US President Donald Trump told a half-empty stadium that “the silent majority is stronger than ever before” during a comeback rally on Saturday that saw an embarrassingly low turnout.
Speaking before a crowd of mostly white supporters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for almost two hours, Mr Trump stoked division and criticised protesters who chanted “Black Lives Matter” in the streets outside.
A planned speech to an overflow event outside the 19,000-seat stadium was cancelled because of a lack of attendance, despite claims by the Trump campaign of over a million ticket requests. K-pop fans and TikTok users have said they flooded the event with fake ticket requests, leading to thousands of empty seats.
The event, initially scheduled for Friday, was moved to Saturday after criticism that it would coincide with Juneteenth celebrations in a city where a brutal massacre in 1921 saw white supremacists kill around 300 black people.
On Black Lives Matter
Mr Trump’s discussion of the protests that have gripped US cities since the killing of George Floyd on May 25 focused on criticising the removal of confederate statues across the southern states.
“The unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalise our history, desecrating our monuments, our beautiful monuments,” he said.
“This cruel campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as Americans. They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new oppressive regime in its place.”
Mr Trump offered no words of sympathy for Floyd’s family, or the tens of thousands demonstrating against police brutality and systemic racism in the US.
Instead, he offered his opinion that "racial justice begins with Joe Biden's retirement from public life", claiming he had done more for the black community in four years than his Democratic rival had during 47 years in public office.
Mr Trump also suggested a jail sentence be introduced for protesters who burn the American flag while describing the Republicans as the "party of liberty, equality and justice for all".
He blamed the protesters, whom he called a “bunch of maniacs”, for the low turnout at the rally, after insisting last week that there would be no empty seats at the event in Oklahoma.
His son Eric Trump weighed in with his own verbal attack on protesters, calling them “animals” and telling supporters the Trump family will preserve "the moral fabric of the country".
On Coronavirus
Discussing his response to the coronavirus crisis in the US, the world’s worst with more than 2.3 million confirmed cases, Mr Trump said testing was a “double-edged sword”.
“We’ve tested now 25 million people. It’s probably 20 million people more than anybody else. Germany’s done a lot. South Korea’s done a lot. Here’s the bad part, When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people. You’re going to find more cases. So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please!’”
An administration official told CNN that the President was "obviously kidding".
The event went ahead despite warning from public health experts after a significant rise in Oklahoma coronavirus cases over the past week. Few Trump supporters were wearing face masks at the rally and six members of staff who helped set up the event tested positive for Covid-19.
The crowd applauded as Mr Trump used the racist term “kung flu” to describe the outbreak, also calling it a “Chinese virus” as he boasted about stopping travel to China early in the pandemic.
On Law and Order
Following calls over recent weeks to defund the police, Mr Trump shared an imaginary scenario by way of a warning against such a move.
“It’s one in the morning, and a very tough – I used the word on occasion – hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a travelling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911 and they say, ‘I’m sorry this number is no longer working.’”
The President claimed that his administration’s "incredible success in rebuilding America" stands in contrast to the “violence of the radical left.”
Speaking about Mr Biden he said, "does anybody honestly think he controls these radical maniacs?”
"He will surrender your country to these mobsters."
On Joe Biden
Mr Trump dismissed his presidential rival as “a helpless puppet of the radical left”, telling the audience “I stand before you today to declare the silent majority is stronger than ever before,” in an echo of former president Richard Nixon.
“Five months from now we’re going to defeat Sleepy Joe Biden. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln and we are the party of law and order,” Mr Trump said.
“We’re going to stop the radical left. We’re going to build a future of safety and opportunity for Americans of every race, colour, religion and creed.”
On the media
Taking his usual swipes at the media, Mr Trump portrayed the press as "leftist radicals" and railed against critical coverage of his response to the coronavirus crisis.
His speech opened with a lengthy rant over the unfair treatment he feels he received following an awkward walk down the ramp at a military academy graduation ceremony last week.
"I looked very handsome," he said on Saturday. "I took these little steps, then I ran down."
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
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if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
Company%20profile
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The five pillars of Islam
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Zayed Sustainability Prize