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Former US President Donald Trump said that after the assassination attempt he had completely rewritten his speech to the Republican National Convention, shifting the focus to a call for national unity.
"This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago," Trump told the Washington Examiner.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” Trump said. “Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches ... Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now,” the former president emphasized.
The motive and political affiliation of the shooter remain unknown, US President Joe Biden said following an assassination attempt at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
"Earlier today I spoke about an ongoing investigation. We do not know the motive of the shooter yet," Biden said in a Sunday address to the nation from the Oval Office. "We don't know his opinions or affiliations. We don't know whether he had help or support, or if he communicated with anyone else."
Trump shooting complicates matters for struggling Biden campaign
Two weeks after his shaky performance during a televised debate raised serious questions about his age and mental acuity, yesterday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump has complicated President Joe Biden’s plans to relaunch his campaign taking a harder line against his Republican opponent.
“The big issue is how to campaign against him or attack him,” said one Democratic Party strategist. “Can we even do that this week?”
Colombia professor faces firing after pro-Israel social media pile-on
A tenured professor at New York’s Columbia University faces firing after a pro-Israel online campaign criticizing comments the academic made on behalf of pro-Palestine demonstrators at the Ivy League school.
“There’s a very good chance that they will fire me,” said law professor Katherine Franke after being subjected to questioning she characterized as hostile as a part of Columbia’s investigation into the incident.
“It’s something that many of us were concerned about because so many of those Israeli students who then come to the Columbia campus are coming right out of their military service. And they’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus, and it’s something the university has not taken seriously in the past.”
⚠️ WARNING! GRAPHIC CONTENT
Israeli forces reportedly struck Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing 5 people including 3 children. Users on social media shared video of the aftermath.
Video from social media
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A Trump adviser shared a video of the motorcade that took the former president to the airport, from where he is expected to fly to the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin.
Trump himself, who was wounded in the ear as a result of the assassination attempt, is not seen in the footage.
The Republican National Committee will hold a four-day convention in Milwaukee on July 15-18, where party delegates are set to officialize Donald Trump’s status as the Republican nominee for the 2024 US presidential race.
The event has drawn additional attention after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, which took place on Saturday evening. The ex-president sustained a gun wound to his ear and was hospitalized. Trump became the second former US president and candidate to be shot.
In Milwaukee, two-meter fences have been erected around the perimeter of the event for the start of the convention, and Trump's staffers are preparing to be guarded by armed Secret Service agents. The assassination attempt is likely to be a major theme of the convention, which will be attended by up to 50,000 people. Trump is expected to be greeted as a heroic figure while appearing surrounded by guards, with his ear bandaged or behind armored glass.
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A rally demanding the release of 120 captives held by Hamas took place in Paris during the Olympic torch relay race, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
Protesters began chanting "Freedom Now!" as Hugo Marchand, a dancer at the Paris Opera House, prepared to carry the torch.
The Palestinian group Hamas is holding dozens of Israelis captured during its October 7 raid while it attempts to negotiate the release of some of the over 3,600 Palestinians held by Israel in administrative detention.
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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admits serious concerns about dollar collapse, according to Forbes
Janet Yellen has issued a warning that countries worldwide are gradually moving away from the US dollar, as the country's spiraling $34 trillion debt raises fears of a collapse. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are slowly eroding the dollar's dominance, adding to concerns. Bitcoin's price has surged over the last year, bolstered by growing confidence that former US President Donald Trump might retake the White House in November.
Yellen expressed concerns that US financial sanctions could diminish the global role of the dollar, particularly as Russia promotes the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Speaking to US lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen said, "We have very powerful sanctions that are available because of the important role of the dollar in international transactions. The more we use sanctions, the more countries look for ways to engage in financial transactions that don't involve the dollar."
A monument to the victims of the Volyn massacre was solemnly opened today in the Polish town of Domostava (Podkarpackie Voivodeship)
Representatives of government authorities did not participate in the event. The sculpture was commissioned by the Association of Polish Army Veterans in America.
The monument represents a huge eagle with a crown, on the wings of which are visible the names of the places where Ukrainians killed the Poles in 1943. A cross was carved in the central part of the monument, and inside the sculptor placed a child impaled on a pitchfork. The pitchfork, according to the author’s plan, symbolizes the Ukrainian trident.
The massacres of Poles in Volhynia, also known as the Volhynian slaughter, occurred during World War II between 1943 and 1944. Ukrainian nationalists targeted the Polish population in the region, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 40-60,000 Polish civilians. The violence was part of a broader campaign to ethnically cleanse Volhynia of its Polish residents, driven by nationalist ambitions for an independent Ukraine.
