Trump Agrees to Fox News Offer of Debate with Harris on Sept. 4

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 31: Former President Donald Trump walks off stage at a campaign appearance on July 31, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 31: Former President Donald Trump walks off stage at a campaign appearance on July 31, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
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Trump Agrees to Fox News Offer of Debate with Harris on Sept. 4

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 31: Former President Donald Trump walks off stage at a campaign appearance on July 31, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 31: Former President Donald Trump walks off stage at a campaign appearance on July 31, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has agreed to an offer from Fox News to hold a debate with Democratic US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 4, he said in a post on Truth Social late on Friday.

"Rules will be similar to the rules of my debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his party, but with a full arena audience," Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped his reelection bid.

According to Reuters, the post was removed for a few minutes before being reposted, with Trump deleting his proposal for a "major" town hall gathering on the same date if Harris was "unwilling or unable to debate".

Harris had responded last month that she was "ready" after Fox News proposed the presidential debate between the two candidates on Sept. 17.

After Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and backed Harris, Trump said he would not debate her because she was not the official candidate.

As proof of her lack of support, he added that former President Barack Obama had yet to endorse her. But Obama did so a day later, and on Friday, she secured the delegate votes needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.



UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police cells will temporarily be used to hold prisoners in a stop-gap measure to cope with overcrowding in jails, the British government said on Tuesday.

The emergency action, dubbed "Operation Safeguard", allows inmates to be held in police cells when prisons are full, and was previously used from February 2023 to October last year, Reuters said.

The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, according to official data, leading to overcrowding as new places have failed to keep pace with demand. Justice systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland are run separately.

In a statement to parliament, Shabana Mahmood said the prison system was operating at more than 99% occupancy.

January saw the highest average monthly prison population growth in almost two years, as part of a rising trend in the last three months that "has only just begun to slow", she added.

"Given the recent increase in demand, it is necessary, and prudent, for me to temporarily reactivate Operation Safeguard to better manage the flow of offenders into the prison estate," Mahmood said.

According to the World Prison Brief database, imprisonment rates in England and Wales are higher than in other major European countries, with 141 detainees per 100,000 population, against 120 in France, 117 in Spain, 105 in Italy and 68 in Germany.