US Vice President Kamala Harris pressed a forceful case against Donald Trump early this morning in their first and perhaps only debate before the presidential election, repeatedly goading him in an event that showcased their starkly different visions for the country on abortion, immigration and American democracy.

The Democratic vice president provoked Trump with reminders about the 2020 election loss that he still denies, delivered derisive asides at his false claims and sought to underscore the Republican former president’s role in the Supreme Court’s overturning of a national right to abortion two years ago.

Trump tore into Harris as too liberal and a continuation of Biden’s unpopular administration, as he launched into the sort of freewheeling personal attacks and digressions from which his advisers and supporters have tried to steer him away.

Less than two months from Election Day and hours before the first early ballots will begin to be mailed today in Alabama, the debate offered the clearest look yet at a presidential race that has been repeatedly upended.

Harris’ performance by nearly every measure seemed to be the opposite of President Joe Biden’s in June, with sharp, focused answers designed to showcase the contrast between her and Trump, whereas Biden at times was muddled, halting and incoherent. Harris used her body language and facial expressions to confront Trump and express that she found his answers ridiculous, amusing or both – a pronounced change from Biden’s slack-jawed expression when Trump attacked him.

Harris appeared intent on casting herself as a relief for voters seeking a break from Trump’s acerbic politics – a contrast highlighted as Trump appeared to be set on his back foot by her needling.

Trump pledges crackdown after he wins

Donald Trump is well-known for his social media rants but the former president’s latest promises on Truth Social may be some of the most concerning that he has ever made.

Trump promised that he would carry out what he said would be a major crackdown on those who cheated in the upcoming election after he wins according to a report from Salon.

After his victory, there will be a wave of arrests and prosecutions at a level the country has never seen according to Trump’s Truth Social post that he published on September 8th. Let’s take a look at those remarks.

“CEASE & DESIST: I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely,” the former president began

“I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump added. “It was a Disgrace to our Nation!” “Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law,” Trump continued.

It is important to point out at this point that Trump recently admitted to losing the 2020 Election to Joe Biden during a podcast with Lex Friedman where he stated he “lost by a whisker” according to NBC News.

“I was told if I got 63 million, which is what I got the first time, ‘You would win. You can’t not win.’ And I got millions more votes than that and lost by a whisker,” Trump told Friedman about his election loss.

NBC News reported that Trump received 74 million votes in 2020 compared to the 84 million that Joe Biden received in the election.

However, despite Trump’s seeming admission that he did indeed lose the 2020 Election, it appears that he isn’t giving up the fiction that the election was stolen from him by Biden and his allies, which is a point that the former president alluded to in his September 8th message.

Trump noted that there would be “long term prison sentences” for those caught cheating in the 2024 election so that the “Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”

“We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials,” Trump explained.

“Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” the former president concluded.

What prompted Trump to write such a malicious message isn’t clear but it is notable that his remarks were similar to his particular style of social media rants, though this time what he wrote was far more worrying than other posts have been in the past.

Salon noted that the threats posed by a second Trump presidency have prompted some prominent Republicans to speak out against the former president, including former Vice President Richard Cheney, who recently endorsed Kamala Harris over Trump.

“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney explained in a statement. Whether or not Cheney’s endorsement will help Harris in November is unknown, but it isn’t a good sign for Trump’s campaign.

Death, destruction in Gaza the worst I have ever seen – UN chief

The head of the United Nations has branded the scale of death and destruction in Gaza as the worst he has ever seen.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it is “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.

But he added that “the UN will be available to support any ceasefire”.

Stressing the urgency of a ceasefire now, Mr Guterres said: ‘The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.”

The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and, he said, “from our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we’ve put on the table”.

“Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,” Mr Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”

Israel’s military assault on Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel on October 7, has stretched for 11 months, with recent ceasefire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and violence in the West Bank reaching new highs.

The war has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused the UN of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of UN humanitarian operations in Gaza.

Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Mr Netanyahu has pushed back against pressure for a ceasefire deal and declared that ‘no-one will preach to me’.

Looking beyond a ceasefire, Mr Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only viable, “it’s the only solution”.

The United States and others support Palestinian statehood, but Mr Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in Israel’s history, has opposed calls for a two-state solution.

Mr Guterres asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.

“It means that you have five million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,” he said. “Is it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in South Africa in the past?”

He was referring to South Africa’s apartheid system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population marginalised and segregated people of colour, especially black people.

“I do not think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect – mutual respect of their rights,” Mr Guterres said.

“So the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if we want to have peace in the Middle East.”

Mel Stride eliminated from Tory leadership contest after second round of voting

Mel Stride has been eliminated from the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party after receiving the least support in the second round of voting.

Tuesday’s vote was contested between five candidates.

Stride was eliminated with 16 votes, and becomes the second candidate after Priti Patel to knocked out of the leadership contest.

Former housing minister Robert Jenrick, as he did in the first round of voting, won the most support – 33 votes – while Kemi Badenoch finished in second place with 28 votes.

Third spot was shared between former foreign secretary James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, who both received 21 votes.

The remaining four candidates will now put forward their leadership pitches at the Tory party conference, which is taking place between Sunday, September 29 and Wednesday, October 2.

Pope holds mammoth Mass in East Timor

Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass for around 600,000 people in the Southeast Asian nation of East Timor on Tuesday.

The gathering took place at the Tasitolu coastal area, a place of historic significance where Indonesian forces were known to bury killed Timorese freedom fighters.

“I wish for you peace, that you keep having many children, and that your smile continues to be your children,” Francis said.

About half of the small island nation’s population attended the Mass.

The 87-year-old pontiff is on his longest overseas journey yet — a 12-day Asia-Pacific tour spanning the four nations of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

Earlier, Francis met the Catholic faithful at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, calling for the ‘perfume of the Gospel’ to be spread against violence and a lack of respect for women.

Earlier, Francis met the Catholic faithful at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, calling for the ‘perfume of the Gospel’ to be spread against violence and a lack of respect for women.

East Timor gained independence from its neighbour Indonesia in 2002 after a brutal, decades-long occupation. The country is among the most Catholic nations in the world, with the Vatican saying some 96% of Timorese are believers in the faith.

Francis is the second pope to visit the half-island nation. Late Pope John Paul II visited the nation pre-independence in 1989, which gave its movement a significant boost.

East Timor has been affected by abuse scandals over the last few years. In 2022, the Vatican confirmed that it sanctioned Timorese Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo following allegations he sexually abused boys in Timor in the 1990s.

Richard Daschbach, a defrocked American priest, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing minor girls in Timor a year before that.

“The pope must denounce the two men by name,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, of the abuse tracking group BishopAccountability.org. “His words could have an enormous positive impact.”

Pope Francis was received by President Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta in the capital city’s airport, accompanied by a group of schoolchildren dressed in traditional outfits.

Thousands of Catholic residents lined the streets in welcome, holding yellow and white umbrellas in the Vatican’s colors.

Authorities have relocated poor street-dwellers and vendors in areas the pope is expected to travel, sparking criticism. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao swept the streets with locals to help clean up the city before the pontiff’s arrival.

East Timor is a poor and underdeveloped nation with 42% of its population living below the poverty line. Despite that, its government has allotted a $12 million (€10.84 million) budget for the visit, including $1 million (€0.9 million) for the mass altar alone.

Billionaire takes off for first ever private spacewalk

Billionaire Jared Isaacman has taken off in a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for what he hopes will be the first ever privately funded spacewalk.

The mission, called Polaris Dawn, is the first of three funded by the founder of payments processing business Shift4.

He is onboard as commander alongside his close friend Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, who is a retired air force pilot, and two SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. The spacecraft, called Resilience, will go into an orbit that will eventually take them up to 870 miles (1,400km) above the planet. No human has been that far since Nasa’s Apollo programme ended in the 1970s.