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Key statements from US President Joe Biden's address to the nation following Donald Trump's assassination attempt:
▪️FBI investigation into Trump’s assassination attempt is still in its early stages;
▪️Biden asks people not to make assumptions about the shooter's motives and affiliations;
▪️Biden says he ordered the Secret Service to review all security measure for the Republican Convention slated to start tomorrow;
▪️He directed an independent review of security at the rally where Trump was shot.
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The top political adviser to Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman emailed journalists last night, proposing the idea that Donald Trump might have staged the assassination attempt against him for political advantage, according to Semafor.
Dmitri Mehlhorn speculated that one "possibility -- which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally -- is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash."
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📹 More than 500 people were evacuated from Russian resorts near the village of Abrau-Dyurso in the Krasnodar Territory due to fires
The fire engulfed more than 30 hectares of forest in the area of the Utrish nature reserve. The Ministry of Emergency Situations brought in aviation to extinguish the fire.
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Amid Donald Trump's attempted murder, German businessman and activist Kim Dotcom criticized President Joe Biden and accused him of international terrorism on X.
"Biden is responsible for a million dead in his proxy war with Russia. In an act of international terrorism he blew up the NordStream pipeline. Biden imported millions of illegals to use them as voters. He wouldn’t hesitate to murder Trump or blow up the world in a nuclear war," he wrote.
🔥 A Russian Iskander crew destroyed a German-made IRIS-T air defense system in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
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Explosive devices found in the car of the suspected gunman in Donald Trump's assassination attempt, according to The Wall Street Journal
Authorities discovered explosive devices in the car of the man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump, according to sources briefed on the investigation.
The car, driven by Thomas Matthew Crooks, was parked near the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, the sources said.
Police received multiple reports of suspicious packages near the shooter's location, prompting them to dispatch bomb technicians. Investigators continued to secure the scene well into the night. They also searched Crooks’s home and spoke with his family.
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🤖 Teleprompter mishap: "former Trump"?
“Thankfully, former Trump is not seriously injured. I spoke with him last night,” Biden said sheepishly, appearing to be reading from text offscreen.
Time to calm down?
Biden calls for lowering “temperature” in US politics in his address to the nation.
"The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down," Biden said Sunday.
Trump makes his first public appearance since Saturday's assassination attempt in footage provided by his campaign's press office.
The former US president has arrived in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention that will announce him as his party's presidential nominee begins Monday.
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Rostraver Township in Pennsylvania is experiencing a boom in sales of merchandise with the symbols of former US President Donald Trump after the assassination attempt on the politician during his campaign rally in the state on Saturday, a local salesman told Sputnik.
"It’s unbelievable what has happened since the shooting," the salesman said on Sunday.
"You have to be a Trump supporter to be able to stay in 93 degree heat for hours to buy a hat," he added.
⚠️ WARNING! GRAPHIC CONTENT
The young child Bushra al-Kafarneh has died at Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital due to malnutrition, according to media reports.
Human rights organizations have warned of mass famine and starvation in the Palestinian enclave as Israeli authorities continue to limit the amount of food allowed to enter. A recent study in the British medical journal The Lancet estimated that as many as 186,000 Palestinians could die in the ongoing conflict, about 8 percent of the territory's pre-war population.
Video from social media
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"He almost gave his life for us," said an eyewitness to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The attendee of the rally where the shooting took place told Sputnik the event had been poorly organized and security had failed to respond to reports of an armed man.
"My question is why was that building not secured and why did nobody do anything when it was brought to their attention that there was somebody crawling on the roof with a gun, with a weapon. Nobody addressed it, nobody did anything. It is unbelievable. I have attended a lot of rallies. This was the most mismanaged and confused situation," she said.
"He almost gave his life for us. If this goes wrong, and if the evil wins, we are done," she said.
The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump acted alone but his motives are still unknown, a senior FBI official said.
"At this time, the information that we have indicates that the shooter acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns," the FBI official said during a conference call. "At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject. But I want to remind everyone that we're still very early in this investigation."
"We are investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking at the potential domestic terrorism act," the FBI official said.
Assassination attempt on Donald Trump: What is known so far:
▪️Trump's advisers reported that he feels fine after the attack;
▪️Security officials held a briefing for Joe Biden;
▪️Biden ordered a comprehensive review of security measures at Trump's rally in Pennsylvania;
▪️The media, citing sources, claim that the shooter’s connections with extremist organizations or a “major conspiracy” have not yet been found;
▪️The weapon the attacker used was legally purchased by his father;
▪️Suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks was a “quiet child” at school; he had few friends;
▪️The attacker was registered as a Republican according to Pennsylvania voter records;
▪️Materials for making explosives were found in the suspect's house and car;
▪️Local police officers and eyewitnesses noted suspicious behavior by the suspect before the start of the rally, the information was brought to the attention of the Secret Service;
▪️Participants of the rally in Pennsylvania were shocked by the actions of the security service, which allowed an assassination attempt. They claim a “violation of the security system”;
▪️The roof from which the suspect shot was inspected during preparation for the election event;
▪️One of the Republican members of the US House of Representatives accused the country's Secretary of Homeland Security of refusing to strengthen Trump's security;
▪️The US Secret Service itself rejected accusations that the request to strengthen Trump’s security was rejected;
▪️Trump campaign staff were instructed not to visit offices in Washington and West Palm Beach on Sunday due to a security check;
▪️The security plan for the Republican National Convention, which will be held from July 15 to 18, will be revised.
