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Trump Rejects Fox News Invite to Debate Harris in Late October

FILE PHOTO: Former US President Donald Trump in New York City, US May 30, 2024 and US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, US, July 22, 2024 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, Nathan Howard/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former US President Donald Trump in New York City, US May 30, 2024 and US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, US, July 22, 2024 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, Nathan Howard/File Photo
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Trump Rejects Fox News Invite to Debate Harris in Late October

FILE PHOTO: Former US President Donald Trump in New York City, US May 30, 2024 and US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, US, July 22, 2024 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, Nathan Howard/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former US President Donald Trump in New York City, US May 30, 2024 and US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, US, July 22, 2024 in a combination of file photos. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, Nathan Howard/File Photo

Republican former President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will not debate Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, hours after Fox News invited the two presidential contenders to participate in a possible second debate on either Oct. 24 or Oct. 27.
Trump and Harris debated each other for the first time on Sept. 10. Trump has said there would not be another debate before the Nov. 5 election. He rejected a past invitation from CNN for an Oct. 23 debate, accepted by Harris.
Trump and Harris face each other in what polls show to be a tight race for the Nov. 5 US elections, reported Reuters.
In its statement, Fox said a second debate "would present an opportunity for each candidate to make their closing arguments."
Last week, Harris' running mate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz debated Trump's running mate and US Senator JD Vance.
"THERE WILL BE NO REMATCH," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "SO THERE IS NOTHING TO DEBATE."
Trump said it was very late in the process now to have a debate.
Trump faced then-Democratic presidential candidate and US President Joe Biden in a debate in late June.
Biden stepped aside as presidential candidate less than a month after the disastrous performance. Trump had built a lead against Biden following the debate but Harris took over as candidate after Biden bowed out and her entry has tightened the race, with some polls showing she has a narrow lead.
In their Sept. 10 debate, Harris put Trump on the defensive with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office, his support of abortion restrictions and his myriad legal woes.

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Philippines Challenges China Over South China Sea at Asean Meet

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
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Philippines Challenges China Over South China Sea at Asean Meet

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday, as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.
Li met the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at their gathering in Laos after a day of discussions dominated by the Myanmar civil war.
Recent months have seen a spate of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in waters around disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea, AFP reported.
Marcos raised the issue in the meeting with Li, arguing that "you cannot separate economic cooperation from political security," a Southeast Asian diplomat who attended the meeting told reporters.
The Li summit was largely focused on trade, and came the same day the premier met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who said Beijing has agreed to lift sanctions on the lucrative lobster industry.
But Marcos told the meeting that ASEAN and China cannot pretend that all is well on the economic front when there are tensions on the political front, the Southeast Asian diplomat said.
Marcos also said that both sides should hasten talks on a code of conduct in the sea.
On Wednesday, ASEAN leaders repeated longstanding calls for restraint and respect for international law in the South China Sea, according to a draft summit chairman's statement seen by AFP.
The growing frequency and intensity of clashes in the disputed waterway are fuelling fears that the situation could escalate.
"The South China Sea is a live and immediate issue, with real risks of an accident spiraling into conflict," Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told his fellow leaders in Wednesday's summit.
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, a waterway of immense strategic importance through which trillions of dollars in trade transits every year.
But several ASEAN members -- the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei -- also have competing claims to various small islands and reefs.
Clashes at sea
The meeting with Li comes after a slew of violent clashes, particularly with the Philippines around the Spratly Islands.
Chinese coast guard and other vessels have rammed, water-cannoned and blocked Philippine government vessels.
And earlier this month, Vietnam issued an angry condemnation after some of its fishermen were attacked and robbed off the Paracel Islands by what it called "Chinese law enforcement forces".
Beijing responded that the islands are its sovereign territory and its personnel were taking action to stop "illegal fishing" by the Vietnamese.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Thursday and is expected to raise the South China Sea when he holds talks with ASEAN leaders on Friday.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, accused China of taking "escalatory and irresponsible steps designed to coerce and pressure many in the South China Sea".
China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the South China Sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
It has built artificial islands armed with missile systems and runways for fighter jets, and deployed vessels that the Philippines says harass its ships and block its fishers.
ASEAN leaders also met Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea on Thursday, and will hold a three-way summit with them and Li.