World

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris will urge Americans to turn the page on Donald Trump as she delivers her closing election argument Tuesday on the spot where her rival rallied supporters before the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack.

With polls in a dead heat exactly one week before Election Day, the Democratic vice president's campaign said she chose the symbolic site to push her case that the Republican former president is a threat to American democracy.

But Harris will also deliver an "optimistic and hopeful" message, a senior campaign official said, amid rumblings in the party that she is focusing too much on Trump and not enough on her own policies.

She will address some 20,000 people on the Ellipse, a park outside the White House where Trump delivered a fiery speech in which he ramped up his false claims that he won the 2020 election.

Trump supporters then marched on the Capitol to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's victory, in an assault that left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured.

Harris's campaign said in a statement that the former prosecutor would deliver a "major closing argument" and "make the case that it is time to turn the page on Trump and chart a new way forward."

For his part, Trump, who at 78 is the oldest presidential candidate in US history, will be trying to take the sting out of Harris's big event by delivering remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

He will then rally in blue-collar Allentown in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most crucial of the seven battleground states that are expected to decide the election.

Trump gave his closing arguments in a mass rally at New York's Madison Square Garden at the weekend, where some of the other speakers used language widely condemned as racist and sexist.

 Fears of chaos

The 2024 White House race has already been one of the most divisive in modern times, with Harris and Trump completely deadlocked as they offer two starkly contrasting visions to a deeply polarised nation.

Fears of a repeat of the chaos from four years ago hang heavy over this year's election, with Trump indicating that he might again refuse to accept the result if he loses.

Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon, who was imprisoned for refusing to testify to Congress about the January 6 assault, was released Tuesday.

Much has changed since the influential right-wing podcaster entered prison on July 1.

Trump has survived two assassination attempts, while Harris has replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic following his shock exit.

The vice president has pledged that America is "not going back" to Trump, while increasingly zeroing in on his harsh rhetoric on migrants and stance on abortion.

In her speech on Tuesday, Harris is expected to echo her recent comments that Trump would focus on an "enemies list" if he returns to the White House, while she would have a "to-do list" to lower costs for Americans.

The first female, Black and Asian American vice president in US history will rely heavily on the visuals of being within sight of the White House, with the campaign describing it as a symbol of presidential power and unity.

But she will also seek to remind Americans of the dark time around the January 6, 2021 riot, when Trump's refusal to accept the election results brought the country to the brink of civil strife.

A CNN poll on Monday showed only 30 per cent  of Americans think Trump would concede defeat this time around, while 73 per cent  think Harris would accept a loss.

Harris's campaign said she would take her message from the Ellipse speech on the road to the battleground states during the last week of the election.

Both candidates will keep up a punishing schedule in the final days until November 5, sometimes hitting three or more states in one day.

MOSCOW — Russia downed 109 Ukrainian drones in a day over several regions, including near the border, Moscow's defence ministry said on Monday.

A total of 45 drones were intercepted in the Briansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, while 26 were destroyed to the south in Russia's Belgorod region.

Eighteen were downed in the Tambov region, about 400 kilometres  from the Ukrainian border.

Five were intercepted in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive since August and control several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory. 

One person was lightly wounded when a drone crashed and caught fire at an industrial facility in Russia's western city of Voronezh, Governor Alexander Gusev said.

More drones were downed elsewhere in Russia, which announces almost daily that it has destroyed Ukrainian UAVs. 

Kyiv says the strikes, which often target energy infrastructure, are in response to Russian bombardments of Ukrainian territory.

ISTANBUL — Ankara is leaning towards a rapprochement with the Kurds despite last week's deadly attack on a Turkish defence firm that was claimed by PKK militants. 

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack on the headquarters of the state-owned TAI company that killed five and injured 22.

It came less than a day after a Turkish nationalist hardliner and government ally had extended a shock olive branch to the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Devlet Bahceli, who heads Turkey's ultra-nationalist MHP Party, floated letting Ocalan address parliament to renounce terror and dissolve the PKK. 

Ocalan has been languishing in solitary confinement on a Turkish prison island since 1999.

The PKK was careful to clarify that the bomb attack had "nothing to do with" Ankara's tentative change of tack.

In a message on its Telegram channel, it said the attack had been "planned a long time ago" to send "a warning to the Turkish state about its genocidal practices".

The Turkish military responded in time-honoured fashion by striking Kurdish targets in northern Syria and Iraq.

For Hamit Bozarslan, a Paris-based specialist on the Kurdish question, Turkey's shift in position is linked to the escalating conflicts in the Middle East. 

"Part of the government would like to open a dialogue with the Kurdish movement, especially if the regional situation deteriorates and weakens Iran which would have a definite impact on Iraq and Syria," he told AFP.

Both countries border Turkey and are home to large and powerful Kurdish minorities. 

The PKK, which has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has killed thousands, has long been designated as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies. 

Yet on Saturday, three days after the attack, Bahceli, who is close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and fiercely hostile to the PKK, was still talking peace, saying: "Turks and Kurds must love each other, this is both a religious and a political obligation for both sides." 

Ocalan's visit 

In another sign that something is afoot, Ocalan received his first family visit since 2020 just hours before the attack. 

