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GOP Senate candidate says Trump/Vance rally in his swing state a sign to voters that ‘help is on the way’

GOP Senate candidate says Trump/Vance rally in his swing state a sign to voters that ‘help is on the way’

As Republicans aim to win back the Senate majority in this autumn’s elections, they’re eyeing Michigan, where longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow isn’t seeking re-election this year. The state is also a key presidential election battleground state that former President Trump narrowly carried in 2016 and President Biden won by a razor-thin margin four years later. Trump and his new running-mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are coming to Michigan on Saturday, to hold their first rally since Thursday’s conclusion of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE 2024 CAMPAIGN TRAIL “Michigan is going to be critically important,” former Rep. Mike Rogers, the front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview. Rogers, a one-time FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress, will be at the rally on Saturday. He argued that “all of the coalitions of the Democrats are falling apart. Why. Because they haven’t delivered.” And he said that having Trump back in Michigan – for the third time since April – gives him and other Republicans down-ballot a boost by telling voters that “help is on the way. We’ve got your back. Here are the policies that are going to make your lives better.” Trump’s stop in Grand Rapids is also his second in the southwestern Michigan city since April. But President Biden’s campaign, in a statement on the eve of the Trump-Vance rally, charged that the former president’s agenda “would hurt workers, raise costs on working families while giving handouts to billionaires, and destroy unions.” Rogers will face off in Michigan’s August 6 primary against a GOP Senate field that includes wealthy investor and entrepreneur Sandy Pensler, former Rep. Justin Amash, and physician Sherry O’Donnell. He enjoys the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. And in March, he landed the endorsement of Trump. “We’re doing exceptionally well in the primary,” said Rogers, who was interviewed in Milwaukee on Wednesday ahead of his speech at the convention that evening. He predicted that “we’re going to win the primary but we still need people to come out and get fired up.” The eventual Republican nominee will likely face off in November with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the clear front-runner for her party’s Senate nomination. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Reporter’s Notebook: ‘Do not stop filming’

Reporter’s Notebook: ‘Do not stop filming’

It wasn’t a shock, but a moment of déjà vu. A sequence of pops and cracks, a chilling moment of silence across the crowd of more than 15,000, and President Trump being rushed at by his security detail. Is this really happening? As a field producer with one of the five major broadcast networks, you are occasionally assigned as the “network pool” responsible to be the eyes and ears at a major event of interest, directing a small team with the goal of providing editorial independence to the press corps. Frankly, it’s a mundane job, a series of emails and messages of people coming and going and hoping that you are sent to a place with good internet. That was my role at Trump’s Butler rally on Saturday, July 13, and up until 6:11 p.m. it was uneventful. In that 30 seconds after hearing the first sequence of gunshots, screams and cheering, I didn’t know much, but I did know that whatever was going on was life-changing. I’ve covered conflicts and protests all over the world, from Jan. 6 to Ukraine to Israel. These assignments often put you in a place where you become out of control. I found that imagining myself in those situations and thinking about what I would do in that scenario cooled my nerves, planning your mindset ahead to stay in the moment.  SECRET SERVICE REVEALS WHEN TRUMP SHOOTER WENT FROM ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’ TO ‘THREAT’ Instinctually, that mindset flipped back in. As I was still trying to process what was happening, somehow I remembered the story of Shelly Fielman, the cameraman who filmed the Reagan assassination. I turned to my cameraman and without hesitation called out, “Keep your eyes on Trump! Do not stop filming under any circumstance.” We had to capture the moment, no matter what would happen. But it still wasn’t clear what exactly was happening. When the president was pulled from the ground and dragged away to his motorcade after punching his fist in the air, I realized I had to send some sort of wire report. At that moment, many of us couldn’t believe what we had just seen. All indications pointed to some kind of attack. But we didn’t actually know that. Though placed in a riser situated just 100 feet away from the stage, we didn’t see any gunmen, couldn’t see if Trump was injured and heard barely anything besides screaming from the audience. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR AGREES TO TESTIFY AT HOUSE HEARING ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Verify then report. Trust is built on accuracy. Analysis or guesses only cause more confusion. Your words are used to guide the editorial to the whole world. You represent the press corps, and the duty is to get it right. With virtually no internet, I called my boss and said the following: FROM POOL PRODUCER JAMES LEVINSON: Pool heard a series of loud explosions or loud bangs// USSS went and immediately covered President Trump//Pool heard residual bangs afterwards and crowd ducked for cover//Agents grabbed Trump, who was seen waving his fist in air, they left stage left to car and appear to have left the premises//Pool is efforting more information from campaign The work continued — hours of calls, follow-ups and confirmations before being rushed away by the Secret Service. REPUBLICANS WEIGH IN ON WHAT THEY HOPE AND EXPECT TO HEAR IN TRUMP’S RNC SPEECH: ‘THIS IS HIS MOMENT’ To date, that video has been viewed, analyzed and reposted in every corner of the internet. It tells a story on its own, but it’s important to remember that it is only one part of the puzzle of what actually happened that day. In the hours after the incident, the theories, motives and speculations dominated the conversation. In every conversation I’ve had about the assassination, the same three words come: “You witnessed history.” I think it’s also important to remember that for three families who came to the rally, that day will be remembered as one of the worst of their lives. I’m sure they wished it was just any ordinary day. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP I’ve learned in this job that history is often associated with tragedy. It’s a privilege to cover moments like this, and our duty is to make sure we can be as accurate as possible and treat our readers and viewers with respect. More information and rewrites and reviews will continue to come. I hope that my first draft of history met that moment.

