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Former President Donald Trump has posted a fake social media image of pop superstar Taylor Swift. Photo: AFP By Lisa Richwine, Reuters Former President Donald Trump has posted a fake social media image of pop superstar Taylor Swift asking people to vote for him in the November election. A Sunday entry by the Republican candidate on Truth Social showed Swift dressed in red, white and blue with a caption that said "Taylor Swift Wants You To Vote For Donald Trump." "I accept!" Trump wrote. Swift has not publicly endorsed a candidate in the 2024 race but has supported Democrats in the past. The singer backed President Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris in 2020. Harris is set to be formally nominated as the 2024 Democratic candidate at the party's national convention in Chicago this we...

By Andrea Shalal and Bianca Flowers for Reuters A protest to demand reproductive justice, defend the rights of trans and queer people and demand a ceasefire in Gaza on the eve of the Democratic National Convention at the United Centre in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. Photo: AFP / Matthew Hatcher Thousands of mostly peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Chicago on Monday as President Joe Biden arrived for the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, in a show of force against his administration's support for Israel in the Gaza war. After hours of peaceful demonstrations, dozens of protesters broke through part of the perimeter security fence, drawing riot police to the site, a Reuters witness said. The Democratic National Convention security team did not re...

Iran cyber operations targeted the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns according to aUS inquiry. Photo: AFP The United States on Monday accused Iran of launching cyber operations against the campaigns of both US presidential candidates and targeting the American public with influence operations aimed at fanning political discord. "We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle," said a statement by the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees the defense of government computer systems. The statement confirmed charges made earlier this month by the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that Iran hacked one of its websites, triggering an FBI...

Former US congressman George Santos gives a statement after a court hearing where he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen, Reuters Former US Representative George Santos pleaded guilty to fabricating fundraising figures, cementing the downfall of a novice politician who was expelled from Congress last year after a brief, scandal-plagued tenure. Santos, a Republican, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, the latter carrying a mandatory two-year prison sentence. The charges stemmed from inflating fundraising numbers and faking donor names to qualify for financial and logistical support from the Republican party during the 2022 election cycle, when ...

An Italian fire brigade helicopter and Coastguard boats are searching for six people missing after a yacht sank off the coast of Porticello, in Sicily, on August 19, 2024. Photo: AFP / Italian Coastguard Two New Zealanders were on board a luxury yacht that has sunk off the Sicilian capital Palermo in Italy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says. One person died and six people are missing. Ayla Ronald, a New Zealander working in London as a lawyer survived the capsizing, her father Lin Ronald has confirmed. MFAT has also confirmed a second New Zealander was on board. However, a spokesperson said there was no reason to believe the New Zealanders are among the missing The embassy in Rome was providing consular assistance. The missing include UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his...