Donald Trump, the former US President and Republican nominee for the White House, has pledged to turn the US into the “crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world” if elected and unveiled a plan to unlock the potential of the fledgling industry.

The former President on Saturday also promised to appoint an advisory council to frame his administration’s cryptocurrency policy, fire Gary Gensler, the current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees the industry; and free a jailed American who ran the Silk Route market, a dark-net platform, by commuting his life-term sentence to time served in jail.

A one-time sceptic who called cryptocurrency — digital money that is not backed by any central bank — a “sham”, Trump has embraced it in recent months and said in a speech to an annual conference of the industry in Nashville, Tennessee, that Bitcoin — a type of cryptocurrency — “stands for freedom, sovereignty and independence from government coercion”.

“This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world,” he said.

“We’ll get it done. If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined and made in the USA. It’s not going to be made anywhere else. I want America to be the nation that leads the way. And that’s what’s going to happen, though, you’re going to be very happy with me,” the former President added.

Trump’s journey from aversion to cryptocurrency to conversion was marked by intense industry outreach to him and to his campaign and donations.

The first real sign of the shift in his thinking came in the Republican party’s platform release ahead of the convention in Milwaukee. “Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” said the platform. “We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody their digital assets and transact free from government surveillance and control.”

The SEC has filed more than 80 cases against cryptocurrency industry figures under the Joe Biden administration. The charges range from defrauding customers, misrepresenting assets to making unregistered offerings of cryptocurrency.

“If you are considering a digital asset-related investment, take the time to understand how the investment works and to evaluate its risks,” the agency has warned in an investor alert.

An estimated 50 million Americans have invested in cryptocurrency, according to The Digital Chamber, an advocacy group for the industry. Black and Latino communities account for higher rates, the chamber wrote in a recent letter to Vice-President Kamala Harris urging her to include “pro-digital asset” language in her party platform.

Trump has beaten Harris to it and reinforced it with a policy plan received with loud cheering and applause from the attendees.

Trump promised the attendees that not only would his administration frame laws to encourage the cryptocurrency industry but also remove obstacles impeding the generation of electricity which is needed to power it.

“You need tremendous amounts of electricity. You need double the electricity of the entire electricity that we have right now in the United States to dominate. And we’ll get that done,” he said, adding, “We’ll be having power plants built at the sites. We’ll be releasing people from certain ridiculous requirements, and we’ll be using fossil fuel to make electricity because we’re going to have to. We’ll be using nuclear power.”

The former President left the attendees with a rousing promise, “My job will be to set you free and to let you do what Americans do best, and what you’re going to do better than anybody: Win, win, win. You’re going to win, win, win, with energy, passion and brilliance, like we have rarely seen before. Our country cannot fail. We’re in a failing nation right now, but we’re not going to be alone. Our country cannot fail. With your help, we will save our nation. We will restore our Republic. We will make America and Bitcoin, bigger, better, stronger, richer, freer and greater than ever before.” AGENCIES

The Turkish parliament has passed a motion for the deployment of Turkish Armed Forces elements to Somalia, including the maritime jurisdiction areas of the country.

Elements of the Turkish Armed Forces will be deployed in Somalia for two years to support Somalia’s security activities against terrorism and other threats, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the motion passed on Saturday.

The move came after a defence and economic cooperation deal between Turkey and Somalia signed in February, aiming at bolstering Somalia’s maritime defence capabilities, said the motion.

“Our friendship with Somalia will be strengthened, as well as our country’s support to the efforts against terrorism, maritime banditry, and armed robbery in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and adjacent regions, which endanger international peace and stability and negatively affect our national interests,” it added.

In mid-July, the Turkish Energy Ministry announced that Turkey would send an oil and gas exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia later this year as part of a hydrocarbon cooperation deal between the two countries. AGENCIES

IEP Chandigarh

A 73-year-old man with an enlarged prostate (BPH), which had damaged his kidney and for which a urinary catheter was inserted, got a new lease of life through a Water Vapor Therapy (Rezūm) – the latest form of minimal invasive surgical treatment for Prostate – available at Fortis Hospital Mohali. Water vapor therapy (Rezūm) is a painless day-care procedure that is offered to patients who are at high risk or are young and to want to preserve their fertility. The long-term effects are the same as those of a traditional procedure. The Patient had also suffered a stroke and was a known case of heart disease for which cardiac stenting had been conducted and he was being administered blood-thinning medication. This case of BPH required surgery but since he was a high-risk case, conducting a surgery could be life-threatening for him. The Patient visited several hospitals but finally approached Dr Rohit Dadhwal, Consultant, Department of Urology, Andrology and Robotic Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mohali, in May this year.

