Donald Trump Screams 'Witch Hunt'; Epstein Wedding Photo Comes Back To Haunt Him
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26 minutes ago
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Donald Trump trolls Barack Obama with OJ Simpson meme as Russia probe origins face renewed scrutiny
Donald Trump has reignited his long-running feud with Barack Obama in typically provocative fashion—this time using a meme that parodies the infamous 1994 O.J. Simpson police chase. But while the meme was intended as a political jab at the former US President, it unexpectedly triggered a viral reaction for another reason: JD Vance's surprise cameo. Originally posted by Donald Trump Jr. and later reshared by Trump himself, the doctored image features Obama riding in a white Ford Bronco, cast as a fugitive. Trump appears in pursuit, driving a police cruiser. Trailing them in a second squad car is Trump's vice-presidential pick JD Vance—depicted in his long-haired, college-era look, a recurring image that social media has taken a liking to. Though Vance wasn't the focus, his youthful appearance once again became meme fodder online. Trump's meme spree didn't stop there. Earlier, he posted an AI-generated deepfake video on Truth Social showing Obama being arrested in the Oval Office by FBI agents, while Trump watched with a grin. The video quickly went viral and drew both ridicule and concern over the rising use of AI in political propaganda. These digital jabs come just as former Democratic presidential candidate and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made explosive claims regarding the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Originally prepared in 2020 but only declassified recently, the report claims the Obama administration directed an unusually rushed and biased process in producing the assessment. According to the committee, 'This report shows the ICA was not the product of a fair or thorough intelligence process, but of political pressure and selective sourcing.' Gabbard alleges that over 100 documents point to top Obama-era officials—possibly with Obama's direct involvement—fabricating the story in an attempt to undermine Trump's presidency. She says she plans to turn the evidence over to the Department of Justice and the FBI. As Trump continues to weaponise memes and mockery in the digital arena, the renewed scrutiny of Obama-era intelligence operations adds yet another layer of controversy to an already charged political narrative.
Mint
26 minutes ago
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Global oversight needed for the tokenization of currency: Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called for a redefinition of multilateral institutions to provide effective oversight as countries explore the tokenization of currency, warning of rising complexity and the lack of global frameworks to govern this shift. Speaking at the release of a book, A World in Flux: India's Economic Priorities, in New Delhi, she said that multilateral institutions have never been left in limbo in the last 100 years. The finance minister said this is true for financial as well as strategic institutions. Every multilateral institution that has successfully served earlier is now wondering where it is, what its immediate future will be, and how it will redefine itself. Her concerns about the tokenization of currency—the transformation of money into digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger—come at a time when cryptocurrencies are increasingly making their way into the financial world. The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned multiple times that virtual currencies are risky. However, the US government under President Donald Trump is encouraging more innovation in this area. In January, Trump signed an executive order to ensure Washington's leadership in digital financial technology. He then set up a working group to develop a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and to evaluate the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile. Trump also revoked the Treasury Department's 'Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets, which suppressed innovation and undermined US economic liberty and global leadership in digital finance'. The US is also trying to become the 'crypto capital of the planet', according to the presidential order. Sitharaman said multilateral institutions have to be redefined. 'If you could go for a currency with no gold backing sometime in the 70s, now it is already moving towards tokenization and is that something on which we see the depth of?' The minister also asked if there was any framework under which any country could unilaterally take that route. 'Who is going to have oversight on these sorts of things?' The minister said the depth and the complexity of the situation were increasing. The book, A World in Flux: India's Economic Priorities, edited by Amita Batra, former chairperson at the Centre for South Asian Studies and A.K. Bhattacharya, editorial director at Business Standard is published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd. Sitharaman also said in response to a question about the normalization of economic ties with China that it was right to point out that there are calls for greater access and interaction with China, and possibly to open some windows. 'That is not just from our side, even the Chinese have been approaching through the ministry of external affairs,' the minister said, referring to external affairs minister S. Jaishankar's recent visit to China. 'There is some kind of beginning. As to how far it will go, it is something we will have to wait and see,' the minister said, adding it might help the economy, and a sense of caution would have to be built in. To a question on investments in the economy, she said that companies' and banks' balance sheets have become healthier, and the corporate tax rate was cut to boost investments. Referring to what the minister was hearing from observers and her own interactions with business leaders, Sitharaman asked if businesses were sitting on passive, investible funds. 'That is, investible funds that are being engaged passively rather than investing and expanding capacity. That is an issue that I would obviously want the industry to speak about.' On trade, she said bilateral trade has now taken priority over multilateral trade, though she could not comment on the merits of this trend. The minister added that negotiations for trade deals are well progressing with the US and the EU.
Mint
an hour ago
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US pauses visa processing at embassy in Niger, State Dept says
WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The United States is pausing all routine visa services at U.S. embassy in Nigerien capital Niamey until further notice, according to a State Department spokesperson and an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on Saturday. The July 25-dated cable did not provide a reason for the move but a State Department spokesperson said the pause, which would cover all immigrant and non-immigrant visa categories, was in place until Washington addressed "concerns with the Government of Niger." The spokesperson did not provide further details on the reason, but said that most diplomatic and official visas were excepted from the pause. "The Trump Administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process," the Department spokesperson said. The diplomatic cable also instructed consular officers in other visa processing posts to apply "heightened scrutiny" when assessing non-immigrant visa applications for Nigerien nationals, whose overstay rates it said were 8 percent for visitor visas and 27 percent for student and exchange visas. Consular managers should make an effort to reduce the number of overstays by nonimmigrant visa holders in the United States, the cable said and added: "In this regard, particular vigilance is needed in adjudicating Nigerien NIV applicants." The U.S. embassy in Niamey has informed all individuals impacted, the spokesperson added. As part of his hardline stance on immigration, President Donald Trump has ordered a nationwide campaign to arrest migrants who are in the country illegally and has vowed to deport millions of people, executing raids at work sites including farms that were largely exempted from enforcement during his first term. Trump administration officials have said student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to U.S. foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas. Rubio in May said the number of visas he has revoked was probably in the thousands. The State Department under his leadership significantly tightened social media vetting for U.S. visa applicants. The U.S. military in September said it had completed its withdrawal from Niger, after the West African nation's ruling junta in April 2024 ordered Washington to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country. It was an embarrassing setback for Washington that followed a coup last year in the West African nation. Before the coup, Niger had been a key partner in the U.S. fight against insurgents in the Sahel region of Africa, who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
