dome, officials said on Saturday.
Videos shared on social media platforms, including X, show water covering portions of the lawns surrounding the Mughal-era funerary monument in Agra.
The Taj Mahal, built in the mid-17th century by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in honor of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, is India’s top tourist destination and one of the most photographed landmarks in the world.
In addition to the flooding, the monument’s central marble dome experienced a minor water leak due to the torrential rains, said Rajkumar Patel, Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Agra.
However, the head archaeologist and researchers downplayed the incident, assuring that no damage occurred to the structure. “We have inspected the main dome using a drone camera,” Patel told the Indian news agency PTI.
The Taj Mahal, located on the banks of the Yamuna River, welcomes millions of foreign and domestic tourists each year, including over 800,000 international visitors.
The monsoon, which brings heavy seasonal rains across South and Southeast Asia, typically ends in September. EFE
Cairo, Egypt (DT/ AP) — At least three people have died and 47 others were injured in a train collision in Sharqia Governorate in the Nile Delta on Saturday, according to Extra News.
The crash happened in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province, the country’s railway authority said in a statement. Egypt’s Health Ministry said the collision injured at least 40 others.
The fatalities include two children and a woman, as reported by the channel’s correspondent.
The Ministry of Health stated that 39 ambulances promptly arrived at the collision site in Zagazig city, transporting the injured to Al-Ahrar Zagazig Teaching Hospital and Zagazig University Hospital.
Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. In recent years, the government announced initiatives to improve its railways.
In 2018, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the North African country’s neglected rail network.
Video from the site of the crash showed a train car crumpled by the impact, surrounded by crowds. Men tried to lift the injured through the windows of a passenger car.
Last month, a train crashed into a truck crossing the train tracks in the Mediterranean province of Alexandria, killing two people.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (DT/AP) — A tanker truck carrying gasoline in Haiti on Saturday flipped and exploded, killing at least 15 people and seriously injuring 40 others, officials said.
Prime Minister Garry Conille provided the figures in an X post. Earlier, Radio Caraibes reported that 17 people had been killed.
Haiti’s hospitals are poorly equipped to treat victims of severe burns. The nation of 12 million people has also been struggling with fuel shortages, as fighting between gangs makes it more difficult to import goods into the country.
Saturday’s explosion happened in Miragoane, a city of 60,000 people that was hit by a strong earthquake three years ago.
In 2021, 75 people were killed in Haiti’s second largest city Cap Haitien, when another fuel truck overturned and unleashed a fireball that swept through several homes and businesses that were built closely next to each other. Some of those killed were onlookers who had rushed to the truck to try and scoop up fuel.
Sao Paulo, Brazil (DT/AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday seized about $3 million from bank accounts belonging to social media platform X and satellite-based internet service provider Starlink, both companies controlled by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The move by Justice Alexandre de Moraes was aimed at collecting funds that are equivalent to the amount that X owes to the country in fines. The bank accounts of the two companies have since been unfrozen.
Legal analysts have questioned de Moraes’ prior decision to freeze Starlink’s bank account to pay for cases related to X. While Musk owns both X and SpaceX, which operates Starlink, the two companies are separate entities.
Brazil’s Supreme Court said Friday in a statement that de Moraes ruled to transfer more than 7.2 million Brazilian reais ($1.3 million) from an X bank account and almost 11 million Brazilian reais ($2 million) from a Starlink account.
De Moraes made the decision on Wednesday, Brazil’s Supreme Court said. His ruling on the case is yet to be made public.
Brazil’s Supreme Court also said that the banks that hold accounts of the two companies were informed on Thursday they had complied with the decision.
“After the payment of the full amount that was owed, the justice (de Moraes) considered there was no need to keep the bank accounts frozen and ordered the immediate unfreezing of bank accounts/financial assets,” the Brazilian Supreme Court said.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The social media platform has been under fire in Brazil since it refused to remove content flagged as illegal by the Supreme Court justice.
De Moraes is the same justice who suspended X in Brazil due to Musk’s decision to not have a legal representative for the company in the South American nation, which is against the law.
The company has claimed that de Moraes wants an in-country representative so that local authorities can exert leverage by having someone to arrest.
Many legal analysts, including some who have supported de Moraes’ rulings related to X, disagree with charging Starlink for X’s fines.
“Starlink is a different company. Belonging to the same economic group doesn’t mean it is also responsible for a debt it did not take part of. It didn’t even have a chance to defend itself,” Lênio Streck, a renowned Brazilian jurist, said in his social media channels. “What could Starlink have done to avoid what other company did?”
Luís Henrique Machado, a law professor at the IDP university in the capital, Brasilia, said de Moraes’ decision is consistent.
“The social media company was sanctioned for not removing content after an order of the Supreme Court amid ongoing investigations. It is totally understandable that the judge requests that the fines be paid,” Machado said. “The ruling is legitimate in imposing the transfer of the amounts in compulsorily fashion.”
Since last year, X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to block some users, mostly far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. Musk has called the Brazilian justice a dictator and an autocrat due to his rulings affecting his companies in Brazil.