Following thorough investigation, the patient was electively planned for water vapor therapy (Rezūm). The procedure involves injecting water vapors inside the prostatic parenchyma through a specialized hand-held radiofrequency device, which in time leads to progressive shrinkage of the prostate and improvement of symptoms. The entire procedure takes about five minutes and the patient is discharged on a catheter, which is removed after a week.

The procedure itself doesn’t require any cutting of the Prostate tissue, hence there is no bleeding, and there is no pain. The procedure is conducted under local anesthesia and the patient is kept under observation for one hour.

Discussing the case, Dr Dadhwal, said, “The Patient underwent Water vapor therapy on 23rd May and was discharged after an hour of the procedure. Since his kidneys were affected by the disease, the catheter was kept for two weeks until the kidney recovered from damage. Post two months, the patient is completely fine and is leading a normal life.”

Dr Dadhwal further, added, “Since BPH occurs in old age, most of the patients have cardiac and other comorbidities. In such cases like these, patients are on blood-thinning medications, which may lead to high chances of bleeding during the procedure, also multiple diseases and old age increases the peri and post-operative risk. For such patients, this procedure is a blessing.”

“Also, traditional prostate surgeries like TURP or Holep lead to sexual problems like ejaculatory and erectile dysfunction. For young symptomatic patients of BPH, who want to preserve their fertility, this is one of the few treatment options which offers such relief.  Long-term data which is available now suggest that the effect of this therapy is the same as that of TURP, but it negates the need of anaesthesia and admission,” he further added.

 A member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party was killed and three others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the municipality of Chihine in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources reported.

The military sources, who spoke anonymously, said on Monday that an Israeli warplane fired two air-to-surface missiles at a house in Chihine, southwest of Lebanon, causing casualties and destroying the house.

The sources added that Israeli warplanes carried out four air strikes on three towns and villages in the western and eastern sectors, causing material damage, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a barrage of 40 artillery shells hit 12 towns and villages in the eastern and central sectors, igniting massive fires in lush forests. Civil defence rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.

On Monday, Hezbollah announced an attack on the Al-Malikiyah Israeli site, which led to fires. It also attacked the radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

AGENCIES

 A 4.7-magnitude earthquake has jolted Turkey’s northwestern province of Canakkale, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

The quake, occurring at 5:39 p.m. local time, centred Ezine district, AFAD said on Monday on social media platform X.

“Currently, there are no adverse conditions reported. We are evaluating each report received by the Emergency Call Centre,” said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on X, highlighting that field survey operations are continuing as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The tremor was also felt in Istanbul, the country’s largest city, according to press reports. AGENCIES

 A Hindu temple in Alberta’s capital Edmonton was vandalised with “hateful graffiti” on Tuesday. This incident adds to the series of attacks that have happened recently on Hindu establishments in Canada.

Canadian Member of Parliament Chandra Arya took to X to express his concern over BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir that was defaced.

He wrote: “During the last few years, Hindu temples in Greater Toronto Area, British Columbia and other places in Canada are being vandalised with hateful graffiti.”

Drawing attention to the extremist elements instigating such incidents, the Liberal MP, known for his advocacy on multicultural issues, highlighted that “Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs for Justice last year publicly called for Hindus to go back to India. Khalistan supporters publicly celebrated in Brampton and Vancouver the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, brandishing images of deadly weapons.”

“As I have always been saying, Khalistani extremists seem to get away with ease with their public rhetoric of hate and violence,” he asserted, adding: “Again, let me put on record. Hindu-Canadians are legitimately concerned.”

With a picture of the defaced temple wall, he concluded his post by urging: “Like a broken record, I again call on Canadian law enforcement agencies to take this issue seriously before these rhetorics get translated into physical action against Hindu-Canadians.”

The vandalised temple wall reads: “PM Modi MP Arya Hindu Terrorists are Anti-Canada.”

Last year in November, Canada-India Foundation, an advocacy body, had asked politicians in the country to break their silence and rein in radicals before it got too late. However, Canadian politicians and media ignored the threat.

In response to the situation, they had expressed in an open letter: “We are even more disappointed that our political leaders have maintained a total silence on this grave issue. This selective approach to dealing with terrorism and threats will not make this world a safe place.”

In recent times, vandalised Hindu temples include Ram Mandir in Mississauga, Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Toronto, Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey.