Biden vows to stay in race as more Democrats ask him to drop out

Biden vows to stay in race as more Democrats ask him to drop out

United States President Joe Biden has promised to remain in the presidential race and beat his opponent despite growing calls from members of his Democratic Party asking him to withdraw. The 81-year-old, who is isolating at his beach house in Delaware since his COVID-19 diagnosis, took aim at his rival Donald Trump – who just wrapped up the Republican National Convention – in a series of posts online on Friday, and said he would return to campaigning next week. Trump’s “dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans. Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.” I’m stuck at home with COVID, so I had the distinct misfortune of watching Donald Trump’s speech to the RNC. What the hell was he talking about? — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 20, 2024 But 12 more Democratic politicians, including two senators and a group of Congress members, called on the president to step aside. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who is in a tough race for re-election, said in a statement late on Friday that he agrees with “the many Ohioans” who have reached out to him asking for Biden to end his campaign. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, who is also up for re-election, became the third Senate Democrat to call for Biden’s exit. “By passing the torch, he would secure his legacy as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and allow us to unite behind a candidate who can best defeat Donald Trump and safeguard the future of our democracy,” he said. Top Democratic figures, including Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi, have also privately pressured the president to quit, according to media reports. “He’s not going anywhere,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, and called him the “best person to take on Donald Trump”. She indicated that the growing unease among top Democrats about Biden’s candidacy did not reflect the broader sentiment across the party. And in a call with donors on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris said: “We are going to win this election,” US media reported. “We know which candidate in this election puts the American people first: our president, Joe Biden.” ‘Pass the Torch’ A group of Biden’s Democratic detractors are trying to reach him directly through a television advertisement. The advertisement, created by the new group Pass the Torch, will start running on Monday on Morning Joe, one of Biden’s favourite shows which he is known to watch regularly, and other daytime MSNBC programming. “We want to get this message – that we’re so grateful for all you’ve done, and now it’s seriously time to pass the torch – directly to President Biden,” said Aaron Regunberg, a member of Pass the Torch’s steering committee. “We’ll be going up on his favourite programmes, and we plan to stay up until we hear the announcement that he’s going to do the right thing and step aside. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take it off the air in the very near future.” Niambi Carter, an associate professor at the University of Maryland told Al Jazeera that the party would face serious challenges if Biden were to quit the race now. “I think those who are calling for him to step down will have to get used to the idea and line up behind Joe Biden if he chooses to stay in the race,” she told Al Jazeera. “He is allowed to do so since he won the primary with little to no challenge.” Carter said Democrats are in their own way seemingly lacking the willpower exhibited by Republican rivals to march ahead. “The money the Biden campaign has made is not transferrable to a new candidate, so a lot of things need to happen very quickly if this is going to be the case, so I think it’s a really short-sighted move on behalf of the Democrats.” White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said on Friday that the president still had a dry cough and hoarseness, but that his COVID-19 symptoms had improved. Next week, Biden is scheduled to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address the US Congress on July 24 amid Israel’s war on Gaza. Adblock test (Why?)

At least 11 people killed, dozens missing in China bridge collapse

At least 11 people killed, dozens missing in China bridge collapse

As China grapples with extreme weather conditions, authorities say bridge collapsed after heavy rains and flash floods. At least 11 people have died and dozens more are missing after the partial collapse of a highway bridge in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi amid heavy storms and flooding, according to the authorities. The incident took place at 8:40pm (12:40 GMT) in Shangluo city on Friday. All the victims were recovered from five vehicles that fell off the bridge “due to a sudden downpour and flash floods”, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. State broadcaster CCTV said nearly 20 vehicles and more than 30 people were missing after the highway bridge collapsed into the river below. State media reported rescue operations were still under way on Saturday. One witness told local media that he had approached the bridge but other drivers started “yelling at me to brake and stop the car”. “A truck in front of me didn’t stop” and fell into the water, the witness, named only as Meng, said. Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged “all-out rescue and relief efforts to safeguard people’s lives and property”, state media reported. Heavy rains causing flooding and significant damage have been hitting large portions of northern and central China since Tuesday, with flooding and mudslides killing at least five people and leaving eight missing in Shaanxi’s Baoji city on Friday. In Henan’s Nanyang city, the equivalent of a year’s worth of rain fell at the start of the week, according to state media, with two more killed and seven missing in southwestern Sichuan province. Extreme weather conditions have dogged various areas of China over the summer, with successive heatwaves also reported. In May, at least 48 people were killed after a large section of a highway collapsed due to heavy rains in a mountainous area in southern China’s Meizhou city. Adblock test (Why?)