On. Aug. 31, Musk’s social media platform was banned nationwide and de Moraes set a $9,000 daily fine for anyone using a virtual private network (VPN) to skirt the suspension. Brazil’s X users mostly started washing up on Threads and Bluesky.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flooded Sao Paulo’s main boulevard for an Independence Day rally, buoyed by de Moraes’ decisions on X, a ban they say is proof of their political persecution.
X had 22 million users in Brazil, according to estimates in the Digital 2024: Brazil report, just one-sixth the number on Instagram, and about one-fifth of Facebook or TikTok.
Since January 2022, when Starlink began operations in Brazil, it has captured a 0.5 percent share of the internet market, according to Brazil’s telecommunications agency Anatel.
SPORTS (SR) – If history is written by the winners, WWE Superstars are no exception. While wins and losses are not always a meaningful statistic in pro wrestling, it’s still interesting to look at who has had more victories in the long history of the company. Considering the impressive array of Superstars who have wrestled for WWE over the decades, nobody in the competition has less than one thousand wins and they have a multitude of championships and accolades among them.
The criteria is simple. Counting all wins on weekly television, PLEs and (perhaps most significantly) house shows, these are the superstars with the most amount of wins across their time in WWE. This includes pinfalls, submissions, count-outs, disqualifications, and any other means necessary.
1O. Hulk Hogan1,015 Wins
Considering most children of the 80s thought it borderline impossible for Hulk Hogan to ever lose a match, his inclusion on this list feels rudimentary. The enormity of the landscape of professional wrestling owes a life-long debt to Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania’s red-and-yellow, “say your prayers and eat your vitamins” motif. Landmark moments of his classic run involve slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3, WrestleMania 6’s generation-defining Main Event with The Ultimate Warrior and crushing the dreams of every heel worker in the WWE.
9. Tito Santana1,071 Wins
It is amazing to consider that someone could be on this list without ever winning the WWE’s main heavyweight title, but Tito Santana is that very guy. Remaining a babyface for the entirety of his career, Tito would enjoy his hottest run in the 1980s, becoming a 2-time Intercontinental Champion and winning the 1989 King Of The Ring.
Among the litany of cool things on Santana’s resume, he has a particular love affair with the Intercontinental Championship. He was the champion when Macho Man Randy Savage overthrew him to win his only IC title, he was the first Mexican-American to ever hold the belt AND he was the first man to hold what is commonly regarded as the “classic” Intercontinental Title belt
8. Kofi Kingston1,307 wins
One of the most well-loved superstars of the 21st Century, Kofi Kingston is a workhorse capable of shining in any situation. Part of one of the greatest factions of all time, The New Day, and with one of the very few genuine WrestleMania moments in the last decade of Vince McMahon’s creative control, who doesn’t have love for Kofi Kington? A Grand Slam champion and, tragically, the only wrestler of black origin on this list.
Kofi Kingston became the first African-born WWE Champion after defeating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35.
7. The Big Show1,223 Wins
Over a whopping 22 years, Paul ‘The Big Show’ Wight wrote himself into the history books with an incredible 1,228 wins. One of the underrated key acquisitions in WWE winning the Monday Night Wars from their rivals in WCW, The Big Show was always one of the most reliable performers across singles and tag competitions, enjoying numerous title reigns and legendary tag-teams with Kane, The Undertaker, The Miz and Chris Jericho.
Despite his size, The Big Show is only the joint-fifth tallest wrestler to ever compete in WWE.
6. Shawn Michaels1,250 Wins
The Show Stopper and a genuine icon of WWE. One of the leading WWE superstars who stayed loyal to WWE in the face of WCW contract offers in the mid-90s, Shawn Michaels’ illustrious career is one of romantic redemption. Earning the nickname Mr WrestleMania through his legendary performances at The Show Of Shows, and being pretty much unanimously great across each of his many in-ring eras, Shawn Michaels is one of the most influential superstars to ever do it.
Better still is getting to enjoy his current job, shaping the future of WWE, as the creative mastermind behind the NXT brand.
5.Randy Orton1,276 Wins
He hears voices in his head, they come to him and he wins the match. The third-generation superstar has wrestling in his blood, and his popularity endures to this day due to his incredible ring-work and continued relevancy. Still providing intrigue within his long-standing rivalries and excitement for future ones with new blood, that isn’t something that’s changing anytime soon.
Incredibly, Randal Keith Orton is still only 44 years old, meaning that there is plenty of gas in the tank and are many more RKOs in opponents futures. The time he has left in his career also means that The Apex Predator is the wrestler likeliest to add the most wins to his total in the coming years.
4.Kane1,490 wins
Hard to imagine that the man who entered the WWE as sinister dentist Isaac Yankem would be on this list, but that’s what happened when Glenn Jacobs’s Kane was released into the wild. In ownership of one of the greatest debuts in the history of pro wrestling, The Big Red Machine’s storytelling with the likes of X-Pac and John Cena, his comedic work as part of Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan and his career-defining arcs with The Undertaker are the stuff of legend.