These attacks are viewed as attacks on the freedom of religion and are perceived as a dangerous trend. The advocacy body also highlighted that the extremists have started to even target ordinary Hindus, telling them to leave Canada. AGENCIES

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plays an important role in supporting peace and stability in the region, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday.

Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of ASEAN-led ministerial meetings in the capital Vientiane, as next year marks 50 years since New Zealand became an ASEAN dialogue partner, Xinhua news agency reported.

The region is central to New Zealand’s prosperity and security, said Peters, who is on his third visit to Southeast Asia and sixth visit to an ASEAN member state since the start of the year.

Peters will also take part in the yearly foreign ministers’ gatherings of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, according to a government statement.

He mentioned that these meetings contribute to the advancement of practical cooperation in areas such as maritime security, counter-terrorism, transnational crime, and cybersecurity. AGENCIES

 Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday kicked off her presidential campaign, saying of her Republican rival that “I know Donald Trump’s type” from dealing with cheats, fraudsters and abusers of women in her previous career as a public prosecutor.

Harris also framed the contest as one between two visions. One vision, hers, “focussed on the future” and the second, Trump’s, “focussed on the past”.

Harris spoke forcefully and energetically during her first visit to her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, with President Joe Biden joining in on the phone from one of his homes where he is recovering from a Covid-19 infection.

Harris has adopted Biden’s campaign and staff and his administration’s achievements, hoping to use the next 100 or so days to the close of polling to conduct a historic race.

Biden appealed to the staff to “embrace” Harris and work as they would for him.

Harris’s speech was received with whoops of encouragement and enthusiasm with a top official acknowledging at the top the campaign had raised $81 million in just 24 hours since her elevation to the top of the ticket. Democrats are looking energised and are rallying behind the Vice-President in growing numbers shrugging off self-doubts that had seized them since Biden’s shocking bad performance in the first presidential debate. The campaign said it has enrolled more than 20,000 new volunteers.

“In those roles,” Harris said, recounting for the audience her career as a public prosecutor from a district court in Alameda to being the Attorney General of California, “I took on predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheats who broke the rules for their gain. So, hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”

The audience cheered her on with loud whoops after every few words.

“As a young prosecutor when I was in the Alameda County District Attorney’s office in California, I specialised in cases involving sexual abuse,” Harris said.

“Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse.”

She was referring to a defamation case won by a columnist E. Jean Carroll, who had alleged she was raped by Trump decades ago in an upmarket New York mall.

“As attorney general, California (I) took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges and put it out of business,” she said.

“Donald Trump ran a for-profit college Trump University that was forced to pay $25 million to the students it scammed.”

“As a district attorney to go after polluters. I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation,” Harris said.

“Donald Trump stood in Mar-a-Lago (his current home in Florida) and told Big Oil lobbyists, he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution.”

“During during the foreclosure crisis,” she said referring to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, “I took on the big Wall Street banks and won $20 billion for California families. Holding those banks accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of 34 counts of fraud.”

Harris went on to further define the contest with Trump as a battle of two contrasting visions for America.

“Make no mistake, all of that being said this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. Our campaign has always been two different versions of what we see as the future of our country, two different visions for the future of our country. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past.”

Trump, she said, wants to take our country backwards “to a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights”.

“We believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans. We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. We believe in a future where no child has to grow up in poverty; where every person can buy a home, start a family and build wealth and where every person has access to pay family leaving affordable childcare. That’s the future. Together we fight to build a nation where every person has affordable healthcare, where every worker is paid fairly, and where every senior can retire with dignity. All of this is to say building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.”

“When our middle class is strong, America is strong,” Harris said, echoing a long-running theme favoured by Biden.

“Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedom,” she said, laying out her election prime.

“Generations of Americans before us have led the fight for freedom from our founders, to our farmers to the abolitionists and the suffragettes to the Freedom Riders and farm workers. And now I say, team. The baton is in our hands. We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote. We who are committed to fight to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the freedom to vote.”

“We will believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence and that’s why we will work to pass universal background checks, red flag laws and an assault weapons ban. We will fight for reproductive freedom knowing if Trump gets the chance he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state but we are not going to let that happen.” AGENCIES

 The death toll from a landslide in Ethiopia has risen to 55, local media reported on Tuesday.

The deadly landslide occurred on Monday morning at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) in southern Ethiopia’s Geze Gofa district, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.

Misikir Mitiku, the chief administrator of the district, said that more than 55 bodies, including women and children, have been found in the district, adding that the death toll could yet increase as rescue continues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ethiopia is in the midst of a rainy season which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.

Constant rains occasionally cause landslides in some parts of the East African country. AGENCIES