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▪️Responsibility for attempted killing of Trump could lie with top Democrats
▪️Was Trump ‘put in a bullseye’?
▪️Russian Spetsnaz veteran: 'Trump’s life was saved by a miracle, not by his security'
▪️US Secret Service were suspiciously slow in protecting Trump - US psyop veteran
▪️Trump’s life saved by shooter’s lack of professionalism and US Secret Service negligence
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US Secret Service displayed ‘negligence in planning or execution’ during Trump assassination attempt
The less-than-stellar performance of US Secret Service agents during the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was somewhat of a surprise, former military intelligence and CIA Operations Officer Philip Giraldi told Sputnik.
“For more than twenty years I have observed the work of the Secret Service on protection details close up in embassies and during visits of congressmen and other senior officials, which has been excellent,” Giraldi explains. “So this time I am surprised that they did not have a rooftop 200 meters away from the speaker's stand with a clear shot at it covered with someone stationed on it to close it off.”
Republican Congressman Mike Collins said the prosecutor in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where the assassination attempt on Donald Trump took place, “should immediately bring charges of incitement to murder against (US President Joe) Biden.”
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Was Trump ‘put in a bullseye’?
“The constant comparisons of [former] President Trump to Hitler and the repeated calls over the last several years for stabbing, killing, poisoning, decapitating or shooting [former] President Trump serve as dog whistles to provoke and incite violence and very well may have fueled this assassination attempt,” GOP House Representative Paul Gosar told Sputnik.
“Let me be perfectly clear: there is absolutely no place for this sort of incendiary rhetoric and calls for violence in politics today and everyone must condemn it,” the congressman stressed.
Internationalist march against fascism and colonialism takes place in Paris
Demonstrators chant: “From Paris to Gaza,” “Rise up, undocumented immigrants, we must act,” “We are all resisting in Gaza, we are all resisting in Kanaki,” “Resistance is a way of being.”
“What is happening in Gaza is unbearable. It's a bloodbath. This has been going on for several months now. Women and children die, 70% of the victims. These are people who are dying of hunger. Every person can only condemn this massacre,” one of the marchers told Sputnik.
Responsibility for attempted killing of Trump could lie with top Democrats
The overarching responsibility for the attempted assassination lies with the Democratic Party leadership and the Biden administration, according to Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for European and International Studies.
"The Democratic establishment… has been convincing American society over the last year and a half, at least, that Donald Trump's return to power would mean an end to American democracy and transformation of the United States into a fascist dictatorship, and that Donald Trump constitutes the major threat to the United States at large," Suslov told Sputnik.
"The deep state, the intelligence community, and the special services in the United States are, of course, not interested in Trump's presidential victory," he said.
"They consider a second Trump administration… as a threat to themselves. And since Biden is definitely losing, and since the Democratic Party is disorganized, and there is an internal struggle and chaos within the Democratic camp… Trump's electoral chances are very, very high and continue to grow," Suslov concluded.
World powers condemn assassination attempt against Donald Trump
The attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s life during a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania evoked a wave of condemnation from world leaders.
▪️US President Joe Biden said there is no place in the US for this kind of violence and that he is “grateful” that Trump is safe;
▪️Following numerous attempts to eliminate Trump from “political arena,” it was “obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov who stated that Russia condemns “any manifestations of violence during the political struggle.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also remarked that the money US allocates to arm Ukraine should probably be spent “to finance the American police and other services which should ensure law and order within the United States”;
▪️China’s President Xi Jinping has expressed his sympathies to Trump, with Beijing voicing its concerns over the shooting;
▪️NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the attack on Trump, saying that he is “shocked” by the shooting. “I wish him a speedy recovery and my thoughts are with those affected,” he said;
▪️EC head Ursula von der Leyen said she is shocked by the shooting and wished Trump a speedy recovery;
▪️Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote in a social media post on X that his “thoughts and prayers” are with Trump “in these dark hours;”
▪️Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu stated on X that he "was shocked by the apparent attack" on Trump, and "prays for his safety and speedy recovery."
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