His nephew, Omer Ocalan, a lawmaker for the main pro-Kurdish DEM Party, confirmed the visit on X, saying the family had last seen him "on March 3, 2020".

Turkish politicians, among them Turkey's Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, were quick to point out that the timing of Wednesday's attack was not "a coincidence". 

The attack also raises questions about Ocalan's power within the movement after more than 25 years behind bars. 

For Bozarslan, "Ocalan remains the key player" who is capable of "exercising his influence" over any ongoing political process. 

But for Yektan Turkyilmaz, an Austria-based academic, after years without any "organic contact" with the PKK leadership, it will be "a big challenge for Ocalan to impose a government-endorsed plan" on the diverse Kurdish movement.

"Ocalan is not only in the most difficult position in his entire career, but he's also taking a big, big risk because he has never managed to convince his own supporters of accepting a peaceful political solution" to the conflict, he told AFP. 

"And the same could be said about the government," he added.

Regional tensions key 

Turkish public opinion is not overly enthused about a deal with the PKK. 

Observers say the government's move to reach out to the Kurds is directly linked to its fears of conflict spreading because of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and its assault on Lebanon. 

Turkyilmaz said Ankara's overtures to the Kurds were a bid to "reinforce" the domestic front in order to face up to the regional challenge posed by Israel. 

But above all, it was looking for an "opportunity" to ease pressure along its border with Syria, an ally of Iran, he said. 

After Israeli warplanes struck Iran early on Saturday, Turkey called for an end to what it said was Israel's "terror" which had brought the region to "the brink of a greater war". 

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba likes crafting model ships but his short tenure could come unstuck if the gamble of calling snap elections goes as badly on Sunday as some polls suggest.

The self-confessed defence "geek" is a fan of trains, 1970s pop idols and making military models, including once of a Soviet aircraft carrier for a visiting Russian defence minister.

Last month the 67-year-old saw off eight other candidates to become head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for seven decades.

He took office on October 1, replacing Fumio Kishida, who suffered from discontent over rising prices, a slush fund scandal and LDP ties to a Christian movement in the wake of the 2022 assassination of ex-premier Shinzo Abe.

Although relatively popular with the public -- at least before becoming PM -- Ishiba had four previous failed bids to lead the party including in 2012 against his arch-rival Abe.

Ishiba long alienated party heavyweights with his "outspoken criticism of LDP policies under Abe", said Yu Uchiyama, a politics professor at the University of Tokyo.

But he became "vocal about the need for the LDP to turn over a new leaf", which may have worked in his favour, Uchiyama told AFP.

'New Japan' 

Despite hiccups, including over a doctored photo of the Cabinet, Ishiba got off to a good start and called snap elections after barely a week in office.

"This is an attempt to create a new Japan that will drastically change the nature of Japanese society. In order to boldly carry out this major change, we need the confidence of the people," he declared.

He pledged to revitalise depressed rural regions and to address the "quiet emergency" of Japan's falling population with measures to support families like flexible working hours.

This decade, he said he wants to hike the average national minimum wage by nearly 43 per cent to 1,500 yen ($9.80) per hour, although experts worry this will hurt small firms.

In a reference to China, Ishiba said that "today's Ukraine could be tomorrow's East Asia", with the regional environment "the most severe since the end of World War II".

He has also backed the creation of a regional military alliance along the lines of NATO to counter China, although he has since cautioned it would "not happen overnight".

But Ishiba's support before becoming premier for the Bank of Japan's exit from its ultra-loose policies sent the yen surging and stocks tumbling after he won the LDP leadership.

He steadied markets by stating the time was not right for more interest rate hikes.

Rowing back 

Early polls gave Ishiba's Cabinet approval ratings of 45-50 per cent, compared with 20-30 per cent for the hapless Kishida administration's final month.

But Ishiba's ratings have since fallen, not helped by him rowing back his position on issues including allowing married couples to take separate surnames.

He also walked back on a commitment to increase the tax rate on capital gains, saying he was "not currently considering a specific tax increase".

The father-of-two also missed a chance to appear more modern by appointing only two women to his cabinet, down from five under Kishida.

Popularity among voters is a different beast to the LDP leadership contest, where Ishiba "appeared popular because he occupied a unique position, standing in opposition to PM Abe and his successors within the party", said Yosuke Sunahara, professor of public administration at Kobe University.

"Now the focus has shifted from an internal party race to competition between parties. Unlike Abe, who was known for his hawkish stance and reform-driven agenda, it has become harder for Ishiba to distinguish himself," Sunahara told AFP.

A Kyodo News survey last weekend put the approval rating for Ishiba's cabinet at 41.4 per cent, down from 42 per cent a week earlier.

Other polls warn the LDP could fail to win a majority on its own for the first time since 2009.

Some paint an even sorrier picture, suggesting that even seats from the LDP's junior coalition party will not be enough for Ishiba to form a government without other partners.

"Regardless of what the election results are, Ishiba's longevity as prime minister is in question," said Rintaro Nishimura at think-tank The Asia Group.

"There is a group of people [in the LDP] that could form a critical mass... and try and usher in a change. Not a change in government, but a change in leadership within the LDP," Nishimura said.