How is new malaria vaccine drive working in West Africa?

How is new malaria vaccine drive working in West Africa?

The Ivory Coast has received the first doses of malaria vaccine from the world’s largest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, and began rolling out a new vaccination drive across the country earlier this week. Malaria remains a significant health issue in the Ivory Coast, causing up to four deaths per day in the country with a population of 28 million. According to a 2022 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria causes more than 600,000 deaths worldwide per year with 95 percent of cases occurring in Africa and 80 percent of those cases in children under the age of five. A total of 656,600 doses of the new R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine have been delivered to the Ivory Coast, where clinicians will initially vaccinate 250,000 children aged from newborn to 23 months across 16 regions, the government said. Professor Adrian Hill, Lakshmi Mittal professor of vaccinology and director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, told the media on Monday that the drive had been made possible through a joint initiative with the Serum Institute of India because of its “scale” and ability to mass-produce millions of vaccines at low cost. After vaccines are rolled out in the Ivory Coast, the drive will move to other African countries, starting with Burkina Faso, Professor Hill said. According to Gavi, an international health organisation which works alongside WHO and UNICEF, 15 African countries are expected to roll out malaria vaccines in 2024. Countries plan to reach about 6.6 million children with the malaria vaccine in 2024 and 2025. Here is what we know about the malaria vaccine drive so far: A health worker prepares a shot of the R21 malaria vaccine during the official ceremony for the launch of a vaccination campaign for children in Abobo, a district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on July 15, 2024 [Luc Gnago/Reuters] Which malaria vaccine is being used? Health workers are administering doses of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, the second malaria vaccine to have been approved by the WHO in December last year, in Ivory Coast vaccination centres. Research suggests R21/Matrix-M can reduce symptomatic malaria cases by 75 percent in a community in the 12 months following a three-dose series, with efficacy sustained by a fourth dose administered a year later. “Over 600,000 deaths mainly amongst children are caused by malaria each year. The disease presents a uniquely difficult scientific challenge: the complex composition of malaria parasites with shape-shifting pathogen that has learned how to evade our immune system, has made the development of an effective vaccine a formidable task,” Professor Hill said in a statement last December. “R21/Matrix-M represents the culmination of 30 years of collaborative research and development by the University of Oxford Jenner Institute and, since 2017, in partnership with the Serum Institute of India.” The WHO and local health authorities are also delivering shots of the Mosquirix vaccine, also known as the RTS,S malaria vaccine, to more than 2.3 million children across Africa this year. This vaccine has been primarily introduced in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, focusing on children aged five months and older in regions with a significant prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. How does the R21 vaccine work? The R21 vaccine uses adjuvant technology, which enhances the immune response to the vaccine, allowing protection from future infections of a disease. The vaccine is designed to specifically target the sporozoite stage of the malaria parasite. This is the initial form of the parasite that enters the human body when bitten by a mosquito. By focusing on this stage it helps to boost the immune system’s response, leading to higher efficacy in preventing malaria. In addition, the vaccine can prevent the parasite from infecting the liver and causing illness. How widely available is the vaccine? The Serum Institute of India, which was responsible for delivering more than 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, is capable of producing 100 to 200 million doses annually, making it more cost-effective and accessible. Professor Hill told the UK’s BBC Radio Four Today programme on Monday that the Serum Institute’s ability to mass-produce vaccines had reduced the cost of each R21/Matrix-M shot from about $8 or $9 to about $4. It will also be made available in several other African countries. “The new vaccine has been authorised by Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic, and many others are preparing to receive shipments,” the University of Oxford said in a statement to CNN. How can malaria be eliminated? The goal set by the WHO Global Malaria Programme (GMP) is to reduce cases of malaria by 90 percent by 2030. Measures in place to achieve this are: Early detection and diagnosis of malaria cases to prevent transmission and deaths. The effective mass distribution of affordable vaccines in countries with high infection rates. The use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) to reduce mosquito populations and transmission through mosquito bites. Building awareness about the disease and how it spreads and how to treat it in malaria-prone communities while ensuring proper access to the necessary health facilities. According to the WHO report, however, some challenges remain. “Countries, subnational areas and communities are situated at different points along the path towards malaria elimination, and their rate of progress will differ depending on the level of investment, biological determinants (related to the affected populations, the parasites and the vectors), environmental factors, strength of health systems, and social, demographic, political and economic realities,” the report states. Adblock test (Why?)