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I’ll Unite US To Defeat Trump, His Extreme Agenda, Says Kamala Harris

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Kamala Harris, US vice-president, says she is honoured to be endorsed as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race, saying his decision not to seek reelection is in the best interest of the Democratic Party and the country.

Biden subsequently endorsed Harris, adding that he had offered his full support to the vice president as a nominee of the party in the November 5 presidential election.

In a statement, Harris said she would “earn and win” the nomination, adding that she would work hard to unite the party and country to defeat Trump, according to the London Evening Standard.

“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office,” the statement reads.

“It is a profound honour to serve as his Vice President, and I am deeply grateful to the President, Dr Biden, and the entire Biden family.

“I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau. We were friends from our days working together as Attorneys General of our home states.

“As we worked together, Beau would tell me stories about his Dad. The kind of father and the kind of man he was. And the qualities Beau revered in his father are the same qualities, the same values, I have seen every single day in Joe’s leadership as President: His honesty and integrity. His big heart and commitment to his faith and his family. And his love of our country and the American people.

“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have travelled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead.

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party and unite our nation to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.

“We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”

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Education: Denmark permitting use of AI for English exams from 2026

We are launching pilot schemes to try to find the right balance,” Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in a statement, emphasising the need to encourage digital learning while upholding teaching standards.

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The Danish education ministry announced on Friday students in some high schools in Denmark will be allowed to use artificial intelligence to write English language exams from next year.

The move comes as education authorities around the world debate whether AI is a useful learning tool for those entering an increasingly digital economy, or a slippery slope to producing dumbed-down graduates.

The Danish government said the permitted use of AI in the English curriculum from 2026 would be experimental, and apply only to the oral component of the English exam for the high school diploma.

In that test, once a student is handed their topic, they would have one hour to prepare, during which they would be “permitted to use all available tools, including generative AI”, the ministry said.

The students would then have to give their oral presentation in person in front of an examiner.

“We are launching pilot schemes to try to find the right balance,” Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in a statement, emphasising the need to encourage digital learning while upholding teaching standards.

“With students growing up in both analogue and digital worlds, we need to ready them in the best way possible for the reality they will encounter after their schooling.

”When it comes to the written part of the English test, the ministry said students would have to do part of it handwritten to ensure no reliance on computers.

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Trump pledges to maintain federal forces in Washington amid mounting criticism.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday visited police and troops he has deployed in the US capital in what he calls a crackdown on crime, saying they were going to “stay here for a while.”

Trump ordered hundreds of members of the Guard, a reserve force, to deploy in Washington last week vowing to “take our capital back,” despite protests by some residents and statistics showing violent offenses falling.

“We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going to then go on to other places, but we’re going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect,” he said outside a US Park Police facility in Washington.

The 79-year-old Republican was surrounded by law enforcement from various local and federal agencies as well as National Guard troops.

Earlier Thursday he suggested he would go on patrol with police and the military, but instead he made a short speech and gave out pizzas and hamburgers.

“Everybody feels safe,” Trump said, adding that he plans to get the capital “fixed up physically.”

“One of the things we’re going to be redoing is your parks. I’m very good at grass, because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being,” he added.

Trump wrote on social media early Friday that “there were no murders this week for the first time in memory” in Washington.

He said Mayor Muriel Bowser “must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City!”

Bowser has said that violent crime in the capital has been its lowest level in three decades.

Trump’s visit came a day after his vice president, JD Vance, was greeted by boos and shouts of “Free DC” — referring to Washington’s formal name, the District of Columbia — on his own meet-and-greet with troops.

Vance dismissed the hecklers as “a bunch of crazy protesters.”

The DC National Guard has mobilized 800 troops, while Republican states Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are sending a total of around 1,200.

They have been spotted in tourist areas such as the National Mall and its monuments, the Nationals Park baseball stadium and others.

The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.

But data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge.

Some residents have welcomed the crackdown, pointing to crime in their areas — but others have complained the show of force is unnecessary, or has not been seen in parts of Washington where violence is concentrated.

– Sandwich guy –

Several incidents involving the surge of law enforcement have gone viral as residents voice their discontent, including the arrest of one man who was caught on camera throwing a sandwich at an agent.

Banksy-style posters honoring the so-called “sandwich guy” have popped up around the city.

The National Guard troops have provided “critical support such as crowd management, presence patrols and perimeter control in support of law enforcement,” according to social media statements.

In addition to sending troops into the streets, Trump has also sought to take full control of the Washington police department, attempting at one point to sideline its leadership.

The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was sparked by immigration enforcement raids

AFP

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Russia Hands Over Bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers

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Russia on Tuesday returned the bodies of what it said were 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, five of whom died while in captivity, a Ukrainian government agency said.

Ukraine returned the bodies of 19 Russian soldiers in exchange, a Russian official said.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.

The exchange of prisoners of war and repatriation of war dead has been one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since the war began.

The two sides have intensified these efforts in recent months during talks in Istanbul.

“According to the Russian side, 1,000 bodies belonging to Ukrainian military personnel have been returned to Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on Telegram.

“Unfortunately, among those repatriated are the bodies of five Ukrainian servicemen who died in captivity,” it added.

It said law enforcement would begin the process of identifying the soldiers.

The exchange was carried out by agreements reached between the two sides in Istanbul, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said.

Kyiv initially said the two had agreed to “exchange” the bodies of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers for as many Russians, though Moscow has always presented the deal as a unilateral decision to repatriate Ukrainians.

AFP

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