3.Bret Hart1,512 Wins
A man at least in the conversation to be the single most talented in-ring performer ever to lace up a pair of boots, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart has a legacy that seems to still be growing by the year. Current superstars like Seth Rollins and CM Punk have raved over his years of elite ring psychology, technical innovation, and unquestionable credibility. Pick any match at random and it’s easy to see why.
He was a Grand Slam champion and a man whose career is so bulletproof that years of semi-slander on his name had no impact whatsoever. He has had matches among the best to ever happen in a WWE ring including making ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin a made man at WrestleMania, and all-time classic SummerSlam matches with his brother Owen, the British Bulldog and The Undertaker. Along with Shawn Michaels, Bret is responsible for changing what is possible for wrestlers of their size and smaller.
2.The Undertaker1,726 Wins
The man from Death Valley may have amassed over 1,750 victories over the years but the most significant of them are the 25 wins that took place at WrestleMania. The Streak was one of wrestling’s greatest achievements as The Phenom went 21-0 before losing to Brock Lesnar in one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history at WrestleMania 30. Even after The Streak was broken, the man born as Mark Calloway would put on a classic with one of the most unique WrestleMania Main Events ever with AJ Styles.
Even years on from his eventual retirement, the WWE landscape feels a little less magical without the presence of The Undertaker. The Deadman is the best character wrestler in the history of WWE or any other promotion. With wins racked up through his Mortician era, The Lord Of Darkness, Big Evil, The American Bad Ass, The Brothers Of Destruction, The Ministry of Darkness, The Gunslinger and wearing purple gloves, The Undertaker’s legacy as one of the great’s is set in stone.
1. John Cena1,774 Wins
Could it really be anybody else? The longest run by any superstar at the top of the WWE mountain, and built with a work rate that could flatten a field full of triathlon athletes, John Cena’s decade-plus period of being the face of the company is backed up by the most number of wins in WWE history. Big Match John has spent much of his career being a winning machine, his popularity and likability being matched by his ability to raise the stature of any opponent.
While John Cena has received his fair share of criticism for, among other things, winning way too often, in retrospective the legacy built by this man is undeniable. In 2025, as part of a year-long retirement tour, John Cena will attempt to win the most amount of WWE Heavyweight Championships in history to couple with this incredible milestone. It would take a brave man to bet against him achieving that.
Los Angeles, USA (AP) — If it seems like the Emmys just happened, you’re not wrong.
The 76th Emmy Awards are Sunday, roughly nine months after the last celebration of the best television. Last year’s Hollywood strikes delayed the show’s 75th edition until January, when “Succession” and “The Bear” dominated the show.
“The Bear” will factor heavily in this weekend’s show, but January’s “Succession” celebration was for its final season, clearing the way for a new drama series winner.
Enter “Shogun.” The FX series about feudal Japan enters the show with 14 wins thanks to the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony last weekend. That makes it the record-holder for most wins for a single season, and it will likely extend that lead.
Here’s what you need to know about Sunday’s Emmys, including how to watch and stream the red carpet and show, and who’s nominated.
What time do the Emmys start?
The show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and is being shown live on ABC, which is available with an antenna or through cable and satellite providers.
What if I want to stream the Emmys?
The Emmys can be streamed live through live TV streaming services that include ABC in their lineup, like Hulu+ Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV. For those without the service, the show will be streaming Monday on Hulu.
So who’s already won an Emmy?
Lots of folks from “Shogun,” including actor Néstor Carbonell. Maya Rudolph also won a trophy for her work on “Big Mouth,” and Jamie Lee Curtis claimed her first Emmy for her guest appearance on “The Bear.”
The Creative Arts Emmys honor many of the craft workers who make shows work, leaving the top prizes for Sunday’s ceremony, which will be hosted by actors Eugene and Dan Levy.
If I’m not in the U.S., how can I watch the Emmys?
“Live from E!” will begin airing its red carpet coverage at 6 p.m. Eastern on the cable network E!. Laverne Cox, the first transgender person to receive an Emmy nomination, will host the coverage along with comedian Heather McMahan and E! News’ Keltie Knight.
People magazine and Entertainment Weekly will also host a live red carpet show on their websites and YouTube, also starting at 6 p.m.
Who’s nominated for the Emmys?
“Shogun” is the leading nominee with 25, while “The Bear” has 23, including best comedy series and best actor in a comedy series for Jeremy Allen White — both awards it won at January’s strike-delayed ceremony. Ayo Edebiri, who won best supporting actress in January, is nominated in the best comedy actress field this time.
“The Crown” with 19 nominations and “Hacks” with 16 each return to the Emmys after their own years off. Elizabeth Debicki is nominated for best supporting actress in a drama for playing Princess Diana, while Imelda Staunton is nominated for playing Queen Elizabeth II.
Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster is a good bet to win her first Emmy as best actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie for her role in “True Detective: Night Country.”
Reigning best supporting actor Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. could also become a first-time Emmy winner. He’s up for best supporting actor in the limited series category for playing five different roles in “The Sympathizer.”
